2006年VOA标准英语-Counterterrorism versus Darfur?

By Peter Fedynsky
Washington, DC
21 November 2006
 
watch Counterterrorism v Darfur

President Bush's Special Envoy¹ for Sudan has denied an allegation that the counterterrorism cooperation between Khartoum and Washington is impeding² U.S. efforts to stop the genocide in Darfur. 

In Sunday's Washington Post newspaper, the former director of African affairs in the Clinton administration's National Security Council, John Prendergast, claims that 400,000 people have died in Darfur.  He alleges³ the United States has not pressured Khartoum to stop the genocide because the Bush administration does not want to jeopardize⁴ what Prendergast says is a deepening intelligence-sharing relationship with the Sudanese government.  In the early 1990s, Al Qaida leader Osama bin⁵ Laden⁶ lived in Sudan, and that country has been a valuable source of information about terrorist activity since the attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001.

Andrew Natsios

President Bush's Special Envoy for Sudan, Andrew Natsios, was asked about the intelligence issue at a seminar on Darfur at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, D.C.  Natsios says he attended virtually every high level American meeting on Sudan since 1991. He called Prendergast's allegations "complete and utter rubbish." 

"You know how many times the intelligence issue has come up?  Once.  In one sentence, 'you know if you do this, it would disrupt this.'  The people in the room were ignored -- people who were upset about that -- we ran over them and we did what we needed to do."

Natsios says U.S. policy in Darfur is driven by human rights, humanitarian⁷ concerns and development. 

The terrorism allegation came up at another Brookings seminar on Darfur in April.  At the time, Brookings' vice⁸ president, former Ambassador Carlos Pascual, denied any concessions⁹ to terrorism at the expense of the people of Darfur.  Like Prendergast, Pascual served on the National Security Council during the Clinton administration.

"I personally never found a situation where there was a trade off between being tough on the government of Sudan, because of the war on terror versus¹⁰ addressing the needs of the people of Darfur.  What I did find was a constant issue that would come up is a recognition that in order to address the situation in Darfur and also sustain the comprehensive peace agreement that there needed to be the engagement and the involvement of the government of Sudan."

The United States supports establishment of a so-called "hybrid¹¹" force for Darfur that would include United Nations and African Union troops.  However, Sudanese officials have been giving conflicting signals about Khartoum's support for the joint¹² force. 

Three years of fighting in Darfur have killed an estimated 200,000 people and displaced millions.

1 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

2 impeding   

a.(尤指坏事)即将发生的，临近的

参考例句：

• Fallen rock is impeding the progress of rescue workers. 坠落的石头阻滞了救援人员的救援进程。
• Is there sufficient room for the kiosk and kiosk traffic without impeding other user traffic? 该环境下是否有足够的空间来摆放信息亭？信息亭是否会妨碍交通或者行走？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 alleges   

断言，宣称，辩解( allege的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The newspaper article alleges that the mayor is corrupt. 报纸上断言该市长腐败。
• Steven was tardy this morning and alleges that his bus was late. 史提芬今天早上迟到的说词是公车误点了。

4 jeopardize   

vt.危及，损害

参考例句：

• Overworking can jeopardize your health.工作过量可能会危及你的健康。
• If you are rude to the boss it may jeopardize your chances of success.如果你对上司无礼，那就可能断送你成功的机会。

5 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

6 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

7 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。

8 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。

9 concessions   

n.（尤指由政府或雇主给予的）特许权( concession的名词复数 )；承认；减价；（在某地的）特许经营权

参考例句：

• The firm will be forced to make concessions if it wants to avoid a strike. 要想避免罢工，公司将不得不作出一些让步。
• The concessions did little to placate the students. 让步根本未能平息学生的愤怒。

10 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

11 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

12 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。