VOA标准英语2010年-Odierno: Iran Funding Extremists in Ir

U.S. commander for Iraq, Gen. Ray Odierno, speaks at a press conference at the U.S. embassy in the Green Zone of Baghdad, Iraq (File Photo)

The commander of U.S. forces in Iraq says Iran is fueling instability in neighboring Iraq by funding and training Shi'ite extremist groups in the country.

General Ray Odierno told CNN on Sunday that Iran does not want Iraq to become a strong democratic country. He said Iran would rather see Iraq become a "weak governmental institution."

Odierno also said it would take a "complete failure" of Iraq's security forces for the U.S. to resume combat operations there. He said Iraqi forces have done so well for so long that he finds their failure unlikely.

Meanwhile, the U.S. military says an American soldier was killed in southern Iraq's Basra province on Sunday.

The soldier was the first fatality¹ among U.S. troops in Iraq since the last American combat brigade left the country last Thursday.

Brookings expert on U.S. troop presence in Iraq speaks with VOA's Susan Yackee:

 
Smaller U.S. combat units remain in Iraq but are scheduled to leave by the end of this month.

About 50,000 U.S. troops will stay in Iraq until the end of 2011 as a stability force.

Their focus will be training Iraqi soldiers and performing counter-terrorism operations, but they will be fully² capable of fighting if they are attacked or if Iraqi forces need help.

More than 4,400 U.S. military personnel have been killed in Iraq since war began in March 2003 with a U.S.-led invasion that eventually toppled Iraq's Saddam Hussein.

Late Saturday, Iraqi police in the city of Nasiriya used water cannon³ to disperse⁴ stone-throwing demonstrators angry about severe shortages of electricity.

Officials say at least nine protesters and six police were hurt in the clashes.

Public anger at power shortages has increased in June, July and August as summer temperatures regularly reach 50 degrees Celsius⁵.

Violent protests in Nasiriya and Basra in June left two protesters dead and wounded a number of police and civilians⁶.

Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

 
 

1 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 cannon   

n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮

参考例句：

• The soldiers fired the cannon.士兵们开炮。
• The cannon thundered in the hills.大炮在山间轰鸣。

4 disperse   

vi.使分散；使消失；vt.分散；驱散

参考例句：

• The cattle were swinging their tails to disperse the flies.那些牛甩动着尾巴驱赶苍蝇。
• The children disperse for the holidays.孩子们放假了。

5 Celsius   

adj.摄氏温度计的，摄氏的

参考例句：

• The temperature tonight will fall to seven degrees Celsius.今晚气温将下降到七摄氏度。
• The maximum temperature in July may be 36 degrees Celsius.七月份最高温度可能达到36摄氏度。

6 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。