VOA标准英语2013--Colonial Ties Cloud Debate Over French Intervention in Mali

 

Colonial Ties Cloud Debate Over French Intervention¹ in Mali

On a back street of the Paris suburb Montreuil lies the Foyer Bara, home to dozens of Malians who have emigrated to the former colonial power. Here you can get everything from a hot lunch to a haircut.

One topic dominates conversation: France’s military intervention.

Lammy Kamara is a Malian studying in Paris, who said the Malian people are happy because of the intervention against these people he called fanatics², who manipulate Islam. But he argued that the true cause of the crisis in the North is underdevelopment. And the causes of this poverty, he said, were imposed by the same nation that Mali now has asked to help stop the terrorism.

Support amid complicated past

France has had a difficult relationship with some of its immigrant communities in recent years, particularly in the suburbs of Paris. But most of the Malian community in Montreuil firmly supports France’s intervention in their home country.

The support goes both ways. Malian musicians performed at a recent solidarity³ meeting at Montreuil town hall. Top of the bill was Harlem Désir, chairman of the ruling Socialist⁴ Party. Désir said he had a message for "our" Malian friends: "We only want one thing - one Mali, free and democratic, and peaceful. Long live Mali, long live France, long live Montreuil, and long live the Republic."

Critics in France have called the military intervention ‘neo-colonialist.' That’s wrong, said Mahamadou Cissé, Vice⁵ President of the Council of Malians.

Cissé said France was the old colonial power of many African countries, including Mali. So the question of a French military intervention is always sensitive. But in this particular case, he said, there are circumstances that give it legitimacy⁶, give it legality.

Advocating intervention amid tepid⁷ EU help

Damien Helly is another resident of Montreuil and a Visiting Professor of the College of Europe, specializing in African affairs. “When a crisis erupts and the Africans are not ready to intervene, what do we have to do here in Europe as former colonial powers? So I think Mali is exactly a case of this dilemma⁸ for France, which is to intervene or not,” he said.

Helly said France has been left disappointed by the European Union (EU).

“Of course it’s a test for Europe. In the last four or five years you can see there’s been a lack of appetite from European members states to act militarily as the EU. France is the exception there, where it has been pushing for more intervention, but nobody really wants to do that anymore,” he said.

The residents of the Foyer Bara say they want a swift victory against the Islamist militants⁹. Many Malians also wonder, though, what will happen after French troops depart. 

1 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

2 fanatics   

狂热者，入迷者( fanatic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The heathen temple was torn down by a crowd of religions fanatics. 异教徒的神殿被一群宗教狂热分子拆除了。
• Placing nukes in the hands of baby-faced fanatics? 把核弹交给一些宗教狂热者手里？

3 solidarity   

n.团结；休戚相关

参考例句：

• They must preserve their solidarity.他们必须维护他们的团结。
• The solidarity among China's various nationalities is as firm as a rock.中国各族人民之间的团结坚如磐石。

4 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

5 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

6 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

7 tepid   

adj.微温的，温热的，不太热心的

参考例句：

• She bent her mouth to the tap and drank the tepid water.她把嘴伸到水龙头底下去喝那微温的水。
• Her feet firmly planted on the tepid rough brick of the floor.她一双脚稳固地立在微温而粗糙的砖地上。

8 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

9 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。