VOA标准英语2009年-Former UK PM: Saddam's Removal Correct

Interviewed on British television just weeks before he faces intense questioning before a high-powered inquiry¹ into why Britain went to war in Iraq, former Prime Minister Tony Blair says it was right to oust² Saddam Hussein regardless of whether there were any weapons of mass destruction or not.

Tom Rivers | London 12 December 2009

Tony Blair, representing The Quartet on the Middle East enters the room for a meeting with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon at the United Nations in New York City, 9 Dec 2009

The actions of Tony Blair have again come under scrutiny³ in Britain as he admits in a BBC interview that he was behind regime change in Iraq.

The war was sold to his cabinet, to parliament and to the British people on the basis that Saddam Hussein was a dangerous man holding weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) that could be unleashed⁴ within 45 minutes.

Speaking on the program Fern Britton Meets Tony Blair, that will be screened in its entirety on Sunday, the former prime minister was asked directly that if he had known back in 2003 that there were no WMDS, would he have gone on with the invasion of Iraq?

"I would still have thought it right to remove him," he said.  "I mean obviously you would have had to use, deploy⁵ different arguments about the nature of the threat."

Blair's very vocal⁶ critics are lining⁷ up.  Opposition⁸ Conservative politician and member of the Intelligence and Security committee Richard Ottaway says it appears that the most significant foreign affairs initiative Britain has dealt with since the WWII was argued and debated on a false premise⁹ and that he says that raises profound constitutional questions.

"It has become increasingly clear that Tony Blair misled parliament on more than one occasion and I think that MPs were invited to make their own judgment¹⁰ on the merits of the case for war and they were entitled to do so on the truth and it looks very much as though that the truth was withheld¹¹ from parliament and many MPs may well have made a different decision if they had had the full unvarnished truth," he said.

Tom Keys was one of the British soldiers killed in the war. His father Reg says Blair's disclosure may have serious implications for the former leader.

"This man actually said in February 2003, Tony Blair addressed the house [House of Commons] and said that Saddam can stay in power if he hands over his weapons of mass destruction," he said.  "And now he is saying now that I would have chosen a different argument had he not had WMDs. Well, as we all know, going to war for regime change is against international law."

The Blair criticism has only begun. It also raises questions of whether his role as a special Middle East envoy¹² is now untenable.

 

1 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

2 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

3 scrutiny   

n.详细检查，仔细观察

参考例句：

• His work looks all right,but it will not bear scrutiny.他的工作似乎很好，但是经不起仔细检查。
• Few wives in their forties can weather such a scrutiny.很少年过四十的妻子经得起这么仔细的观察。

4 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

6 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

7 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

8 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。

9 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

10 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

11 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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。