2007年VOA标准英语-Increase of Suicide Terrorism in Afghanistan

By Peter Fedynsky
Washington
07 March 2007
 
watch Afghan Suicide Terrorism

Recent high profile suicide bombings in Afghanistan include an attack on an American military base that coincided with a visit by U.S. Vice¹ President Dick Cheney.  The bombings continue a trend that began in 2006 when suicide attacks in Afghanistan increased fivefold over the previous year.  VOA's Peter Fedynsky reports that al-Qaida terrorists and Afghanistan's ousted² Taleban rulers are claiming credit for the recent attacks.

 
Relatives carry the dead body of an Afghan man who was killed during a suicide attack at the Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, 27 Feb 2007
Vice President Cheney was at the Bagram airbase in Afghanistan last month when a suicide bomber³ blew himself up at the front gate.  The blast killed at least 22 people.  The Taleban claimed responsibility for the attack and said Cheney was their intended target, but he was more than a kilometer away from the explosion.

Security analyst⁴ Bruce Hoffman says the emergence⁵ of suicide terrorism in Afghanistan represents a global trend, mostly in urban areas.

 
Bruce Hoffman
Hoffman is a professor of security studies at Georgetown University in Washington, DC. He says, "It's something that galvanizes attention; that captures media focus, and serves the Taleban's purpose of demonstrating their ability to strike in a variety of places, not just where their strength may be in the south or the eastern part of the country."

Video released by al-Qaida terrorists depicts⁶ a suicide attack and the assembly of a bomb using Soviet-era explosives.  Alexis Debat, a terrorism expert at the Nixon Center in Washington, comments. "This is a very, very compelling statement for how simple it is for the Taleban to hurt us in Afghanistan.  The child is making the bomb that is about to kill him, and yet he has such an amazing, peaceful look on his face. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of people like this, not just in Afghanistan, but in Pakistan, Iraq, Yemen and everywhere.  This is what al-Qaida wants us to know."

 
Explosion caused by suicide bomber
Bruce Hoffman says groups such as the Taleban combine holy scripture⁷ and clerical authority with promises of a golden afterlife in order recruit suicide bombers⁸ and justify⁹ murder. "It's the perversion¹⁰ of theology to suit the very political and real life agenda of the terrorist groups.  So I think it's one of worst sort of perversions¹¹ imaginable."

Afghan crowds staged an anti-American demonstrations¹² to protest the deaths of at least eight civilians¹³ caught in the crossfire¹⁴ between U.S troops and the Taleban on Sunday. The shootout followed a suicide attack on an American convoy¹⁵.

Professor Hoffman says the U.S. response played into the hands of terrorists. "So, they've choreographed¹⁶, almost gamed it, in hopes of eliciting¹⁷ precisely¹⁸ that response.  And unfortunately we played into it.  And the anger of people is then focused on the most visible presence, i.e., the military force, whether it's the US or other, not on the invisible suicide terrorist who is now deceased."

Hoffman says suicide bombings are not designed to defeat, but rather to weaken the morale¹⁹ and resolve of an opponent.  And experts are predicting an offensive and more suicide bombings by insurgents²⁰ in Afghanistan this spring.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

3 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

4 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

5 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

6 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

7 scripture   

n.经文，圣书，手稿；Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》，《圣经》中的一段

参考例句：

• The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
• They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。

8 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

10 perversion   

n.曲解；堕落；反常

参考例句：

• In its most general sense,corruption means the perversion or abandonment.就其最一般的意义上说，舞弊就是堕落，就是背离准则。
• Her account was a perversion of the truth.她所讲的歪曲了事实。

11 perversions   

n.歪曲( perversion的名词复数 )；变坏；变态心理

参考例句：

• Many practices commonly regarded as perversions were widespread. 许多通常认为是性变态的行为的做法实际上是广泛存在的。 来自辞典例句

12 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

13 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。

14 crossfire   

n.被卷进争端

参考例句：

• They say they are caught in the crossfire between the education establishment and the government.他们称自己被卷进了教育机构与政府之间的争端。
• When two industrial giants clash,small companies can get caught in the crossfire.两大工业企业争斗之下，小公司遭受池鱼之殃。

15 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

16 choreographed   

v.设计舞蹈动作( choreograph的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• There was some carefully choreographed flag-waving as the President drove by. 总统的车经过时，人们按精心编排的动作挥舞着旗帜。
• Achim had choreographed the dance in Act II himself. 阿希姆自己设计了第2幕的舞蹈动作。 来自辞典例句

17 eliciting   

n. 诱发, 引出 动词elicit的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• He succeeded in eliciting the information he needed from her. 他从她那里问出了他所需要的信息。
• A criminal trial isn't a tribunal for eliciting the truth. 刑事审讯并非是一种要探明真相的审判。

18 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

19 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

20 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网