2007年VOA标准英语-Violence Continues in Iraq After Deadly Weekend

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
21 May 2007

Violence continued in Iraq Monday, after a particularly deadly weekend for U.S. troops, and the killing¹ of a key insurgent² leader. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

A wounded Iraqi woman is wheeled into a hospital in Baquba, capital of the violent province of Diyala, 21 May 2007

Reports from Iraq indicate that attackers killed seven civilians³, including a child, near the town of Baquba, north of Baghdad. In other incidents, a roadside bomb killed three Iraqi soldiers in the western part of the capital and a mortar⁴ shell hit the parliament building, but no one was injured.

Meanwhile, coalition⁵ forces say troops freed five Iraqis held captive and tortured in the town of Karmah, and captured more than two dozen insurgents⁶ elsewhere, including three men it believes were terrorist cell leaders.

The White House reports President Bush called Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to mark the end of his first year in office and urge him to move forward with political reconciliation⁷, which U.S. officials say is as important as security operations in the effort to bring stability to Iraq.

Those developments followed a weekend in which 15 U.S. troops were killed in Iraq, a particularly high death toll⁸ that Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman says is the result of increased coalition operations as part of the troop surge and the new security plan.

"Coalition forces are aggressively taking the fight to the insurgents that are out there to bring stability and security throughout areas of Iraq," said Bryan Whitman. "The very nature of our offensive operations puts us out there where the insurgents are."

The U.S. command in Iraq is also reporting the killing of a key insurgent leader. Whitman says Azhar al-Dulaymi was responsible for a dramatic attack on U.S. forces in January near the town of Karbala, south of Baghdad.

"He was the terrorist tactical commander of the Karbala attack, not only on the scene, but he was believed to be the ring leader for the January 20 attack on Karbala Provincial⁹ Joint¹⁰ Coordination¹¹ Center, the incident in which one soldier was killed and four other U.S. soldiers were kidnapped and murdered," he said.

Whitman says coalition forces attacked a house in Baghdad on Saturday where al-Dulaymi was hiding. He fled to the roof and U.S. troops chased him from rooftop to rooftop before he surrendered. But Whitman says he was killed when he attacked a soldier who was arresting him.

"When coalition soldiers attempted to detain him, he pushed the soldier and grabbed for the soldier's weapon," said Whitman. "The soldier shot him with a pistol and an over-watching soldier fired at him with a rifle."

Whitman says al-Dulaymi received military training in Iran, and was involved in smuggling¹² weapons from Iran into Iraq, including material used to make high-powered roadside bombs called Explosively Formed Penetrators.

Also on Monday, the Pentagon released the first audio from hearings held in recent months for 14 newly arrived detainees at the Guantanamo detention¹³ center.

TRIBUNAL RECORDER: "All rise."

TRIBUNAL PRESIDENT: "This hearing shall come to order. Please be seated."

This hearing, for Abu Faraj al Libi, was held on March 9. The U.S. military calls al-Libi "a senior al-Qaida facilitator," and says he helped recruit and train al-Qaida fighters, and took care of their families in Pakistan. At the hearing, the presiding military officer noted¹⁴ that al-Libi declined to participate in the process of determining officially whether he is an 'enemy combatant.'

TRIBUNAL PRESIDENT: "Personal Representative, you have advised the tribunal that the detainee elected not to participate in this tribunal proceeding¹⁵. Is that still the situation?"

PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE: "Yes sir."

TRIBUNAL PRESIDENT: "Please explain."

PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE: "Sir, Faraj al-Libi has decided¹⁶ that his freedom is far too important to be decided by an administrative¹⁷ process."

Al-Libi and the 13 other men transferred to Guantanamo last year from secret U.S. prisons elsewhere, have had their initial hearings. The results of the reviews are expected to be announced in the coming weeks.

1 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。

2 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

3 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。

4 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

5 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。

6 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

7 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

8 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

9 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

10 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

11 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

12 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

13 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

14 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。

15 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

16 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。

17 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。