VOA标准英语2009年-US Vice President Encourages Reconciliatio

Vice¹ President Joe Biden is visiting U.S. soldiers and Iraqi political leaders on the first trip by a top U.S. leader to Iraq since the June 30 withdrawal² of US combat troops from Iraqi towns and cities. Biden's trip comes amid a surge of insurgent³ attacks that are testing the capabilities⁴ of Iraqi forces.
　
VP Biden (L), US Ambassador Hill (C) and Gen. Odierno at a U.S. military base near Baghdad, Iraq, 03 Jul 2009

The vice president told reporters in Baghdad that the Obama administration was dealing⁵ with Iraq both on the political and the military fronts, and that he was pushing for a political solution to the long-standing conflict, to accompany the drawdown of U.S. troops.

"The president wants to focus within the White House on the implementation⁶ of our administration's plan to both draw down troops in Iraq which is under way the first stage," Biden said, "but also the second piece of that plan is for there to be a combination of a political settlement among all the factions⁷ within Iraq. There's unresolved issues from boundary disputes to the oil law and my job is to try to help accommodate that region and those agreements."

More US pullbacks planned

Iraqi officials have been speaking with new authority and confidence since the June 30 U.S. pullback from Iraqi towns and cities. Defense⁸ Ministry⁹ spokesman Gen. Mohammed al-Askari looks ahead, optimistically, to the next stage of U.S. pullbacks.

He says that the first phase of the U.S. pullout ended with the U.S. handing over 168 bases and positions to Iraqi forces. Now, he adds, the next phase will include the drawdown of U.S. forces from 135,000 to 35,000, leading up to the final withdrawal by the end of 2011.

Spike¹⁰ in violence

Despite the self-assurance of Iraqi leaders, many political issues remain. Al Qaida in Iraq has been dealt a severe blow in recent months, but other insurgent groups continue to operate.

Al-Rafidein TV played more than a half dozen videos of alleged¹¹ attacks against U.S. troops, Friday, showering praise on various insurgent groups.
　
People gather at the site of a car bomb attack in Kirkuk, Iraq, Tuesday, 30 June 2009

The vice president's visit coincides with a spike in violence, with several bloody¹² bombings in Baghdad and a car bomb in Kirkuk. Tuesday, more than 30 people were killed by a powerful car bomb in Kirkuk.

Conflicts between the mostly Shi'ite government of Prime Minister al-Maliki and the hardline Sunni opposition¹³ continue. Key Sunni groups accused the prime minister of cheating during the January elections and complain regularly that he awards top posts to Shi'ites.

Some Sunnis are also not pleased by Kurdish autonomy in the north, and the prospect¹⁴ of the ethnically¹⁵ divided, oil rich city of Kirkuk going to the Kurds, has many worried.

Hardline sunni MP Iyad Samaraie told Al-Baghdadia TV that "everything the Kurds have done, including their constitution, since the U.S.-led invasion … should be considered null and void."

Dialogue encouraged

Middle East analyst¹⁶ Khattar Abou Diab, who is a professor at the University of Paris III, says that Vice President Biden is aiming to push Iraqi politicians to engage in more dialogue and less violence.

He says that we're now in a transition phase, following the U.S. pullout from Iraqi cities, and efforts are being made to normalize ties with Iraq. The French prime minister's visit, Thursday, he notes, is part of that normalcy, including economic ties …. [Biden's] visit, he argues, has a larger vista¹⁷: he's trying to consolidate¹⁸ the political dialogue now under way, to normalize the situation further before the final US pullout, and he's still facing obstacles of violence, regional meddling¹⁹, and the situation in Kirkuk. Negotiations²⁰ are the only way around these problems, he concludes.

June was the bloodiest²¹ month in the last eight in terms of Iraqi civilian²² casualties, according to Iraqi government figures, and both northern cities of Kirkuk and Mosul remain powderkegs.

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 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。

3 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

4 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

7 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 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。

10 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

11 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

12 bloody   

adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染

参考例句：

• He got a bloody nose in the fight.他在打斗中被打得鼻子流血。
• He is a bloody fool.他是一个十足的笨蛋。

13 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。

14 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

15 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

16 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。

17 vista   

n.远景，深景，展望，回想

参考例句：

• From my bedroom window I looked out on a crowded vista of hills and rooftops.我从卧室窗口望去，远处尽是连绵的山峦和屋顶。
• These uprisings come from desperation and a vista of a future without hope.发生这些暴动是因为人们被逼上了绝路，未来看不到一点儿希望。

18 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。

19 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

20 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

21 bloodiest   

adj.血污的( bloody的最高级 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

• The Russians were going to suffer their bloodiest defeat of all before Berlin. 俄国人在柏林城下要遭到他们的最惨重的失败。 来自辞典例句
• It was perhaps the bloodiest hour in the history of warfare. 这也许是战争史上血腥味最浓的1个小时。 来自互联网

22 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。