VOA常速英语2007年-Former Secretaries Albright and Cohen To Chair

By Cindy Saine
Washington
13 November 2007

A group of former U.S. officials and lawmakers has launched a task force to draw up a list of practical recommendations for responding to threats of genocide and mass killings¹. The group is headed by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright and former Defense² Secretary William Cohen. Both served under President Bill Clinton. VOA's Cindy Saine reports from Washington.

Secretary Albright and Secretary Cohen served in an administration that grappled with genocide in Rwanda and ethnic³ cleansing⁴ in the Balkans. At a news conference in Washington Tuesday, Ms. Albright said genocide cannot be stopped by simply pledging "never again."

"The world for a long time has said that genocide is unacceptable. And yet genocide continues, and mass killings continue. And our challenge basically is to match the words with deeds and actions to stop these kinds of unacceptable acts," she said.

The task force was formed by the United States Holocaust⁵ Memorial Museum, the American Academy of Diplomacy⁶ and the United States Institute of Peace. Members of the group also include former Republican Senator and Ambassador to the United Nations John Danforth, former Democratic Senator Tom Daschle, and former head of the U.S. Central Command, Retired⁷ General Anthony Zinni. The group plans to draw up a list of guidelines by December 2008 to present to the new U.S. administration that takes office in January 2009.

Secretary Albright said the task force was, in part, born out of frustration⁸ at the ongoing⁹ crisis in Sudan's Darfur region. "Watching Darfur, I think, is one of the things that has led us all to say, okay, let's give this another try to see if there are some guidelines. And if, speaking of the United States government, if there is some way to organize ourselves better to deal with it, in terms of early intelligence information, or the deployment¹⁰ of certain kinds of negotiators and diplomats," she said.

Former Defense Secretary William Cohen pointed¹¹ out that modern technology prevents us from saying we are not aware of what is taking place. "Because we live in this age of information, we can no longer claim that we're in a state of bliss¹². Ignorance is not bliss. We can no longer live in a state of denial or willful indifference¹³. And so the purpose of this task force is to look to the past to be sure, but to look forward to say what are the signs, what are the options that will be available to the United States as one of the leading forces to help shape multilateral action," he said.

Secretary Cohen said the U.S. failure to intervene in Rwanda was not a high point in the country's history. But he said he was proud to serve on the genocide prevention task force with Secretary Albright, because she took the lead in calling for U.S. intervention¹⁴ to stop the massacre¹⁵ of ethnic Albanians in Kosovo.

He said the task force will focus on the future to prevent atrocities¹⁶ from happening again.

1 killings   

谋杀( killing的名词复数 )； 突然发大财，暴发

参考例句：

• His statement was seen as an allusion to the recent drug-related killings. 他的声明被视为暗指最近与毒品有关的多起凶杀案。
• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。

2 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。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 cleansing   

n. 净化(垃圾) adj. 清洁用的 动词cleanse的现在分词

参考例句：

• medicated cleansing pads for sensitive skin 敏感皮肤药物清洗棉
• Soap is not the only cleansing agent. 肥皂并不是唯一的清洁剂。

5 holocaust   

n.大破坏；大屠杀

参考例句：

• The Auschwitz concentration camp always remind the world of the holocaust.奥辛威茨集中营总是让世人想起大屠杀。
• Ahmadinejad is denying the holocaust because he's as brutal as Hitler was.内贾德否认大屠杀，因为他像希特勒一样残忍。

6 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

7 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。

8 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

9 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。

10 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

11 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。

12 bliss   

n.狂喜，福佑，天赐的福

参考例句：

• It's sheer bliss to be able to spend the day in bed.整天都可以躺在床上真是幸福。
• He's in bliss that he's won the Nobel Prize.他非常高兴，因为获得了诺贝尔奖金。

13 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

14 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

15 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

16 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》