3 Journalists Killed in Baghdad

Broadcast: Apr 08, 2003

 

The U.S. Central Command said it regrets that three journalists were killed in Baghdad Tuesday as U.S. warplanes bombed the city and U.S. and Iraqi units fought near a downtown hotel where many reporters are staying. The U.S. military said it does not target journalists and accuses forces loyal to Saddam Hussein of putting the reporters in danger.

Central Command reacted rapidly to suggestions from the pan-Arab satellite TV network Al-Jazeera that its offices in Baghdad had been deliberately¹ targeted during a bombing ¹⁾raid on the capital, which killed one of its journalists.

In a later incident, a ²⁾cameraman from Reuters TV and another from a Spanish network died after a U.S. tank fired a shell into the hotel where they were staying.

Brigadier General Vince Brooks², the Central Command spokesman, said the tank had been fired on by someone in the hotel. He said U.S. forces try not to hurt civilians⁴, but must defend themselves.

"We know that we are conducting combat operations inside of an urban area, an area which the regime has chosen deliberately to defend and not stand down. And we can only be reminded that the risk increases for the population as we do these operations, but we will have to remain focused on our objective of removing this regime before there is greater loss of life," he said.

U.S. officials said they will investigate the incident at the hotel. But they say the Iraqi regime has often placed ³⁾snipers and other ⁴⁾paramilitaries in such civilian³ locations.

Roger Wilkison VOA news, Doha.

 

1)    raid [reId]v.袭击, 搜捕

2)    cameraman [5kAmErEmAn]n.摄影师

3)    sniper[5snaipE]n.狙击兵

4)    paramilitary [7pArE5militEri]n.准军事部队

1 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

2 brooks   

n.小溪( brook的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Brooks gave the business when Haas caught him with his watch. 哈斯抓到偷他的手表的布鲁克斯时，狠狠地揍了他一顿。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ade and Brooks exchanged blows yesterday and they were severely punished today. 艾德和布鲁克斯昨天打起来了，今天他们受到严厉的惩罚。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 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。

4 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。