VOA标准英语2011--Withdrawal of al-Shabab Offers Hope to S

Withdrawal¹ of al-Shabab Offers Hope to Somalia's Transitional Government

Somalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) is offering amnesty to remaining insurgents³ in Mogadishu following the withdrawal of the Islamist group al-Shabab. But it is vowing⁴ to continue fighting until Somalia is free of all rebel forces.
The group's departure from Mogadishu has provided a boost of confidence for Somalia's Transitional Federal Government and the African Union peacekeeping forces, AMISOM, both of which have been fighting the insurgent² group for a long time.
"We are prepared to continue fighting until we get al-Shabab completely out of Somalia," said Abdullah Alia Nod, a commander with the TFG forces.
A statement that David Shinn, former ambassador to Ethiopia, now professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs in Washington, says might be overly optimistic.
“Taking and holding Mogadishu is one thing but taking and holding south-central Somalia is quite another thing. So I don’t see that as a real possibility,” he said.
Shinn says the Somali government needs to do more.
“The TFG has to show that it has a vision and it has something it can offer to the Somali people; and that’s where it’s failed so far on the political front//Because of internal division within the TFG, constant turnover⁵ of government; they change ministers just about every six months. They have a parliament of 550 members, which frankly⁶ is totally unnecessary for a country the size of Somalia,” Shinn said.
Shinn says al-Shabab also has its own weaknesses and divisions that could be exploited.
“There are those who have global jihadi agenda. There are those who somewhat have some nationalistic agenda. There are differences between indigenous⁷ Somalis and foreign Jihadis who have infiltrated⁸ al-Shabab. So they have their own internal problems,” Shinn said.
More importantly, he says, there are divisions within al-Shabab when it comes to food aid.
“There are those who think more latitude⁹ ought to be given to Western aid agencies, there are those who don’t want Western aid in but they do allow the Islamic aid agencies. If I had to look at any mistake that al-Shabab has made in the last couple of years, this is by far the biggest: they’ve absolutely botched the relief effort and the Somali people don’t like it,” Shinn said.
Experts say the pullout will allow aid agencies to better address the famine affecting millions in the East African nation. In the meantime, al-Shabab says the pullout was just a change of tactics and has vowed¹⁰ to return to Mogadishu.

1 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。

2 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。

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 vowing   

起誓，发誓（vow的现在分词形式）

参考例句：

• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild its collapsed bridge. 布什总统承诺将帮助明尼阿波利斯重建坍塌的大桥。
• President Bush is vowing to help Minneapolis rebuild this collapse bridge. 布什总统发誓要帮助明尼阿波利斯重建起这座坍塌的桥梁。

5 turnover   

n.人员流动率，人事变动率；营业额，成交量

参考例句：

• The store greatly reduced the prices to make a quick turnover.这家商店实行大减价以迅速周转资金。
• Our turnover actually increased last year.去年我们的营业额竟然增加了。

6 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

7 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

8 infiltrated   

adj.[医]浸润的v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The headquarters had been infiltrated by enemy spies. 总部混入了敌方特务。
• Many Chinese idioms have infiltrated into the Japanese language. 许多中国成语浸透到日语中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

9 latitude   

n.纬度，行动或言论的自由(范围)，(pl.)地区

参考例句：

• The latitude of the island is 20 degrees south.该岛的纬度是南纬20度。
• The two cities are at approximately the same latitude.这两个城市差不多位于同一纬度上。

10 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。