US Troops Cheer Rumsfeld during Surprise Visit to Iraq

 

Nick Simeone

Defense¹ Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has made a surprise visit to Iraq, meeting with American troops and touring the prison where Iraqis were abused by American soldiers.

With no advance word, Secretary Rumsfeld flew nonstop for 14 hours to Kuwait and then immediately headed into Iraq, meeting with American troops and making a visit to the Abu Ghraib prison, where American soldiers were photographed abusing Iraqi prisoners.

To a warm welcome from the troops, he sought to boost their morale² in the wake of the abuse scandal, which he said was "a body blow to all of us." In Congressional testimony³ last week Mr. Rumsfeld accepted full responsibility for the actions of the soldiers at Abu Ghraib, but Thursday offered the clearest indication yet that he has no intention of resigning, as many Democrats⁴ in Washington have demanded.

"It's a fact. I'm a survivor," said Donald Rumsfeld.

On the ground in Iraq for just over seven hours, the defense secretary faced questions about the future of the U.S. mission there, at a time when American soldiers continue to be killed in near daily attacks and less than two months before political power is set to be handed back to Iraqis.

"It's going to be a tough road ahead," he said. "We know that. It's not going to be an easy path from a repressive dictatorship to a stable, prosperous, successful country."

The on-going violence in Iraq has been largely overshadowed over the past two weeks by the outrage⁵ caused by the photos of Iraqi prisoners being forced to strip naked and simulate sex. Members of Congress say additional, unreleased photos of mistreatment that they have been allowed to see are even more graphic⁶, with many worried that outrage in the Arab world will lead to more acts of retaliation⁷.

The CIA now says the brutal⁸ videotaped execution in Iraq of American civilian⁹ Nick Berg was probably carried out by wanted Jordanian militant¹⁰ Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and that it is his voice on the tape declaring the beheading in retaliation for Iraqi prisoners being abused.

The U.S. government has a $10-million reward for information leading to the capture of the suspected terrorist, who has been implicated¹² in other attacks in Iraq and is suspected of involvement in the murder two years ago of an American diplomat¹³ in Jordan.
注释：
Defense Secretary （美国）国防部长
tour [tuE] v. 巡游
Iraqi [i5rB:ki] n. 伊拉克人
Kuwait [ku5weit] n. 科威特（中东国家）
Abu Ghraib prison  阿布格莱布监狱
boost [bu:st] v. 鼓舞，提高
morale [mC5rB:l] n. 士气
scandal [5skAndl] n. 丑行，丑闻
testimony [5testimEni] n. 证词，宣言
mission [5miFEn] n. 使命，任务
repressive [rI5presIv] adj. 压抑的
dictatorship [dik5teitEFip] n. 专政
prosperous [5prCspErEs] adj. 繁荣的
overshadow [7EuvE5FAdEu] v. 遮蔽
strip [strip] vt. 剥去
simulate [5simjuleit] vt. 模拟，模仿
graphic [5^rAfik] adj. 生动的，真实的
retaliation [rI9tAlI5eIFEn] n. 报复，报仇
CIA abbr. Central Intelligence Agency 中央情报局
brutal [5bru:tl] adj. 残忍的
execution [7eksi5kju:FEn] n. 完成，执行
behead v. 斩首，砍头
implicate¹¹ [5implikeit] vt. 使牵连其中
suspect [sEs5pekt] v. 怀疑
diplomat [5diplEmAt] n. 外交官

 

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

3 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。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

6 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

7 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

9 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。

10 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。

11 implicate   

vt.使牵连其中，涉嫌

参考例句：

• He didn't find anything in the notebooks to implicate Stu.他在笔记本中没发现任何涉及斯图的东西。
• I do not want to implicate you in my problem of the job.我工作上的问题不想把你也牵扯进来。

12 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。