2006年VOA标准英语-Bush Freezes Assets in Connection with Dar

By Meredith Buel
Washington
27 April 2006
 

President Bush  
  
President Bush has issued an executive order freezing the economic assets of people connected to the continuing armed conflict in Sudan's Darfur region.  The administration made the move as rallies are being planned across the United States to draw attention to the violence that has killed tens of thousands of people and displaced two million others.

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In a statement, President Bush says he is taking the action, because the conflict in Darfur threatens the national security and foreign policy of the United States.

The asset freeze is being imposed on four Sudanese identified by the U.N. Security Council as being involved in organizing and carrying out atrocities¹ in Darfur.

The president's order comes days before rallies are planned in Washington and throughout the United States to protest the three-year war in Darfur.

Celebrities² such as Academy Award winning actor George Clooney are scheduled to speak at the rally.

Clooney, who just returned from a trip to the Darfur region, told reporters in Washington the world's attention needs to be focused on what he called the "first genocide of the 21st century."

 
George Clooney, center, flanked by Senator Barack Obama, right, and Senator Sam Brownback
  
"What we cannot do is turn our heads and look away and hope that this will somehow disappear, because if we do they will disappear and an entire generation of people will be gone," said Mr. Clooney.  "Then only history will be left to judge us like Rwanda, the Balkans and Cambodia."

Joining Clooney was Senator Sam Brownback, who has sponsored a number of bills and resolutions in the U.S. Congress regarding the conflict in Darfur.

Brownback supports a plan to send up to 20,000 United Nations peacekeepers to Darfur to replace the 7,000 African Union troops stationed there now.

"We have got to get protection into this region, into Sudan and Chad," said Mr. Brownback.  "We have got African Union troops, they are not enough, they don't have enough mobility³, they don't have a broad enough mandate⁴.  We need more troops, more mobility, a stronger mandate, in that region of Sudan and Chad."

The government in Khartoum has vehemently⁵ opposed any effort to send U.N. or NATO troops to Sudan, saying such a move would violate the country's sovereignty.

Sudan's government is accused of supporting local militias⁶ in Darfur that have massacred civilians⁷ and destroyed villages.

Actor George Clooney says international soldiers are needed to help the millions of people displaced by the fighting who are now living in squalid camps in Sudan and neighboring Chad.

"If it is simply that we can just go to these camps of two million people and put forces around them with guys with guns to keep people from killing⁸ people," added Mr. Clooney.  "The issue ultimately comes down to security, period.  There are innocent people who are in harm's way in the most brutal⁹ of fashion every single day and if not NATO or the U.N. then I am not quite sure what they are there for."

Mediators are pressuring Sudan's government and rebel groups to end the fighting, and both sides are considering a draft peace agreement designed to end the conflict.

After nearly two years of unsuccessful talks, African Union negotiators have set next Sunday as the deadline for an agreement to be reached.

1 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

3 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

4 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。

5 vehemently   

adv. 热烈地

参考例句：

• He argued with his wife so vehemently that he talked himself hoarse. 他和妻子争论得很激烈，以致讲话的声音都嘶哑了。
• Both women vehemently deny the charges against them. 两名妇女都激烈地否认了对她们的指控。

6 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

7 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

8 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

9 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。