VOA常速英语2007-Baghdad Attack Wounds Poland's Ambassador to Ira

By Jim Randle
Irbil, Iraq
03 October 2007

An attack on a diplomatic convoy¹ in Baghdad has injured Poland's ambassador to Iraq and killed three other people. VOA's Jim Randle reports from Irbil in northern Iraq.

Explosions wounded the Polish ambassador, General Edward Pietrzyk, who was taken to a nearby hospital. Doctors there say he will survive.

Poland strongly supported the U.S-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, and has about 1,000 troops in the country.

The attack on the diplomatic convoy is the kind of threat that prompted the U.S. State Department to hire the controversial private security company Blackwater to protect American diplomats².

Tuesday, Blackwater was the subject of a U.S. congressional hearing examining its overall conduct and in particular a chaotic³ and bloody⁴ incident last month in Baghdad that left at least 11 Iraqis dead.

The New York Times newspaper, citing Iraqi investigators⁵, says the actual number of civilian⁶ deaths was 17.

Blackwater insists it responded properly to a threat.

Wednesday, Iraq's Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said reports reaching him say Blackwater was involved in a series of incidents that left 190 people wounded or dead.

He also said he is closely following the various investigations⁷ into the company and the private security industry, but already believes Blackwater should be barred from working in Iraq.

Another Iraqi political controversy⁸ heated up Wednesday as Kurdistan's regional government in northern Iraq approved more deals with oil companies.

In a website message, the Kurdistan Regional Government said it approved four contracts for oil exploration and production, along with two new refinery⁹ projects. The exploration and related projects will bring a $500 million investment, and the badly-needed refineries¹⁰ will come to about $300 million.

An earlier agreement with the Hunt Oil company drew criticism from rival Sunni and Shi'ite politicians in parliament and was declared "illegal" by Iraqi Oil Minister Hussein al-Shahristani.

The Kurdistan Regional Government has approved an oil law governing its oil industry. But the national parliament in Baghdad has been working on a "hydrocarbon¹¹ law" that would regulate this crucial industry across the country.

The Kurdistan region of northern Iraq is home to up to a third of Iraq's oil, while the larger Shi'ite area to the south has the bulk of the nation's oil and population. Not much oil has been found in the mostly Sunni areas in the center and west.

1 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。

2 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

4 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

5 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 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。

7 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

8 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

9 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

10 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

11 hydrocarbon   

n.烃，碳氢化合物

参考例句：

• During incomplete combustion some of the hydrocarbon fuel is cracked.在不完全的燃烧中，一些烃燃料裂解。
• The hydrocarbon must be an alkene.这个碳氢化合物必定是烯烃。