VOA常速英语2007年-US Concerned About Mounting Humanitarian Crisis

By David Gollust
Washington
21 November 2007

The United States Wednesday expressed serious concern about the humanitarian¹ situation in Somalia, where an estimated one million people have been displaced by civil warfare², mainly around the capital Mogadishu. The chief U.S. diplomat³ for Africa, Jendayi Frazer, says it is time for Somali moderates to come forward and work to end chronic⁴ violence. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The relative optimism about the situation in Somalia that prevailed in Washington earlier this year has been replaced by deepening concern that civil strife⁵ is again spinning out of control.

The U.N. High Commissioner⁶ for Refugees said this week an exodus⁷ of Somalis displaced by fighting in Mogadishu has rapidly accelerated, and that a million people are homeless in a crisis that is in some ways more severe than the situation in Sudan's Darfur region.

In a written statement Wednesday, the State Department urged all parties in the Somali conflict to ensure unfettered delivery of humanitarian aid to those affected⁸, and said the United States will work with international partners and aid donors⁹ to respond to the needs of Somalis.

At the same time, it appealed for an effective cease-fire to reduce the level of violence, and it urged all Somali parties to renew dialogue and commit to a non-violent political process.

In an interview with VOA, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer said blame for the surge in violence in Mogadishu is shared by political extremists as well as forces of the country's transitional government and the Ethiopian troops who intervened in its behalf at the end of last year.

Frazer said the United States will continue to work for full deployment¹¹ of the African Union peacekeeping force for Somalia authorized¹² by the United Nations nearly a year ago, but which is still under-subscribed.

However she said peace will not return to the country, which has been without effective central governance since 1991, until moderates from all factions¹³ come together and support peace. "It's for the Somalis themselves to come together. That is something that the U.N. Secretary-General's Special Representative Ould Abdallah (of Mauritania) said. He said where are the Somali patriots¹⁴? Where are the moderate voices within Somalia, to isolate¹⁵ the extremists and have a legitimate¹⁶ opposition¹⁷. Either join the transitional federal government, or be in opposition to it. But do it through a political process. That's the key," she said.

Frazer said for the increasingly-unpopular Ethiopian troops to withdraw, the full 8,000-member A.U. peace force needs to deploy¹⁰.

At present only 1,600 Ugandan troops are in place. But the chief U.S. Africa diplomat said the United States is training Burundian troops for duty in Somalia and pressing other countries, including Nigeria and Ghana to take part, while remaining ready to provide logistical support.

In the interview, Frazer accused neighboring Eritrea of supporting Somali extremists and giving haven¹⁸ to radicals¹⁹ who fled the country after Ethiopia intervened, and said the Bush administration continues to consider putting Eritrea on its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

She also reiterated²⁰ U.S. calls on Eritrea and Ethiopia for restraint in their border dispute, as a deadline for delineating the boundary under a U.N. settlement plan approaches.

"We have seen the deployment of forces along the border between Eritrea and Ethiopia and that creates tremendous concern about miscalculation. But I think it's neither in the interest of Ethiopia or Eritrea to go back to war. So the main concern is that we clearly state that they need to resolve their problems, particularly on that border, through diplomacy²¹, through the U.N. process that's under way," she said.

Frazer said the U.N. plan requires concessions²² by both parties and said the United States does not take sides in the border issue despite strained relations with the Asmara government.

The Algiers accord in 2000 that ended a two-year war between Ethiopia and Eritrea set up a demilitarized zone and a commission to adjudicate the boundary. The U.N. panel is completing its work without achieving a mutually acceptable settlement, and a disputed previous border plan is to take affect late this month.

1 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

2 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

3 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

4 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

5 strife   

n.争吵，冲突，倾轧，竞争

参考例句：

• We do not intend to be drawn into the internal strife.我们不想卷入内乱之中。
• Money is a major cause of strife in many marriages.金钱是造成很多婚姻不和的一个主要原因。

6 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

7 exodus   

v.大批离去，成群外出

参考例句：

• The medical system is facing collapse because of an exodus of doctors.由于医生大批离去，医疗系统面临崩溃。
• Man's great challenge at this moment is to prevent his exodus from this planet.人在当前所遇到的最大挑战，就是要防止人从这个星球上消失。

8 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

9 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

11 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。

12 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。

13 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

14 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

15 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。

16 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

17 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

18 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

19 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

20 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

21 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。

22 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。