2007年VOA标准英语-US Military Undeterred by Plane Shooting Incide

By Phuong Tran
Dakar
14 September 2007

A U.S. military plane that was shot at earlier this week by suspected rebels in Mali's northeastern desert is scheduled to leave the country on Saturday. U.S. military officials are undeterred by the shooting, saying they are still willing to help Malian government troops. Phuong Tran has more from VOA's West Africa Bureau in Dakar.

The C-130 aircraft will go for repairs at a U.S. military base in Germany.

The aircraft was shot at early Thursday as it was dropping 14,000 pounds of food to Malian troops fighting a recent resurgence¹ in rebel violence in the desert.

Despite the attack, military spokesman John Dorrian says the U.S. military will not be discouraged from helping² African government troops again.

"It is normal for us to offer assistance," said Dorrian. "There are risks inherent in doing that. Once we agree to do so, [we] do so knowing things may not go perfectly³. But in this instance, the troops that needed the supplies received them. There were no injuries and the aircraft returned with minor⁴ damage. So that is successful."

Malian military spokesman Abdoulaye Coulibaly blames Tuareg rebel leader Ibrahim Ag Bahanga for the attack, which followed weeks of landmine⁵ explosions, dozens of government soldier kidnappings and civilian⁶ deaths in the desert border near Algeria.

No rebel faction⁷ has claimed responsibility.

U.K.-based Tuareg analyst⁸ Jeremy Keenan says the U.S. military presence is upsetting an already fragile region of conflict between Tuareg rebels and the Malian government.

The U.S. military recently completed an anti-terrorism training exercise in Mali, as part of the four-year-old, multi-million-dollar U.S.-led Trans-Saharan Counter-Terrorism Initiative.

Some analysts⁹ have said the American initiative is misguided and that the Saharan desert is a region of widespread poverty, rather than a feared training camp for brutal¹⁰ religious extremists.

Since the 1990s, Tuareg fighters in Mali and in neighboring Algeria and Niger have staged rebellions to demand economic aid. The different waves of fighting ended in peace deals nomad¹¹ fighters say have been unfulfilled.

Malian and Niger officials say they have kept most promises.

Analyst Keenan says Tuareg rebels are threatened by U.S. military training in Mali, because they fear their government will use the military support to repress Tuareg opposition¹².

"Local people have become progressively sort-of fed up," said Keenan. "[This is] why it has become so unstable¹³ and why it has now broken out into rebellion."

According to U.S. government documents, nine Saharan governments receive U.S. funding and training to strengthen their militaries to fight drugs and arms smuggling¹⁴, terrorism and human trafficking, and improve regional communication.

U.S. officials say this week's shooting does not change U.S. plans to continue anti-terrorism military training in Mali.

1 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

4 minor   

adj.较小(少)的，较次要的；n.辅修学科；vi.辅修

参考例句：

• The young actor was given a minor part in the new play.年轻的男演员在这出新戏里被分派担任一个小角色。
• I gave him a minor share of my wealth.我把小部分财产给了他。

5 landmine   

n.地雷

参考例句：

• A landmine is a kind of weapon used in war.地雷是一种运用于战争的武器。
• The treaty bans the use,production and trade of landmine.那条约禁止使用生产和交易雷。

6 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。

7 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

8 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

10 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

11 nomad   

n.游牧部落的人，流浪者，游牧民

参考例句：

• He was indeed a nomad of no nationality.他的确是个无国籍的游民。
• The nomad life is rough and hazardous.游牧生活艰苦又危险。

12 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。

13 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

14 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。