VOA标准英语2013--美国帮助马里军方打击恐怖主义但是不提供军事援助

 

US Tries to Fight Terror in Mali Without Funding Mali's Military 美国帮助马里军方打击恐怖主义但是不提供军事援助

STATE DEPARTMENT — Al-Qaida-affiliated¹ terrorists in Mali are claiming responsibility for fresh attacks following the August election of a new civilian² government. The United States says it is helping³ in the fight against terrorism in Mali but will not provide military assistance because of concerns about Mali's army.

国务院——基地组织分支声称要攻击8月新选举的平民政府。美国表示,它正在帮助对抗马里的恐怖主义但不会提供军事援助。

Suspected Islamist militants⁵ this week shelled the northern Malian city of Gao for the first time in nearly five months, renewing attacks that had been halted by French forces earlier this year.  The Obama administration says it is targeting those al-Qaida-affiliated terrorists.

"The defeat of al-Qaida in the Islamic Maghreb and affiliated violent extremist groups in Mali is a top priority for the United States.  We have provided information and we’ve provided logistical support to French military operations there," said Deputy State Department Spokeswoman Marie Harf.

However, Washington is not providing assistance to Mali's military, which overthrew⁶ the government last year and has resisted security sector⁷ reforms by the new civilian president.

"We’re committed to working with the government of Mali to restore this assistance in coordination⁸ with other donors⁹ and in a way that supports their efforts to strengthen their institutions and their civilian control over the military," continued Harf.

There are also concerns about military human rights abuses, according to Sarah Margon from Human Rights Watch.

"Our priority is really seeing accountability for those abuses that were scaled up during the coup¹⁰ and in the aftermath," said Margon.

Margon added that Mali's new president, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, has a lot of work to do.

"There's a host of issues; abuse particularly within the security sector but also corruption¹¹ concerns.  As the U.S. decides when it will turn the spigot back on for security assistance, we would certainly hope that these will be some of the top priorities that they focus on," continued Margon.

President Keita has made security and accountability top priorities for his new government, but he also told world leaders at the United Nations that he can not do it alone.

"When we look at security we must include issues of trust and concerns over sovereignty.  The nature and breadth of threats on the ground demand that we go beyond these considerations and work to pool our resources because these threats are beyond the capacities of any one state," explained Keita.

Cooperation in fighting terrorism in the Sahel is especially important at a time of instability in North Africa, says U.S. Institute of Peace analyst¹² Manal Omar.

"There have been a few prison breaks in Libya.  There have been prison breaks in Tunisia.  And I think that really signals that even in the capitals and in the major cities, [governments] are having a hard time controlling [their countries].  And borders are hard to control under the best of situations.  So you can only imagine the challenge that really is coming in front of the Libyan government in terms of the Sahel, in terms of coordination with Mali," said Omar.

Some of the ethnic¹³ Tuaregs who fled Libya are part of the Islamist militant⁴ groups currently destabilizing northern Mali.

"It's important to look at the humanitarian¹⁴ aspect of the Tuareg and how do you make sure that you are not creating camps that will essentially¹⁵ be recruitment grounds because they are being treated unfairly," warned Omar.

While continuing to work with French forces in Mali, the Obama administration has indicated it plans to meet with key Malian leaders to discuss restoring military aid, with the goal of fighting terrorism.

1 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

4 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

5 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。

6 overthrew   

overthrow的过去式

参考例句：

• The people finally rose up and overthrew the reactionary regime. 人们终于起来把反动的政权推翻了。
• They overthrew their King. 他们推翻了国王。

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

8 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

9 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

11 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

12 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。

13 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

14 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

15 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。