VOA常速英语2008年-US Reduces Belgrade Staff After Embassy Attack

By David Gollust
State Department
22 February 2008

The State Department is withdrawing non-essential personnel and family members of U.S. diplomats¹ from Belgrade after Thursday's mob attack on the U.S. embassy there. Serbian authorities have pledged there will be no repeat of the incident, in which members of a crowd protesting U.S. Kosovo policy burned part of the mission. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The draw-down of the diplomatic presence in Belgrade came at the request of U.S. ambassador to Serbia, Cameron Munter, who says the embassy cannot be sufficiently² confident of the safety of its personnel after Thursday's attack.

Some participants in a mass demonstration³ against the recognition of Kosovo independence by the United States and other countries broke into the U.S. embassy compound Thursday evening and firebombed part of the chancery building.

The State Department formally protested over what it said had been a "completely inadequate⁴" security presence around the embassy in central Belgrade.

In a talk with reporters Friday State Department Spokesman Sean McCormack said it is still unclear if the security lapse⁵ on the part of Serbian authorities was deliberate or inadvertent. He noted⁶ that in any case Serbian President Boris Tadic and other officials have promised no repeat of the incident:

"The bottom line is the [security] preparations and the actions were inadequate when this mob attacked the embassy. But we have heard, on the positive side, from Serbian government officials in public now that they will not allow this to happen again. And it is worth noting that it was not just our embassy that was attacked. There were other embassies in the vicinity that were also attacked."

At the White House, Spokesman Scott Stanzel attributed the attack to what he termed "hooligans and thugs" and said U.S. officials do not believe the mob action is the face Serbia wants to present to the world.

He also said despite the embassy assault and broader Serb anger over Kosovo recognition, the United States still wants to continue working to integrate Serbia into European institutions.

Serbia has gotten diplomatic support in its opposition⁷ to Kosovo recognition from Russia, which contends that allowing the majority ethnic-Albanian former Serb province to break away will encourage other separatist movements.

Officials here say Moscow is entitled to its opinion. But they have taken strong exception to a remark Friday by Russian envoy⁸ to NATO Dmitry Rogozin, who said Moscow might have make a show of "brute⁹ military force" somewhere to win back respect after being rebuffed on Kosovo.

U.S. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns called the Rogozin remarks highly irresponsible and said they should be repudiated¹⁰ by Moscow.

Another senior official here told VOA that Rogozin, a former Russian parliamentarian, has record of incendiary rhetoric¹¹ and that there have been no such threatening comments from senior members of the Russian government, despite their views on Kosovo.

1 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 sufficiently   

adv.足够地，充分地

参考例句：

• It turned out he had not insured the house sufficiently.原来他没有给房屋投足保险。
• The new policy was sufficiently elastic to accommodate both views.新政策充分灵活地适用两种观点。

3 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

4 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

5 lapse   

n.过失，流逝，失效，抛弃信仰，间隔；vi.堕落，停止，失效，流逝；vt.使失效

参考例句：

• The incident was being seen as a serious security lapse.这一事故被看作是一次严重的安全疏忽。
• I had a lapse of memory.我记错了。

6 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。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

9 brute   

n.野兽，兽性

参考例句：

• The aggressor troops are not many degrees removed from the brute.侵略军简直象一群野兽。
• That dog is a dangerous brute.It bites people.那条狗是危险的畜牲，它咬人。

10 repudiated   

v.（正式地）否认( repudiate的过去式和过去分词 )；拒绝接受；拒绝与…往来；拒不履行（法律义务）

参考例句：

• All slanders and libels should be repudiated. 一切诬蔑不实之词，应予推倒。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The Prime Minister has repudiated racist remarks made by a member of the Conservative Party. 首相已经驳斥了一个保守党成员的种族主义言论。 来自辞典例句

11 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。