VOA标准英语2010年-Clinton Opposes Exclusion of Sunnis Fr

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham at the State Department in Washington, 05 Jan 2010

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Friday the United States would oppose any new effort to exclude large numbers of Sunni Arab politicians from Iraq's March 7 parliamentary elections. Iraq's most senior Sunni official, Vice¹ President Tariq al-Hashimi discussed the issue in Washington this week with top administration officials.

Obama administration officials are worried that the exclusion² of Sunnis from the election would undermine the process and perhaps spur new unrest that could complicate³ U.S. troop withdrawal⁴ plans.

An Iraqi government panel last month disqualified more that 500 Sunni candidates for being members or supporters of former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein's Baath party.

A panel of Iraqi judges on Wednesday ordered the reinstatement of the candidates. But the Shiite-led government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki called the decision illegal and indicated it would submit the matter to the current parliament.

Iraqi Vice President al-Hashimi raised concern about the issue in a round of Washington meetings this week including a White House meeting with Vice President Joe Biden Monday that was briefly⁵ joined by President Obama.

Al-Hashimi told reporters late Thursday the U.S. administration is considering the idea of refusing to recognize the election if the Sunnis are again excluded.

In a talk with reporters Friday, Secretary Clinton said the administration has not made any decision on how to respond to such a turn of events.

But she said the United States was heartened by the court decision to reinstate the Sunnis, and cares very deeply that election be free and fair and viewed as legitimate⁶ by all communities within Iraq and by its neighbors.

She called the March election an "extraordinary opportunity" for Iraqis to consolidate⁷ democracy.

"We see an enormous amount of political activity, which is all to the good. Iraq is now engaged in politics," she said. "People are forming coalitions⁸ and seeking  votes, and reaching beyond their own community to do so. That is exactly what we want to encourage. So obviously, anything that would undermine the potential legitimacy⁹ would be of concern to us."

Vice President Biden paid a surprise visit to Iraq late last month to meet with Prime Minister al-Maliki and other officials to discuss the election and U.S. concerns.

The Iraqi Prime Minister has accused Baathists of supporting the Al-Qaida in Iraq terrorist group, which is blamed for a series of major car bomb attacks in Baghdad in recent weeks.

Iraqi political reconciliation¹⁰ is considered critical to U.S. plans to remove combat troops from Iraq in August, ahead of a planned complete military withdrawal by the end of next year.

 

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 exclusion   

n.拒绝，排除，排斥，远足，远途旅行

参考例句：

• Don't revise a few topics to the exclusion of all others.不要修改少数论题以致排除所有其他的。
• He plays golf to the exclusion of all other sports.他专打高尔夫球，其他运动一概不参加。

3 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。

4 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。

5 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

6 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

7 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。

8 coalitions   

结合体，同盟( coalition的名词复数 )； （两党或多党）联合政府

参考例句：

• History testifies to the ineptitude of coalitions in waging war. 历史昭示我们，多数国家联合作战，其进行甚为困难。
• All the coalitions in history have disintegrated sooner or later. 历史上任何联盟迟早都垮台了。

9 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

10 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。