Latest Iraq Attacks Mark One of Deadliest Days of Violence

Nick Simeone

In Iraq, five U.S. soldiers and four American civilians¹ working for the U.S.-led military coalition² have been killed in a day of violent attacks. The bodies of the American civilians were burned and put on display by a crowd in the town of Fallujah, which has been a stronghold of anti-U.S. sentiment. It was one of the deadliest days of violence against the U.S.-led military coalition in weeks.

Crowds of Iraqis demonstrate in Fallujah after the Americans, who worked for a North Carolina-based Security company, were pulled from their vehicles, shot and then burned beyond recognition. At least one corpse³ was then dragged through the streets. The remains⁴ of two charred⁶ corpses⁷ were later seen hanging from a nearby bridge.

In Baghdad, U.S. Army General Mark Kimmitt told reporters, "It is our understanding that there were four people traveling in two vehicles. What they were doing there, I'm not sure of. Like most contractors⁸, they have a responsibility throughout the country."

The four were identified as employees of the security consulting firm Blackwater USA, which has a contract to provide security for the U.S. government in the Fallujah area.

In Washington, Bush administration officials called Wednesday's attacks a horrific attempt to prevent Iraq's democratic process from moving forward, but vowed⁹ those attempts will not succeed. Further north, five American soldiers were killed when their armored personnel carrier ran over a roadside bomb.

Nearly 600 American soldiers have been killed in Iraq since the war began a year ago. In recent weeks, anti-American insurgents¹¹ have been stepping up attacks on civilians, both Iraqis and foreigners, seen to be cooperating with the U.S.-led occupation authority. Wednesday's violence came just two days after a United Nations official warned the on-going unrest risks jeopardizing¹² Iraqi elections, which are supposed to take place by early next year.

Also Wednesday, several thousand Iraqis demonstrated in Baghdad demanding the Shiite newspaper Al-Hawza, closed by U.S. troops Sunday, be allowed to resume publication. Coalition spokesman Gareth Bayley tells VOA U.S. administrator¹³ Paul Bremer reluctantly ordered the paper shut for 60 days, accusing it of attempting to instigate¹⁴ attacks on U.S. troops. "This paper is at the margins¹⁵ and it's publishing articles which can lead to actual deaths and harm to people."

But the move has drawn¹⁶ criticism from freedom of the press groups here in the United States, including the Committee to Protect Journalists. Joel Campagna is the spokesman, "We think that by closing down a newspaper, particularly in the manner in which the CPA [Coalition Provisional Authority] did, sends the wrong signal to Iraqi media."

The paper has been considered a mouthpiece for a Shiite cleric who has spoken out against the U.S.-led military occupation.

注释:
U.S.-led military coalition 美国领导的军事联盟
stronghold [5strRNhEuld] n. 要塞，据点
anti-U.S. 反美
sentiment [5sentimEnt] n. 情绪
pull from 从……拖出
corpse [kC:ps] n. 尸体
char⁵ [tFB:] v. 烧焦
horrific [hC5rifik] adj. 恐怖的
armored [5B:mEd] adj. 披甲的，装甲的
insurgent¹⁰ [in5sE:dVEnt] n. 起义者
jeopardize¹⁷ [5dVepEdaIz] v. 危害
resume [ri5zju:m] vt. 恢复
accuse [E5kju:z] vt. 谴责
instigate [5insti^eit] v. 鼓动
CPA abbr. 全称为Coalition Provisional Authority，临时管理委员会
mouthpiece [5maJWpi:s] n. 代言人

1 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。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 corpse   

n.尸体，死尸

参考例句：

• What she saw was just an unfeeling corpse.她见到的只是一具全无感觉的尸体。
• The corpse was preserved from decay by embalming.尸体用香料涂抹以防腐烂。

4 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

5 char   

v.烧焦；使...燃烧成焦炭

参考例句：

• Without a drenching rain,the forest fire will char everything.如果没有一场透地雨，森林大火将烧尽一切。
• The immediate batch will require deodorization to char the protein material to facilitate removal in bleaching.脱臭烧焦的蛋白质原料易在脱色中去除。

6 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 corpses   

n.死尸，尸体( corpse的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The living soldiers put corpses together and burned them. 活着的战士把尸体放在一起烧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Overhead, grayish-white clouds covered the sky, piling up heavily like decaying corpses. 天上罩满了灰白的薄云，同腐烂的尸体似的沉沉的盖在那里。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

8 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

10 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

11 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

12 jeopardizing   

危及，损害( jeopardize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Plans may also become inefficient in the attainment of objectives by jeopardizing group satisfactions. 用危及群体利益方法去达到目标的计划，也是无效率的。
• That boosted government revenues in the short term, but is now jeopardizing them. Morales将天然气工业，电信业和部分采矿业收归国有的举措吓跑了投资者们。

13 administrator   

n.经营管理者，行政官员

参考例句：

• The role of administrator absorbed much of Ben's energy.行政职务耗掉本很多精力。
• He has proved himself capable as administrator.他表现出管理才能。

14 instigate   

v.教唆，怂恿，煽动

参考例句：

• His object was to instigate a little rebellion on the part of the bishop.他的目的是，在主教方面煽起一场小小的造反。
• It would not prove worthwhile to instigate a nuclear attack.挑起核攻击最终是不值得的。

15 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

16 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

17 jeopardize   

vt.危及，损害

参考例句：

• Overworking can jeopardize your health.工作过量可能会危及你的健康。
• If you are rude to the boss it may jeopardize your chances of success.如果你对上司无礼，那就可能断送你成功的机会。