2007年VOA标准英语-Lawmakers Press Former US Iraq Administrator on

By Dan Robinson
Washington
06 February 2007

Paul Bremer

The former head of the Coalition¹ Provisional Authority in Iraq has testified before a congressional oversight² committee investigating how more than eight billion dollars in Iraqi development funds were used. VOA's Dan Robinson reports, Paul Bremer acknowledged mistakes in efforts to account for the money, but attributes shortcomings to chaos³ in the country at the time.

Bremer was the top U.S. official under the provisional authority, which was Iraq's government in the early months of the U.S. and coalition occupation following the ouster of former Saddam Hussein.

Since leaving Baghdad he wrote a book about his experiences, and has been a primary target of allegations from Democrats⁴, now the majority in Congress, that he was careless in overseeing the disbursement⁵ of billions of dollars in cash between 2003 and 2004.

Henry Waxman, Democratic chairman of the House (Government) Oversight Committee, faults not only the methods used to transfer the money, but the lack of controls exerted once it arrived in Baghdad. "Who in their right mind would send 360 tons of cash into a war zone? But that is exactly what our government did," he said.

Waxman refers to the shipment to Iraq of billions of dollars in cash from the Development Fund for Iraq held in a New York bank, adding it was possible some of the money found its way to insurgents⁶.

In response, Bremer says he was in the difficult position of having to pay Iraqi civil servants in a cash economy he described as being "flat on its back," after years of neglect by Saddam Hussein. "We took seriously our charge to operate in an open and transparent⁷ fashion, and to use these Iraqi funds in the best interests of the Iraqi people. We always strived to meet those objectives and where we may have fallen short, I accept responsibility," he said.

Stuart Bowen, Special Inspector⁸ General for Iraq Reconstruction⁹, said the Coalition Provisional Authority had ultimate responsibility for managing Iraqi funds. He said his audits¹⁰ found that the CPA under Bremer failed to account for how Iraqi government ministries¹¹ used the $8.8 billion after they received it. "In our view, that duty extended to requiring the Iraqi ministries to provide something more than nothing about how they were using that money," he said.

Bremer insists that he had met standards the provisional authority was operating under at the time regarding accountability of funds.

However, other testimony¹² by David Oliver, who served Bremer as CPA director of Management and Budget, underscored how risky¹³ the approach was. "We made sure that it was transparent what we were doing with the money, to the ministries, and then relied upon the ministry¹⁴ system, the entire financial system they had, to do that," he said.

Democratic Congresswoman Diane Watson expressed shock at what she called a lack of accountability, noting that American taxpayers¹⁵ are still being asked to foot the bill for Iraq. "It's such a callous¹⁶ attitude, [to say] it wasn't important, it was Iraqi money, you can't tell us whether you know or not where that money went?," he said.

Bremer was supported by Republicans on the panel who noted¹⁷ the difficult conditions under which he and others in the provisional authority operated.

Republican Congressman¹⁸ Tom Davis cautioned against what he views as Democratic attempts to politicize the issue. "Self-righteous finger-wagging and political scapegoating¹⁹ won't make Iraq any more secure, it won't rebuild that ravaged²⁰ nation, and it won't bring U.S. troops home any sooner," he said.

Tuesday's hearing was the first of many expected in coming months examining Bush administration's handling of Iraq.

The same panel meets again Wednesday to hear about the use of private U.S. contractors²¹ supporting U.S. military operations.

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

3 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 disbursement   

n.支付，付款

参考例句：

• Marine bill of lading showing any disbursement charges marked COLLECT not acceptable. 海运提单上显示的任何费用标明“到付”将不予接受。
• This makes the disbursement of 51 channel is very convenient. 这就使得51的支付渠道非常方便。

6 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

7 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

8 inspector   

n.检查员，监察员，视察员

参考例句：

• The inspector was interested in everything pertaining to the school.视察员对有关学校的一切都感兴趣。
• The inspector was shining a flashlight onto the tickets.查票员打着手电筒查看车票。

9 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

10 audits   

n.审计，查账( audit的名词复数 )v.审计，查账( audit的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Requires that use of all bond funds is subject to independent audits. 需要使用的所有债券基金是受独立审计。 来自互联网
• Support the locations during customer-visits, audits and quality-improvement programs. 支持客户参观，稽核和提高品质等项目。 来自互联网

11 ministries   

（政府的）部( ministry的名词复数 )； 神职； 牧师职位； 神职任期

参考例句：

• Local authorities must refer everything to the central ministries. 地方管理机构应请示中央主管部门。
• The number of Ministries has been pared down by a third. 部委的数量已经减少了1/3。

12 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

13 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

14 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

15 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。

16 callous   

adj.无情的，冷淡的，硬结的，起老茧的

参考例句：

• He is callous about the safety of his workers.他对他工人的安全毫不关心。
• She was selfish,arrogant and often callous.她自私傲慢，而且往往冷酷无情。

17 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

18 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。

19 scapegoating   

v.使成为替罪羊( scapegoat的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Washington's scapegoating of China could take the world to the brink of a very slippery slope. 华盛顿方面找中国作替罪羊，可能会把世界推向灾难性下滑的边缘。 来自互联网

20 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

21 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》