2006年VOA标准英语-US, Iraqi Officials Stress Zarqawi Death Not En

By Al Pessin
Brussels
08 June 2006
 
U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has welcomed the death of terrorist leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi in a U.S. airstrike in Iraq.

Donald H. Rumsfeld   
  
Secretary Rumsfeld says Zarqawi's death is significant because he was not only in charge of the al-Qaida terrorist network in Iraq, but he was also the organization's number three leader worldwide.

"I think arguably, over the last several years, no single person on this planet has had the blood of more innocent men, women and children on his hands than Zarqawi," he said.

Rumsfeld says Zarqawi's death will hurt al-Qaida, but he expects new leadership to emerge, and attacks in Iraq to continue.

"The death of Zarqawi, while enormously important, will not mean the end of all violence in that country, and one ought not to take it as such," he said.  "But let there be no doubt, the fact that he is dead is a significant victory in the battle against terrorism in that country, and I would say, worldwide."

Rumsfeld says Zarqawi was a key proponent² of what he calls a "dark, sadistic³, medieval vision" that has been rejected by a majority of Iraqis, and Muslims around the world.

U.S. and Iraqi officials say the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq was killed in an airstrike by U.S. warplanes just north of Baghdad Wednesday evening, while he was meeting with several of his senior advisers⁴.  Iraqi and U.S. forces who went to the scene afterward⁵ were able to recognize Zarqawi's body, and confirmed his identity through fingerprints⁶.

A statement by the U.S. military says the information that led to the attack on Zarqawi came from some of his senior associates.  The coalition⁷ commander in Iraq, General George Casey, says the final push to find and kill the al-Qaida in Iraq leader took about two weeks.  Rumsfeld says commanders in Iraq decided⁸ to get Zarqawi with an airstrike, fearing he might find out about a ground assault and escape.

Still, General Casey says al-Qaida remains⁹ a threat, and the effort to hunt down its members will continue until "terrorism is eradicated¹⁰ in Iraq."

Also on Thursday, Secretary Rumsfeld spoke¹¹ about the nomination¹² of Iraq's new ministers of defense and interior, the two key security posts in the government.  U.S. officials had acknowledged that the delay in filling those two posts was hurting efforts to give more responsibility to Iraq's new security forces.

"The reason they've taken a long time is, to the great credit of the prime minister, Mr. Maliki, he made a decision that those posts would not be part of the spoils system of the electoral process, but instead that they would be individuals who would be highly competent, who would govern from the center, who would manage those critically important departments in a way that left no doubt in the minds of the Iraqi people that they were being run in a fair and non-sectarian manner," he noted¹³.

Rumsfeld and other U.S. officials have spoken about both the importance of selecting the Iraqi defense and interior ministers quickly, and also of the need for them to be competent and independent of any one faction

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 proponent   

n.建议者；支持者；adj.建议的

参考例句：

• Stapp became a strong early proponent of automobile seat belts.斯塔普是力主在汽车上采用座椅安全带的早期倡导者。
• Halsey was identified as a leading proponent of the values of progressive education.哈尔西被认为是进步教育价值观的主要支持者。

3 sadistic   

adj.虐待狂的

参考例句：

• There was a sadistic streak in him.他有虐待狂的倾向。
• The prisoners rioted against mistreatment by sadistic guards.囚犯因不堪忍受狱警施虐而发动了暴乱。

4 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

5 afterward   

adv.后来；以后

参考例句：

• Let's go to the theatre first and eat afterward. 让我们先去看戏，然后吃饭。
• Afterward,the boy became a very famous artist.后来，这男孩成为一个很有名的艺术家。

6 fingerprints   

n.指纹( fingerprint的名词复数 )v.指纹( fingerprint的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Everyone's fingerprints are unique. 每个人的指纹都是独一无二的。
• They wore gloves so as not to leave any fingerprints behind (them). 他们戴着手套，以免留下指纹。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

8 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。

11 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。

12 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

13 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。