2007年VOA标准英语-Former US Secretaries of State Call for Diploma

By Deborah Tate
Washington
31 January 2007

Two former U.S. secretaries of state say the United States should step up diplomacy¹ in the Middle East as a way to bring stability to Iraq. But in testimony² before Congress, they disagreed on whether President Bush should move ahead with his decision to send more troops to Iraq. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

In testimony before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and Madeleine Albright urged the administration to engage Iraq's neighbors, including Iran and Syria.

 
Henry Kissenger

Kissinger, who was secretary of state in the Nixon and Ford³ administrations, proposed talking to Iran and Syria as part of a regional conference on Iraq.

 "There should be some such conference. In my view, that should include the neighbors, the Security Council, countries like Indonesia, India, and Pakistan," he said. "That would be a rather large and unwieldy body that could then form subgroups to include regional issues. The importance is that only in such a framework can you really deal with the issue of autonomy, because you create a wider legitimacy⁴ for what is emerging, and against intervention⁵."

Kissinger said radical⁶ fundamentalism promoted by Iran is the biggest threat to the region. Although he said he believes Iran may have little incentive⁷ to help the United States solve the Iraq problem, he argued that Washington should seek to engage Tehran, nonetheless.

"We have no quarrel with Iran as a nation. We can respect Iran as a major player in the region with a significant role in the region. What we cannot accept is an Iran that seeks to dominate the region on a basis of a religious ideology⁸ and using the Shi'ia base in other countries to undermine stability in the region on which the economic well being of such a large part of the world depends," he said.

The Bush administration has placed conditions on any talks with Iran and Syria. U.S. officials say Iran must halt its nuclear program, which the United States and its allies believe is aimed at producing nuclear weapons, before bilateral⁹ talks are possible with Tehran. They also say Syria must stop sending foreign fighters and weapons into Iraq before Washington opens talks with Damascus.

 
Madeleine Albright 

Former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who served under the Clinton administration, takes issue with those arguments.

"We can talk to governments without endorsing¹⁰ them or overlooking past actions. Talking to governments about hard problems is why diplomacy matters," she said.

Although Albright and Kissinger agreed on the need for more diplomacy, they disagreed about President Bush's decision to send 21,500 more troops to Iraq, the majority of whom will be sent to Baghdad to help Iraqi forces clear and secure neighborhoods.

Albright said U.S. troops should not be sent on such a mission.

"We do not speak the language, we do not know the culture well enough, and quite frankly¹¹, we do not have the recognized legal and moral authority to go into Iraqi homes and compel obedience¹². Each time we do, we lose as much ground politically as might hope to gain militarily," she said.

But Kissinger said the troop surge could help bring stability to the country and allow a unity¹³ government to be established.

The Senate next week is to consider several non-binding resolutions relating to the proposed troop increase. Among them is one sponsored by the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, Senator John Warner of Virginia, which expresses opposition¹⁴ to sending additional troops to Iraq.

1 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

2 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

3 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

4 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。

5 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。

6 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

7 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

8 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

9 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

10 endorsing   

v.赞同( endorse的现在分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• Yet Communist leaders are also publicly endorsing religion in an unprecedented way. 不过，共产党领导层对宗教信仰的公开认可也是以前不曾有过的。 来自互联网
• Connecticut Independent Senator Joseph Lieberman is endorsing Republican Senator John McCain. 康涅狄格州独立派参议员约瑟夫。列波曼将会票选共和议员约翰。麦凯恩。 来自互联网

11 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

12 obedience   

n.服从，顺从

参考例句：

• Society has a right to expect obedience of the law.社会有权要求人人遵守法律。
• Soldiers act in obedience to the orders of their superior officers.士兵们遵照上级军官的命令行动。

13 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

14 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。