2007年VOA标准英语-UN Closes Iraq Weapons Inspection Unit

By Peter Heinlein
United Nations
29 June 2007

The U.N. Security Council has closed down the agency charged with monitoring Saddam Hussein's illicit¹ weapons programs. Correspondent Peter Heinlein reports from U.N. headquarters in New York.

U.N. Security Council

Fourteen of the 15 Security Council members voted to immediately abolish the U.N. Monitoring, Verification and Inspection² Committee, known as UNMOVIC. The 15th member, Russia, abstained³.

Russia's U.N. ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, objected that the inspectors⁴ had not fulfilled their mandate⁵ of officially certifying⁶ that Iraq, at present, has no weapons of mass destruction. But he said Russia is willing to accepts that UNMOVIC serves no further purpose.

"The fact that this issue has been with us for a very long time and some of those requirements have been taken into account did allow us not to block this resolution, but in a situation where some of the requirements have not been taken care of, we decided⁷ to abstain," he said.

Iraq's U.N. ambassador, Hamid Al-Bayati, hailed the decision to terminate UNMOVIC. He said it closes what he called "an appalling⁸ chapter in Iraq's modern history."

"We believe this is an overdue⁹ issue pending¹⁰ for over four years and this chapter has been closed today, which was costing Iraq around one million dollars every month," he said.

UNMOVIC was established in 1999 to oversee¹¹ the dismantling¹² of Saddam Hussein's weapons of mass destruction programs. The inspectors left Iraq in March 2003, shortly before the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam. They never returned, and have since been focusing on studying satellite photographs.

The U.N. inspectors did find significant evidence of Saddam's illicit weapons programs, including biological and chemical agents. The U.N. nuclear watchdog agency, the IAEA, also assisted in uncovering details of a planned nuclear weapons program.

But Washington's U.N. ambassador, Zalmay Khalilzad, told the Security Council Friday that concerns about Saddam's possession of nuclear weapons in 2002 and 2003 had proven to be unfounded.

"With regard to nuclear weapons, the Iraq Survey Group uncovered evidence of the maturity¹³ and intent of the pre-1991 Iraqi nuclear program," he said. "The government determined¹⁴, however, that the Iraqi ability to reconstitute a nuclear weapons program had progressively deteriorated¹⁵ after 1991 despite Saddam Hussein's interest in nuclear weapons and in retaining nuclear weapons scientists."

Speaking to reporters afterward¹⁶, Khalilzad said intelligence about Saddam's weapons programs had proven wrong both at the time of the first Gulf¹⁷ war, when it was underestimated, and again in 2003, when it was overestimated¹⁸.

"We've all learned lessons," he said. "In hindsight, one would have hoped to have had in both cases a more precise information, but you make decisions based on what you assume or analyze¹⁹ or are briefed or are told is the situation to the best of one's ability."

The United States and Iraq had been trying to have UNMOVIC shut down since 2005. Iraq's leaders had complained that financing UNMOVIC had been draining money from the Iraqi budget that would better have been used in rebuilding infrastructure²⁰ in the war-ravaged country.

1 illicit   

adj.非法的，禁止的，不正当的

参考例句：

• He had an illicit association with Jane.他和简曾有过不正当关系。
• Seizures of illicit drugs have increased by 30% this year.今年违禁药品的扣押增长了30%。

2 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

3 abstained   

v.戒（尤指酒），戒除( abstain的过去式和过去分词 )；弃权（不投票）

参考例句：

• Ten people voted in favour, five against and two abstained. 十人投票赞成，五人反对，两人弃权。
• They collectively abstained (from voting) in the elections for local councilors. 他们在地方议会议员选举中集体弃权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 certifying   

（尤指书面）证明( certify的现在分词 )； 发证书给…； 证明（某人）患有精神病； 颁发（或授予）专业合格证书

参考例句：

• Signed Commercial in quintuplicate, certifying merchandise to be of Chinese origin. 签署商业发票一式五份，证明产品的原产地为中国。
• Other documents certifying the truthfulness of the contents of the advertisements. （三）确认广告内容真实性的其他证明文件。

7 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。

8 appalling   

adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions.恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• Nothing can extenuate such appalling behaviour.这种骇人听闻的行径罪无可恕。

9 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

10 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

11 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

12 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

13 maturity   

n.成熟；完成；(支票、债券等)到期

参考例句：

• These plants ought to reach maturity after five years.这些植物五年后就该长成了。
• This is the period at which the body attains maturity.这是身体发育成熟的时期。

14 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

15 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。

16 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。

17 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

18 overestimated   

对（数量）估计过高，对…作过高的评价( overestimate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They overestimated his ability when they promoted him. 他们提拔他的时候高估了他的能力。
• The Ministry of Finance consistently overestimated its budget deficits. 财政部一贯高估预算赤字。

19 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

20 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。