VOA常速英语2007年-Iraqis Returning Home as Violence Declines

By Mil Arcega
Washington
05 December 2007
 

Thousands of Iraqis who fled the fighting in their country are now returning home as the violence declines. The Bush administration sees this as proof that the U.S.-led troop surge is working. But a top U.S. official says Iraqi leaders must take advantage of the improved security to speed up political reconciliation¹ or risk another eruption² of sectarian violence. VOA's Mil Arcega explains.

The Iraqi humanitarian³ organization, the Red Crescent Society, estimates that more than 25,000 Iraqis who fled to Syria have returned -- many lured⁴ back by reports of declining violence and promises of about $750 to rebuild their lives.

One refugee, Sami Abu Muhand, expressed hope about the future saying, "We heard that the security situation has improved, so we have returned home. The government provided us with a force to guard us from the Iraqi border to Baghdad."

More than 150,000 U.S. troops are in Iraq. And Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte says they have delivered "significant results". He warns that Iraqi leaders must take advantage of that. "And now progress on political reconciliation, including key national legislation as well as economic advances, is needed to consolidate⁵ the gains made thus far. If progress is not made on these fronts we risk falling back into the more violent patterns of the past," he said.

More than 3,800 Americans have died in Iraq since the war started in 2003. Earlier this week President Bush criticized Congress for failing to pass a multi-billion dollar military spending bill without tying it to a troop withdrawal⁶ in Iraq. "We've got people risking their lives for the United States of America and this Congress has yet to fund them. And it needs to. And it needs to fund them without telling our military how to conduct this war," he said.

Democratic Party Congressman⁷ John Murtha, a decorated veteran and a harsh critic of the war, admits the surge is working but says it is only one element of a costly⁸ war that continues to take money away from important domestic programs such as health insurance for poor kids. "I keep stressing, look, we can no longer afford to spend $14 billion a month on this war and let our readiness slip through the rest of the country."

A recent economic report estimates the total cost of the war in Iraq will cost American taxpayers⁹ more than $2 trillion.

1 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

2 eruption   

n.火山爆发；（战争等）爆发；（疾病等）发作

参考例句：

• The temple was destroyed in the violent eruption of 1470 BC.庙宇在公元前1470年猛烈的火山爆发中摧毁了。
• The eruption of a volcano is spontaneous.火山的爆发是自发的。

3 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。

4 lured   

吸引，引诱（lure的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The child was lured into a car but managed to escape. 那小孩被诱骗上了车，但又设法逃掉了。
• Lured by the lust of gold,the pioneers pushed onward. 开拓者在黄金的诱惑下，继续奋力向前。

5 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

6 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

9 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。