US, Britain Submit Revised Iraq Draft Resolution

Peter Heinlein

The United States and Britain have offered the U.N. Security Council a fresh draft resolution that would grant sovereignty to Iraq's interim¹ government at the end of this month. The resolution sets a time limit for withdrawal² of the U.S.-led multinational³ force.
The revised resolution was introduced Tuesday, hours after the composition of Iraq's interim government was announced in Baghdad.
The new draft contains several changes intended to strengthen guarantees that Iraq's transitional government will enjoy full sovereignty. Iraqis would have complete control over their natural resources, as well as over national police and military forces.
At the same time, the resolution authorizes⁴ a multinational security force essentially⁵ under U.S. command. The force's mandate⁶ would run until a constitutionally elected government is installed. That is likely to be in December of next year or January 2006.
British and U.S. officials, however, have said the force, known as the MNF, would leave if asked to do so by the transitional government to be elected next January. U.S. Deputy Ambassador James Cunningham described the process as one of working out a relationship between two sovereign elements.
"That's really an issue we need to work out with the Iraqis. What we're creating here is a partnership⁷ between the MNF and a sovereign Iraqi government," says Mr. Cunningham. "That's a relationship between two sovereigns, those who are willing to contribute to the MNF and help Iraq, and the sovereign government, and we're just beginning those discussions right now about how we're going to do that."
France had earlier proposed a two-week waiting period to gauge⁸ Iraqi reaction before bringing the resolution to a vote. But Britain's U.N. Ambassador Emyr Jones-Parry, who briefed council members on the revised draft, said he was hopeful a vote would be held sooner. "Our soundings in capitals and elsewhere suggest we've come very close to meeting what most people want, and I don't envisage⁹ a two-week gap," he said.
After seeing the latest draft, several council members described it as a step in the right direction. But Chile's U.N. envoy¹⁰ Heraldo Munoz summed up the feelings of several when he said there is still room for improvement.
"We need to listen first to Ambassador Brahimi and his suggestions, to the secretary general, and most importantly to the members of the sovereign interim government that has just been announced," says Mr. Munoz. "Therefore those inputs¹² will be fundamental to a resolution. We are on the right track, but a lot of work is ahead of us."
Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari is reported on his way to New York to join the Security Council's debate on the resolution Thursday. The U.N. special envoy to Iraq Lakhdar Brahimi is also expected to brief the council, but no firm date has been set for Mr. Brahimi's arrival.
注释：
resolution [7rezE5lju:FEn] n. 决议
grant [^rB:nt] vt. 同意，准予
withdrawal [wiT5drC:El] n. 撤退
U.S.-led multinational force 美国为首的多国部队
composition [kCmpE5ziFEn] n. 和解协议
Baghdad [5bA^dAd] n. 巴格达，伊拉克首都
transitional [trAn5ziVEnEl] adj. 变迁的，过渡期的 transitional government 过渡政府
sovereignty [5sCvrinti] n. 主权
mandate [5mAndeit] n. 委任统治
constitutionally [9kCnsti5tjU:FEnEli] adv. 本质上地
install [in5stC:l] vt. 安置，使就职，这里指选举出的政府开始掌权运作
MNF multinational force多国部队
Deputy Ambassador 副大使
contribute [kEn5tribju:t] v. 贡献
gauge [^edV] v. 评估，判断
brief [bri:f] vt. 做简要介绍
revised draft 修正草案
envisage [in5vizidV] v. 正视
gap [^Ap] n. 间隙，这里指前文的two-week waiting period 两周的等待时期
summed up 总结
input¹¹ [5input] n. 输入，这里指听取的意见
fundamental [7fQndE5mentl] adj. 基础的，基本的
track [trAk] n. 道路，轨迹
firm [fE:m] adj. 确定的

 

1 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

2 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

3 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

4 authorizes   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings 'traveler' and 'traveller'. 字典裁定traveler和traveller两种拼法都对。
• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings "honor" and "honour.". 字典裁定 honor 及 honour 两种拼法均可。

5 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

6 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

7 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

8 gauge   

v.精确计量；估计；n.标准度量；计量器

参考例句：

• Can you gauge what her reaction is likely to be?你能揣测她的反应可能是什么吗？
• It's difficult to gauge one's character.要判断一个人的品格是很困难的。

9 envisage   

v.想象，设想，展望，正视

参考例句：

• Nobody can envisage the consequences of total nuclear war.没有人能够想像全面核战争的后果。
• When do you envisage being able to pay me back?你看你什么时候能还我钱？

10 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

11 input   

n.输入(物)；投入；vt.把(数据等)输入计算机

参考例句：

• I will forever be grateful for his considerable input.我将永远感激他的大量投入。
• All this information had to be input onto the computer.所有这些信息都必须输入计算机。

12 inputs   

n.输入( input的名词复数 )；投入；输入端；输入的数据v.把…输入电脑( input的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Uncheck the inputs checked for optimization in the previous stage. 不测试那些已经测试过的优化了的以前步骤的inputs.（变量参数）。 来自互联网
• Just in case, save in a file the inputs obtained at the previous stage. 以防万一，保存以前步骤获得的inputs（变量参数值）到一个文件中去。 来自互联网