VOA标准英语2014--伊拉克总统称极端主义分子团结了伊拉克各派系

 

Iraqi President: Extremists Have United Iraqi Factions¹ 伊拉克总统称极端主义分子团结了伊拉克各派系

Iraqi President Fouad Maasum said the barbarity of the militants² who have taken control of one-third of Iraq and a part of Syria has served to unite previously³ divided factions in the region. In a recent interview during his stay in New York, Maasum told VOA that Islamic State is losing the support of Sunni Muslims, which the militants enjoyed at the start of their campaign. He said Iraq's neighbors have pledged their support to Baghdad's effort to defeat the terrorist group.

Islamic State militants have been attacking Kurds, Christians⁴, Yazidis, Shia Muslims and others who stand in their way. It is generally believed that the group is led and supported by disgruntled Sunni Muslims who once ruled Iraq, but were sidelined by the Shia-dominated government of former prime minister Nouri al-Maliki.

Iraq's president said the initial support the group received has diminished.

"The political leadership of the Sunnis are all opposed to Islamic State and know that Sunnis are not beholden to them. Now that Sunnis have seen how Islamic State behaves, they are very worried. The group's dictatorial⁵ behavior and backward philosophy has scared all," said Maasum.

In his address to the United Nations General Assembly last week, the Iraqi president said Islamic State must be eradicated⁶ or it will rise again. The United States has organized a coalition⁷ of Western as well as Arab states to help destroy Islamic State strongholds in Iraq and Syria. However, the United States has not invited Iran to join the coalition against the terrorists, despite a recent thawing⁸ of relations with Tehran.

"Cooperation or non-cooperation between Iran and the U.S. is their concern. But we saw that the Iranian government was the first to provide us with humanitarian⁹ assistance and great cooperation; they even provided weapons to all sides that were resisting Islamic State militants,” said Maasum.

President Maasum said Iraq also has the support of Saudi Arabia and Turkey. Bordering both Iraq and Syria, Turkey has been under pressure to play a greater roll in fighting the extremists.

"We are ready for any kind of cooperation in fighting against terrorism. However, Turkey is not a country in pursuit of temporary solutions, nor will Turkey allow others to take advantage of it," said Turkish President Recep Erdogan.

Iraqi Kurds have been at the forefront of resistance to the extremists, and have received international support. There are concerns that this will strengthen their aspirations¹⁰ for an independent state.

Iraq's president expressed confidence that it will not come to that.

"Islamic State was instrumental in uniting all Iraqi groups because all understood the gravity and danger of the situation facing them. Domestic Iraqi differences and disputes must be solved, because their continuation will not benefit anyone," said Maasum.

Iraq's president is a Kurd. Earlier this year, he appointed a new prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, who is working to ease religious and ethnic¹¹ tensions. Maasum said a separation of Kurds from Iraq would be a start of serious troubles for the region. 

1 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

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

5 dictatorial   

adj. 独裁的，专断的

参考例句：

• Her father is very dictatorial.她父亲很专横。
• For years the nation had been under the heel of a dictatorial regime.多年来这个国家一直在独裁政权的铁蹄下。

6 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。

7 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

8 thawing   

n.熔化，融化v.（气候）解冻( thaw的现在分词 )；（态度、感情等）缓和；（冰、雪及冷冻食物）溶化；软化

参考例句：

• The ice is thawing. 冰在融化。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• It had been snowing and thawing and the streets were sloppy. 天一直在下雪，雪又一直在融化，街上泥泞不堪。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

10 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

11 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。