VOA标准英语2013--美国计划捕捉乌干达叛军领袖约瑟夫·科尼

 

Capturing Ugandan Rebel Leader Joseph Kony a US Interest 美国计划捕捉乌干达叛军领袖约瑟夫·科尼

PENTAGON — U.S. military planners continue their discussions on a possible of expansion of efforts in Africa to capture the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army, Joseph Kony. 五角大楼——美国军事规划者继续讨论捕捉乌干达叛军领袖约瑟夫·科尼的可能。

In the minds of millions of Americans -- especially young people -- the online film "Kony 2012" brought home Joseph Kony's campaign of kidnappings, mass killings¹, rapes², and the forced conscription of tens of thousands of child soldiers.

The film went viral.

Two years before its release, in a rare bipartisan move, the U.S. Congress unanimously approved legislation to stop Kony's "Lord's Resistance Army," or "LRA."  President Obama later ordered 100 U.S. special forces troops to central Africa to help train and equip the Ugandan military and others to go after Kony and his campaign of terror.

The LRA's numbers are dwindling³ and the group does not pose a threat to U.S. national security.

But Ben Keesey, the head of Invisible Children -- the activist⁴ group that made the film -- says in a Skype interview he believes deploying⁶ U.S. forces is proper use of American military power.

“As one citizen of the country, I absolutely think it's in what I would define as our national interest to stand on the side of moral justice in the worst crimes against humanity.”

The sentiments that touch millions of young Americans -- including  President Obama's own daughter, who reportedly has spoken to her father about the LRA -- bolster⁷ the administration's decision to deploy⁵ troops and perhaps expand the force.

But the policy is not being driven by sentimental⁸ reasons alone.  While the LRA is not a direct threat to the U.S., it does threaten Uganda  -- a key U.S. partner.

J. Peter Pham is an Africa analyst⁹ at the Atlantic Council research group in Washington, who says the real aim is to help Uganda.

"I think a great deal of it is what inspires a great many of Americans to be passionately¹⁰ engaged, but deep down it's also a calculus¹¹.  If we expect Uganda to deploy seven, eight thousand peacekeepers in a place that's very important to us like Somalia, they can't be doing that if they've got a a threat literally¹² [at] the back door, in the backyard in northern Uganda because of the LRA."  

Uganda has lost thousands of soldiers in its regional efforts against militants¹³ in Somalia -- a conflict where the U.S. has direct interests but no intention to deploy its own troops.  

In the U.S. calculus, supporting Uganda in its fight against the LRA is a small price.

Discussions have been under way to expand the mission and there has been talk of building an air base in Uganda -- a move that would have meant a significant boost in the number of U.S. personnel deployed¹⁴.

The Pentagon says there are currently no plans for such a base.

1 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

2 rapes   

n.芸苔( rape的名词复数 )；强奸罪；强奸案；肆意损坏v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的第三人称单数 )；强奸

参考例句：

• The man who had committed several rapes was arrested. 那个犯了多起强奸案的男人被抓起来了。 来自辞典例句
• The incidence of reported rapes rose 0.8 percent. 美国联邦调查局还发布了两份特别报告。 来自互联网

3 dwindling   

adj.逐渐减少的v.逐渐变少或变小( dwindle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The number of wild animals on the earth is dwindling. 地球上野生动物的数量正日渐减少。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is struggling to come to terms with his dwindling authority. 他正努力适应自己权力被削弱这一局面。 来自辞典例句

4 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

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 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

7 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

8 sentimental   

adj.多愁善感的，感伤的

参考例句：

• She's a sentimental woman who believes marriage comes by destiny.她是多愁善感的人，她相信姻缘命中注定。
• We were deeply touched by the sentimental movie.我们深深被那感伤的电影所感动。

9 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

10 passionately   

ad.热烈地，激烈地

参考例句：

• She could hate as passionately as she could love. 她能恨得咬牙切齿，也能爱得一往情深。
• He was passionately addicted to pop music. 他酷爱流行音乐。

11 calculus   

n.微积分；结石

参考例句：

• This is a problem where calculus won't help at all.对于这一题，微积分一点也用不上。
• After studying differential calculus you will be able to solve these mathematical problems.学了微积分之后，你们就能够解这些数学题了。

12 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

13 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。

14 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。