2006年VOA标准英语-Cable Shows Grim Life for Iraqis Who Work at US

By Gary Thomas
Washington
20 June 2006

A cable from the U.S. ambassador in Iraq to the State Department says Iraqis employed at the American Embassy in Baghdad live in fear that they will be unmasked as working for Americans.  The message was leaked to the Washington Post newspaper.  The newspaper says the cable is at odds¹ with the more upbeat public assessments² by administration officials.

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Smoke billows from the scene of an explosion in south central Baghdad
  
The June 6 cable paints a grim picture in which Iraqi employees live in fear and deprivation³ once they leave the relative safety and comfort of the U.S.-controlled "Green Zone."  One employee is quoted as saying that life outside the Green Zone is, as she put it, "emotionally draining."

The cable, printed in full by The Washington Post, says Iraqi employees of the public affairs section are in dread⁴ that their identities as U.S. embassy workers will be discovered.  Of the nine employees in the section, the cable says, only four of them had family members who knew of their embassy job.  It says the embassy has been shredding⁵ documents containing the surnames of local staff.

The employees also complained of harassment⁶ by Islamist or militia⁷ groups in their neighborhoods, especially over Islamic dress.  It says that the quality of life has, as the cable puts it, "visibly deteriorated⁸" with continuing power cuts and higher fuel prices, even in upscale neighborhoods.

The cable was prepared by the public affairs section and approved by Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.  

 
Adam Ereli   
  
State Department spokesman Adam Ereli downplayed the cable, saying there is nothing new in its contents.  He disputed the suggestion that the cable's gloomy portrait is at odds with official Administration pronouncements on Iraq.

"I think our discussion of what is going on in Iraq has consistently been, again, forthright⁹, realistic, frank," he said.  "And anything that was in that article is consistent with how we've discussed the reality in Iraq. Yes, there are challenges.  We are working to solve them.  The Iraqi government is working to solve them.  But broadly speaking, you've got some very positive things going on. So we're not seeking to either minimize the difficulties or inflate¹⁰ the successes."

Ellen Laipson, president of the Henry L. Stimson Center, a Washington-based public policy research institute, called the cable "gripping reading," both for its content and its origin.

"I think the impact is that it was coming out of the embassy, and that it is very human-scale reporting," she said.  "So if you were just reading the newspaper normally you wouldn't necessarily have such a granular feel to be an Iraqi that actually supports what the United States is doing, or is at least willing to work for the U.S. government."

Robert Perito, senior program director at the non-governmental U.S. Institute for Peace, says the cable underscores the desperate need for professional police in neighborhoods.

"Well, it certainly tells you that the circumstances in Iraq are getting more desperate for Iraqis," he said.  "It also tells you that the ability of the United States to influence events certainly is not what it was even a year or so ago."

The cable was unclassified but marked sensitive. A senior official, who asked not to be identified, called the leaking of the message "an unprincipled act," but said he did not anticipate any legal action against whoever might have divulged¹¹ it.

1 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

2 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

3 deprivation   

n.匮乏；丧失；夺去，贫困

参考例句：

• Many studies make it clear that sleep deprivation is dangerous.多实验都证实了睡眠被剥夺是危险的。
• Missing the holiday was a great deprivation.错过假日是极大的损失。

4 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

5 shredding   

v.撕碎，切碎( shred的现在分词 )；用撕毁机撕毁（文件）

参考例句：

• Like the Tehran experience, the shredding may be all for naught. 如同德黑兰事件中的情况一样，切碎文件可能是徒劳的。 来自时文部分
• How shredding began is subject to some guesswork. 粉碎处理行业的起源是个有争议的问题。 来自时文部分

6 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

7 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

8 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

9 forthright   

adj.直率的，直截了当的 [同]frank

参考例句：

• It's sometimes difficult to be forthright and not give offence.又直率又不得罪人，这有时很难办到。
• He told me forthright just why he refused to take my side.他直率地告诉我他不肯站在我这一边的原因。

10 inflate   

vt.使膨胀，使骄傲，抬高（物价）

参考例句：

• The buyers bid against each other and often inflate the prices they pay.买主们竞相投标，往往人为地提高价钱。
• Stuart jumped into the sea and inflated the liferaft.斯图尔特跳到海里给救生艇充气。

11 divulged   

v.吐露，泄露( divulge的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He divulged nothing to him save the terrible handicap of being young. 他想不出个所以然来，只是想到自己年纪尚幼，极端不利。 来自辞典例句
• The spy divulged the secret plans to the enemy. 那名间谍把秘密计划泄漏给敌人。 来自辞典例句