VOA标准英语2010年-US Congressman Who Backed Afghan Fight

A former U.S. lawmaker who played a key role in the ouster of Soviet¹ forces from Afghanistan has died.

Texas Congressman² Charlie Wilson helped funnel³ millions of dollars to fund Afghan fighters during the 1980s. 

He was known around Washington as "Good Time Charlie" for his love of drinks and women, and his life story became a Hollywood movie starring famed actor Tom Hanks.

The 2007 film "Charlie Wilson's War" introduced a new generation to the exploits of Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson and his role in shaping the future of Afghanistan.

Wilson was a member of the Appropriations⁴ Committee in the U.S. House of Representatives, and used his position to help buy Afghan fighters weapons, including Stinger missiles, that inflicted⁵ heavy damage on Soviet gunships.

In 2008, Wilson talked to VOA about why he decided⁶ to take action. Wilson said he was looking down on a refugee camp from a hillside: "I got involved in Afghanistan because I went there and I saw what the Soviets⁷ were doing," Wilson said. "And I saw the refugee camps."

M.J. Gohel, an expert on South Asia and executive director of the London-based Asia Pacific Foundation, says Wilson's efforts changed the region and the world. "Wilson has to be given the credit for delivering a major defeat to the Soviet Union at a time when the Soviet Union was a threat to the free world," Gohel said.

Gohel says what no one could have predicted at the time was how Wilson's support for Afghanistan's mujahedeen would encourage Muslims from around the world to rally to their cause or what would come as a result. "This led to a threat, a new kind of threat, to the West and of course the events that eventually ended with 9-11 [the terror attacks of September 11, 2001] and the other acts of terrorism we have seen since then," Gohel stated.

Wilson said that one of his regrets was that he was not able to get more funding for schools, hospitals and roads in Afghanistan once the Soviets finally left.  Still, he remained optimistic. "I would just tell the Afghan people that I still love them," he said. "And that I hope that somehow we find a way to achieve a military tranquility."

Wilson died Wednesday from a heart attack in his home state of Texas.  He was 76.

 

1 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

2 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

3 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

4 appropriations   

n.挪用（appropriation的复数形式）

参考例句：

• More commonly, funding controls are imposed in the annual appropriations process. 更普遍的作法是，拨款控制被规定在年度拨款手续中。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法
• Should the president veto the appropriations bill, it goes back to Congress. 假如总统否决了这项拨款提案，就把它退还给国会。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

5 inflicted   

把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They inflicted a humiliating defeat on the home team. 他们使主队吃了一场很没面子的败仗。
• Zoya heroically bore the torture that the Fascists inflicted upon her. 卓娅英勇地承受法西斯匪徒加在她身上的酷刑。

6 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。

7 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。