2006年VOA标准英语-Experts Provide Their Perspectives on the UN Fo

By Carolyn Weaver¹
Washington, DC
30 August 2006
 
watch Peacekeeper report

Peacekeepers stand guard  
  
The U.N. Security Council resolution on ending the month-long war between Israel and Hezbollah called for adding up to 13,000 troops to the 2,000 member U.N. peacekeeping force presently stationed in Lebanon, called UNIFIL. VOA's Carolyn Weaver spoke² with experts about the promise and pitfalls³ of peacekeeping missions.

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United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan visited southern Lebanon Tuesday where a newly expanded force is supposed to help the Lebanese Army retake control of the area. Hezbollah has dominated the region since Israel withdrew from southern Lebanon in 2000. 

 
Arthur Hughes
  
Retired⁴ U.S. Ambassador Arthur Hughes notes that the first United Nations peacekeeping effort was set up in Egypt following the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.  Hughes is a former director of the multinational⁵ peacekeepers now stationed in the Sinai. He says a strong mandate⁶ and clear rules of engagement are critical.

"The mandate is the bedrock and the instructions on which the force commander and the force operates on behalf of the U.N. And that is why there is such an enormous problem under the Security Council Resolution 1701 regarding the cessation of hostilities⁷ between Hezbollah and Israel,” says the former ambassador.

“The mandate is not a very strong one. It talks in terms of the international force taking all necessary steps, but it's also there to assist the government of Lebanon and the Lebanese armed forces in doing the job in the south of Lebanon. And now they're trying to turn that mandate in 1701 into an actual concept of operations that the force commander would use to instruct his troops on the ground,” adds Hughes. “And then they have to also draft R.O.E., rules of engagement. What are the individual soldiers to do in various circumstances regarding their own use of arms?"

Some peacekeeping forces are authorized⁸ to use arms to enforce a truce⁹. Others are restricted to a role as observers. An example is UNIFIL, the U.N. group that has observed the peace between Lebanon and Israel since 1982.  

 
William Zartman
  
Johns Hopkins University professor William Zartman says that observer-peacekeepers such as UNIFIL are not as effective when the conflict is between a nation-state and a rebel group that isn't accountable to the U.N. "Between Israel and Lebanon, UNIFIL worked perfectly¹⁰ well. Between Israel and Hezbollah, sitting in Lebanon, it didn't work at all."

Zartman says peacekeepers need instructions permitting them to act in defense¹¹ of themselves and civilians¹³. He points to the history of the United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo, called MONUC.

"MONUC was finally given a mandate to defend themselves, but not to defend the population around them,’ says Zartman. “So all the people around them said, 'What are they doing here? What good are they? They're not helping¹⁴ us. They're supposed to help us in a civil war.' And this was not between states. The conflict there was with rebel groups. So there was no question of state responsibility there. And they lost their credibility with the local population."

He says it's clear the U.N. force in Lebanon will be expected to do more than merely observe. "…That is, military engagement to back up the ceasefire and to disarm¹⁵ Hezbollah. And we learned in Somalia, some people have pointed¹⁶ out very specifically, you can't disarm unless you're prepared for combat, because people with arms, some of them, are going to resist. And so you have to be in an enforcement position, with an enforcement mandate and enforcement rules of engagement."

Former U.S. Ambassador Arthur Hughes says the best guidelines for peacekeeping operations were set out in a U.N. report in 2000. It recommends adequate numbers of military and civilian¹² personnel who can be quickly mobilized.

"This hasn't been done because countries are unwilling¹⁷ to commit forces to situations that they might find politically difficult, or might have their own problems. But there are a couple of other reasons, in addition to the whole question of sovereignty," explains Hughes. “No one wants to put their forces into harm's way and take serious casualties, unless they know it's a professional operation, it's got a high degree of success, and it's really important not only to the international community but to their own national interests and relationship with the countries involved."

Hughes says he's hopeful for the success of the peacekeeping effort in Lebanon.  "But they  need the gravitas of sizable numbers. They need to get near that 15,000 if they're really going to be in enough places and be taken seriously enough by Hezbollah and all the groups in Lebanon -- and Syria, and Iran -- if they are going to have any real chance of success."

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan says more than 9.000 troops have been offered by European countries for the peacekeeping force. He notes that several Islamic countries have offered to contribute as well. 

1 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 pitfalls   

（捕猎野兽用的）陷阱( pitfall的名词复数 )； 意想不到的困难，易犯的错误

参考例句：

• the potential pitfalls of buying a house 购买房屋可能遇到的圈套
• Several pitfalls remain in the way of an agreement. 在达成协议的进程中还有几个隐藏的困难。

4 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。

5 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。

6 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

7 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

8 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

9 truce   

n.休战，(争执，烦恼等的)缓和；v.以停战结束

参考例句：

• The hot weather gave the old man a truce from rheumatism.热天使这位老人暂时免受风湿病之苦。
• She had thought of flying out to breathe the fresh air in an interval of truce.她想跑出去呼吸一下休战期间的新鲜空气。

10 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

11 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。

12 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。

13 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。

14 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。

15 disarm   

v.解除武装，回复平常的编制，缓和

参考例句：

• The world has waited 12 years for Iraq to disarm. 全世界等待伊拉克解除武装已有12年之久。
• He has rejected every peaceful opportunity offered to him to disarm.他已经拒绝了所有能和平缴械的机会。

16 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

17 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。