VOA常速英语2007-Iraqis React Angrily to Another Shooting by Fore

By Jim Randle
Irbil
10 October 2007

Iraqis are reacting angrily to the shooting on Tuesday of two women in Baghdad by foreign security contractors¹, the second such shooting in the past month. VOA's Jim Randle reports from northern Iraq.

Guards working for an Australian security company were traveling in a convoy². They say they warned a car to stay away, but when it failed to stop, they opened fire, killing³ two women and wounding two other people.

Television pictures have shown a blood-stained pavement and a white car with bullet holes.

Angry Baghdad resident Lika Saleh demanded to know why Iraq's government and legal system do not do more to protect the people.

Officials of the security firm, Unity⁴ Resources Group, expressed "deep regret" about the incident. Unity Resources has been working to protect people under contract with the U.S. government and its agencies in Iraq.

The latest deaths occurred shortly after Iraq's government gave U.S. officials a report demanding that the U.S. State Department end its Iraq work with the Blackwater Company, which was involved in last month's shooting that killed 17 people. The report also seeks compensation for the families of the dead.

Tuesday's incident seems likely to sharpen demands for greater control and accountability for the numerous security companies that protect diplomats⁵, aid groups, and even U.S. military personnel in Iraq.

Meanwhile, tensions are increasing along the border between Iraq and Turkey as Iraq's northern neighbor tries to stop attacks from a Kurdish-separatist group it says is based inside Iraq.

The attacks are blamed on the Kurdistan Workers Party, which Washington and other governments consider a terrorist group.

Ankara is seeking Turkish parliamentary approval for a possible military operation against Kurdish rebels in northern Iraq.

The United States has urged Turkey to work with Washington and Iraq to stop the terror attacks, and not to take unilateral military action in northern Iraq.

This resident of a Turkish border village says he wants governments to find a way to calm things down, because he is worried officials may close the border and stop the trade that brings commerce to this area.

He says people here do not want war, and they are suffering because of the tensions.

Kurdish residents of a village on the Iraqi side of the border say their village was hit by Turkish artillery⁶ late Monday. Kurdish officials say the cross-border shelling has been going on periodically for a couple of months.

1 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 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。

5 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》

6 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。