2007年VOA标准英语-US Blames al-Qaida for Iraq Bombings That Kille

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
15 August 2007

The U.S. military command in Iraq is blaming al-Qaida for spectacular bombings on Tuesday that killed at least 250 people.  VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

rubble1 after a coordinated2 suicide attack in town of Qahataniya, 120 kilometers west of Mosul, Iraq, 15 Aug 2007" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070817/1555320.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

An Iraqi boy picks through the rubble after a coordinated suicide attack in town of Qahataniya, 120 kilometers west of Mosul, Iraq, 15 Aug 2007

Brigadier General Kevin Bergner opened his briefing in Baghdad Wednesday with this simple statement.

"Yesterday was a tough day," he said.

The general was referring to the nearly simultaneous suicide bombings in northern Iraq, which he said bear the hallmarks of al-Qaida terrorists.

"This attack, the spectacular nature of it, the complete disregard for human life, the car bombs that were used, all have a consistent profile with al-Qaida in Iraq violence," he added.

General Bergner said such attacks are designed "to undermine the sense of progress" that U.S. and Iraqi forces are creating as a result of the new strategy and troop surge.  He says the U.S. command expected insurgents³ to try to do that in the run-up to a key progress report due to be presented to the U.S. congress by September 15.

At the Pentagon, spokesman Bryan Whitman said in spite of improvements in security, terrorists can strike if they are willing to die doing so.

"These are [cowardly] acts against what we call 'soft targets,' innocent civilians⁴.  And I think you have to take a look at where this attack took place, too," he said.

The new security effort is focused on Baghdad and other population centers.  Tuesday's attacks were in a rural area.

In Texas, where President Bush is on vacation, spokeswoman Dana Perino said the attackers will not succeed in their apparent strategic objective.

"This is an enemy that has no heart," she said.  "They have no conscience.  And what they are trying to do is break our will, and the will of the Iraqi people, but it has the opposite effect."

The new Iraq security plan, which fully⁵ went into effect two months ago, is designed in part to prevent such large-scale attacks.  But the spokesman in Baghdad, Brigadier General Bergner, says, at least for now, progress and violence will continue to coexist in Iraq.

"While our commanders have achieved some tactical momentum⁶ on the ground, this remains⁷ a very hard fight," he noted⁸.  "And we expect it will continue to be so, just as events of the past few days have shown."

General Bergner said the best way to consolidate⁹ security gains is to continue training the Iraqi security forces.

The general also presented photos of missiles he said demonstrated continuing Iranian support for insurgents in Iraq.  And he said a roadside bomb that killed two local officials in southern Iraq over the weekend was an "explosively formed penetrator," the type of particularly lethal¹⁰ bomb U.S. officials say Iranian agents are providing to Iraqi insurgents.

1 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

2 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

3 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

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

8 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。

9 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。

10 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。