2006年VOA标准英语-Iraqi Ambassador Expects Political Comprom

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
16 April 2006

 
An Iraqi man demonstrates in support of embattled Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari in Najaf, south of Baghdad
  
Iraq's ambassador to the United States says he expects a compromise resolution to a political impasse¹ that has prevented Iraqi leaders from moving ahead with the country's new government. Meanwhile, debate continues in Washington over calls by six retired² U.S. generals for Defense³ Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign because of his direction of the war in Iraq.

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Iraq's new ambassador to the United States, Samir Sumaidaie, told CNN's "Late Edition" he is optimistic a political solution in Iraq is imminent⁴. "First, there is total consensus⁵ that whatever government emerges will be a national unity⁶ government. By definition this means that's a government that everybody has a stakes a stake in, everybody supports. In this process, it's complicated, of course, and there's a lot at stake. As we talk now, people I know are huddled⁷ together to put the final touches on a compromise that is emerging," he said.

The Iraqi envoy⁸ said the compromise is likely to involve someone other than interim⁹ Prime Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari. Following the results of national elections in December, the Shi'ites, who hold the largest political block, nominated Prime Minister al-Jaafari to continue in that position. But the Sunnis and Kurds oppose his candidacy because they say he has not been strong enough against Iraq's insurgency¹⁰.

The Iraqi ambassador blamed the insurgency for exacting¹¹ a heavy toll¹² on the country, in answer to critics who say the political delays have created a vacuum that is leading to chaos¹³ in Iraq. "There's far too much blood that's been flowing and continues to flow. Iraq is bleeding as a country, but we are bleeding mainly through the blows dealt by the terrorists, not by people who are trying to solve the Iraqi political process," he said.

In another Iraq war-related development, American politicians are publicly debating calls by six retired U.S. military generals for Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld to resign.

Bill Richardson, the Democratic governor of the southwestern U.S. state of New Mexico, told the CBS television program "Face the Nation" he supports calls for Rumsfeld's resignation. "My view is that the secretary should step aside. Besides the fact that the Iraqi war has been mismanaged, that a lot of brave American men and women, over 23-hundred, have perished. We should listen to what these generals are saying," he said.

Three of the six generals had commanded troops in Iraq under Rumsfeld, which the New Mexico governor said gives them direct knowledge of the decision-making process. "They basically are saying that Secretary Rumsfeld, on issues relating to military strategy, true military policy, supplies for the troops, number of troops, rules of engagement, didn't listen to them, that he did it, military policy, on his own," he said.

President Bush has repeated his support for the embattled Defense secretary, saying Rumsfeld's energetic and steady leadership is what is needed at this critical period.

Republican Senator George Allen acknowledged that the war has been tougher than originally predicted. But he added that he doesn't think getting rid of Rumsfeld will solve the problems the U.S. military faces in Iraq. "In the event that you switch the secretary of defense," he said, "what difference would that make? Would that mean anything to the terrorists? Would that mean anything in so far as the training of Iraqis, so that as they stand up, we can stand down and have our troops come home?"

Allen said he thinks singling out one person for blame is distracting from what he considers to be more constructive¹⁴ efforts. "So, a lot of this focus on an individual is a way of maybe criticizing the president, but it would be more useful, I think, if we looked at ways to find benchmarks of progress that could be communicated to the American people, rather than fixating on a personality," he said.

Meanwhile, as political wrangling¹⁵ continues in Iraq, the country's long-awaited legislative¹⁶ session planned for Monday has been postponed¹⁷.

At the same time ongoing¹⁸ violence there claims more lives. A car bomb killed several people in Mahmoudiyah, a town south of Baghdad. Other incidents were reported in Baghdad, Mosul and Yusifiyah.

1 impasse   

n.僵局；死路

参考例句：

• The government had reached an impasse.政府陷入绝境。
• Negotiations seemed to have reached an impasse.谈判似乎已经陷入僵局。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 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。

4 imminent   

adj.即将发生的，临近的，逼近的

参考例句：

• The black clounds show that a storm is imminent.乌云预示暴风雨即将来临。
• The country is in imminent danger.国难当头。

5 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

6 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。

7 huddled   

挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• We huddled together for warmth. 我们挤在一块取暖。
• We huddled together to keep warm. 我们挤在一起来保暖。

8 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

9 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

10 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

11 exacting   

adj.苛求的，要求严格的

参考例句：

• He must remember the letters and symbols with exacting precision.他必须以严格的精度记住每个字母和符号。
• The public has been more exacting in its demands as time has passed.随着时间的推移，公众的要求更趋严格。

12 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

13 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

14 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。

15 wrangling   

v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The two sides have spent most of their time wrangling over procedural problems. 双方大部分时间都在围绕程序问题争论不休。 来自辞典例句
• The children were wrangling (with each other) over the new toy. 孩子为新玩具（互相）争吵。 来自辞典例句

16 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

17 postponed   

vt.& vi.延期，缓办，（使）延迟vt.把…放在次要地位；[语]把…放在后面（或句尾）vi.（疟疾等）延缓发作（或复发）

参考例句：

• The trial was postponed indefinitely. 审讯无限期延迟。
• The game has already been postponed three times. 这场比赛已经三度延期了。

18 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。