Week's Events Leave Iraqis Feeling Upbeat About Future

 

By Greg LaMotte

The week's events, including the handover of sovereignty to the Iraqi interim¹ government and the event of former dictator Saddam Hussein and his top lieutenants², has left many Iraqis feeling more optimistic about their future. This, despite continued violence, including rocket being fired in Baghdad on two hotels Friday.

Many Iraqis say this was a historic week for Iraq. On Monday, the United States formally returned sovereignty to Iraq and two days later, Iraq assumed legal custody³ of former leader Saddam Hussein. He and 11 of his top aides appeared in an Iraqi court on Thursday to face numerous charges of murder and other crimes.

Muslim clerics spoke⁴ about the week's events at mosques⁵ throughout Iraq Friday.

One of them was Saad Moqad in central Baghdad.

The imam says this is a historic time for Iraq. He says, now that sovereignty has been returned to Iraq, the next step will be free elections. And, he says, there is much evidence against former leader Saddam Hussein who, he says, will one day face the same punishment he inflicted⁶ on so many Iraqis. This, too, he says, will be a historic day.

Many Iraqis said the events unfolded too fast to be fully⁷ digested, but they feel optimistic about the future of their country.

The director of Asyrian television in Baghdad, Sarmad Sahat, takes a historical perspective on this week.

Mr. Sahat says, after Iraq's 1968 revolution, Iraqis were excited about the future and believed the country was heading for more prosperous times. Instead, he said, the country was devastated⁸ by the regime of Saddam Hussein. And now, the television director says, the return of sovereignty and the trial of Saddam, are once again causing Iraqis to feel a better future is coming.

The July 17, 1968, coup⁹ overthrew¹⁰ President Abdel-Salim Arif, and thrust Saddam securely on the path to power.

Mr. Sahat, like many others, said the events of the week were filled with symbolism and contrasts, most of all, the television images of a young Iraqi judge reading out the charges against the defiant¹¹ former dictator. "That image," Mr. Sahat said, "represented the new, free Iraq emerging from he called a brutal¹² and repressive past."

Greg LaMotte, VOA News, Baghdad.

注释：
handover 移交
dictator 独裁者
lieutenant 助理
custody 监禁
cleric 牧师
mosque 清真寺
imam（伊斯兰）阿訇, 教长
inflict 造成
prosperous 繁荣的
devastate 毁坏
coup 政变
symbolism 象征意义
contrast 对照，对比
defiant 挑战的

 

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 lieutenants   

n.陆军中尉( lieutenant的名词复数 )；副职官员；空军；仅低于…官阶的官员

参考例句：

• In the army, lieutenants are subordinate to captains. 在陆军中，中尉是上尉的下级。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Lieutenants now cap at 1.5 from 1. Recon at 1. 中尉现在由1人口增加的1.5人口。侦查小组成员为1人口。 来自互联网

3 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

4 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 mosques   

清真寺； 伊斯兰教寺院，清真寺； 清真寺，伊斯兰教寺院( mosque的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Why make us believe that this tunnel runs underneath the mosques? 为什么要让我们相信这条隧洞是在清真寺下？
• The city's three biggest mosques, long fallen into disrepair, have been renovated. 城里最大的三座清真寺，过去年久失修，现在已经修复。

6 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 devastated   

v.彻底破坏( devastate的过去式和过去分词)；摧毁；毁灭；在感情上（精神上、财务上等）压垮adj.毁坏的；极为震惊的

参考例句：

• The bomb devastated much of the old part of the city. 这颗炸弹炸毁了旧城的一大片地方。
• His family is absolutely devastated. 他的一家感到极为震惊。

9 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

10 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

11 defiant   

adj.无礼的，挑战的

参考例句：

• With a last defiant gesture,they sang a revolutionary song as they were led away to prison.他们被带走投入监狱时，仍以最后的反抗姿态唱起了一支革命歌曲。
• He assumed a defiant attitude toward his employer.他对雇主采取挑衅的态度。

12 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。