VOA常速英语2008年-Iraq War Anniversary Dominates US Election Camp

By Jim Malone
Washington
19 March 2008

The war in Iraq took center stage in the U.S. presidential election campaign Wednesday on the fifth anniversary of the start of the conflict. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone reports from Washington.

Democratic contender Barack Obama spoke¹ about the war at a campaign event in North Carolina.

Obama renewed his pledge to withdraw most U.S. troops from Iraq within 16 months and took issue with a similar withdrawal² plan put forward by his rival for the Democratic Party presidential nomination³, Senator Hillary Clinton.

Obama said voters should trust him more than Clinton to bring the war to a close since he opposed it from the beginning, while Clinton initially⁴ supported it.

"Here is the truth," he said. "Fighting a war without end will not force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own future. And fighting in a war without end will not make the American people safer. So when I am commander in chief, I will set a new goal on day one, I will end this war."

During a visit to Detroit, Senator Clinton said the United States cannot win an Iraqi civil war and that there was no military solution in Iraq. Clinton has promised to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq within 60 days of taking office.

On another issue, Clinton also challenged Obama to agree to new Democratic primaries in Michigan and Florida.

"Today I am urging him to match those words with actions, to make sure the people of Michigan and Florida have a voice and a vote in this election," Clinton said.

Both states held primaries in January, but the Democratic National Committee refused to recognize the results and stripped both states of delegates to the national convention because the contests were held too early in violation⁵ of party rules. Officials in Florida say they do not plan to hold a new vote.

 

Senator Obama also took issue with the presumptive Republican Party presidential nominee⁶, Senator John McCain. Obama said McCain and the Bush administration have failed to present a strategy on how fighting in Iraq makes the American people safer.

McCain was in Israel Wednesday as part of a congressional delegation⁷ and said he wanted to affirm a deep relationship and commitment to the Jewish state.

Earlier in the week, McCain visited Iraq and talked about the progress of the U.S-led military surge strategy.

But McCain ran into some trouble on Tuesday in Jordan when he mistakenly said Sunni insurgents⁸ allied⁹ with al-Qaida were being trained in Iran, which has actually been accused of backing Shiite militias¹⁰. McCain's mistake was quickly corrected by his Senate colleague, Joe Lieberman of Connecticut.

"It has been reported in the media that al-Qaida is going back into Iran and receiving training and are coming back into Iraq from Iran," McCain said. "That is well known, and it is unfortunate. I am sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaida."

Analysts¹¹ were quick to pounce¹² on the gaff by McCain who has repeatedly emphasized his experience in national security affairs and said he would make Iraq a major issue in the presidential campaign. McCain has criticized both Clinton and Obama for favoring a troop pullout from Iraq.

President Bush also warned about the consequences of a hasty withdrawal in his speech marking the anniversary of the start of the war.

"If we were to allow our enemies to prevail in Iraq, the violence that is now declining would accelerate and Iraq would descend¹³ into chaos," he said.

McCain can afford the political luxury of traveling abroad since he has effectively secured the Republican nomination.

But the Democratic battle between Clinton and Obama is expected to continue indefinitely, with the next major test coming in the Pennsylvania primary on April 22.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

3 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

4 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

5 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

6 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

7 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

8 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

9 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

10 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

12 pounce   

n.猛扑；v.猛扑，突然袭击，欣然同意

参考例句：

• Why do you pounce on every single thing I say?干吗我说的每句话你都要找麻烦？
• We saw the tiger about to pounce on the goat.我们看见老虎要向那只山羊扑过去。

13 descend   

vt./vi.传下来，下来，下降

参考例句：

• I hope the grace of God would descend on me.我期望上帝的恩惠。
• We're not going to descend to such methods.我们不会沦落到使用这种手段。