2007年VOA标准英语-Bush Says He Considered but Rejected Sending US

By Scott Stearns
Washington
19 July 2007

President Bush says he considered, but ultimately rejected, the idea of sending U.S. troops to halt the violence in Sudan's troubled Darfur region. From the White House, VOA's Scott Stearns reports.

President George Bush

Speaking to voters in the southern state of Tennessee Thursday, President Bush said he rejected the idea of unilaterally sending U.S. troops into Darfur after consultation¹ with U.S. allies and members of Congress.

The president said he is focusing now on international collaboration² through the United Nations.

"This is a slow, tedious process to hold a regime accountable for what only one nation in the world has called a genocide, and that is us," he said.

Earlier this year, the U.S. imposed economic sanctions against Sudan including barring from the U.S. financial system 30 companies owned or controlled by the government of Sudan.

In April, Sudan's government agreed to a multi-national peacekeeping force to replace African Union troops currently in Darfur.

If there is no further progress in resolving the situation, Mr. Bush says he will call for an expanded arms embargo³ and the possible creation of a no-fly zone over Darfur to prevent any offensive military flights.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (left), with President Bush, 18 July 2007

Tuesday, during a meeting with U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, Mr. Bush said he was encouraged by the Darfur briefing he got from Mr. Ban.

Speaking to reporters after their Oval Office meeting, Mr. Ban said U.N. officials have made headway in their talks with rebels in Darfur and the government in Khartoum.

"In the Darfur situation, we have made considerable progress. We are going to step-up the political process," he said.

More than four years of fighting in the western Sudanese region has killed an estimated 200,000 people and displaced more than two million others.

Sudan's government is accused of arming Arab militia⁴ blamed for many atrocities⁵ in the region. Khartoum denies any connection with that violence.

Secretary General Ban says pre-negotiations in Tanzania next month should help ease the way for the joint⁶ United Nations-African Union force which is to replace 7,000 undermanned African Union peacekeepers in Darfur.

Mr. Ban wants the Security Council to vote soon on a resolution approving the deployment⁷ of 20,000 military personnel and civilian⁸ police in the hybrid⁹ force.

1 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

2 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

3 embargo   

n.禁运（令）；vt.对...实行禁运，禁止（通商）

参考例句：

• This country put an oil embargo on an enemy country.该国对敌国实行石油禁运。
• During the war,they laid an embargo on commerce with enemy countries.在战争期间，他们禁止与敌国通商。

4 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

5 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》

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 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。

8 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

9 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。