2007年VOA标准英语-Saddam Execution Video Scandal Fuels Reactions

By Leta Hong Fincher
Washington, DC
04 January 2007
 
watch Saddam Execution Reaction

An Iraqi official says the person suspected to have secretly recorded video of Saddam Hussein's execution on a mobile phone camera has been arrested. Bush administration officials say the United States raised concerns about the manner of the execution.

Nouri al-Maliki

An adviser¹ to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said  the government is leading an investigation² into the abusive acts at Saddam's execution.

Mobile phone footage---widely distributed on the Internet---documents witnesses taunting³ Saddam Hussein moments before he was hanged. 

Sunni Arabs in Iraq have staged demonstrations⁴ at the conduct of Saddam's execution, saying it was an act of pure vengeance⁵ by the Shiite-led government.

The top U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad attempted to distance the United States from the manner of Saddam's execution. "If you are asking me 'would we have done things differently?' Yes, we would have. But that's not our decision. That's the government of Iraq's decision."

President Bush declined to answer a question about the former Iraqi ruler's execution when he spoke⁶ to reporters Wednesday.

White House Press Secretary Tony Snow said the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad had expressed its concerns over the handling of Saddam's execution. But he emphasized that Saddam Hussein was executed after a long trial that met international standards. "There seems to be a lot of concern about the last two minutes of Saddam Hussein's life and less about the first 69 [years] in which he murdered hundreds of thousands of people."

Experts on the Middle East say the scandal has further inflamed⁷ sectarian tensions between Sunni and Shi'ite Arabs in Iraq. Edmund Ghareeb is an international relations scholar at American University in Washington D.C.

"It is likely to pour oil on the fire of sectarianism and that in itself is going to make life difficult for both the United States and the Iraqi government."

An Iraqi special tribunal condemned⁸ Saddam to death in November for his role in ordering the executions of 148 Shi'ites after a failed assassination⁹ attempt in 1982.

1 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 taunting   

嘲讽( taunt的现在分词 )； 嘲弄； 辱骂； 奚落

参考例句：

• She wagged a finger under his nose in a taunting gesture. 她当着他的面嘲弄地摇晃着手指。
• His taunting inclination subdued for a moment by the old man's grief and wildness. 老人的悲伤和狂乱使他那嘲弄的意图暂时收敛起来。

4 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

5 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。

6 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。

7 inflamed   

adj.发炎的，红肿的v.（使）变红，发怒，过热( inflame的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His comments have inflamed teachers all over the country. 他的评论激怒了全国教师。
• Her joints are severely inflamed. 她的关节严重发炎。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

9 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。