2007年VOA标准英语-Pentagon: No US Military Action Planned for Dar

By Al Pessin
Washington
06 February 2007

Senior U.S. defense¹ officials say they are not planning any military intervention² to end the killing³ and suffering in Sudan's Darfur region. The comments came at a U.S. Senate committee hearing Tuesday, and in a VOA interview. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

The Assistant Secretary of Defense for African Affairs, Theresa Whelan, told VOA the United States is pressing for progress on the Darfur crisis, but is focusing on diplomacy⁴. "We are not considering doing something militarily. I guess, in a case like Sudan, there are always things that are being considered. But I think the focus of the special envoy⁵, [Andrew] Natsios' efforts right now is on getting the parties back to the table," she said.

Assistant Secretary Whelan says the efforts of President Bush's special envoy for Darfur, Andrew Natsios, are focused on convincing the Khartoum government it cannot achieve its goals in Darfur militarily. "They have not resolved the problem militarily, and they probably will not, never, resolve the problem militarily, just like they never resolved the North-South issue militarily. That was resolved at the negotiating table," she said.

Whelan says there are numerous agreements that the Khartoum government must implement⁶, and that both the government and the rebels must 'act responsibly' and negotiate a revised peace accord. That would pave the way for the United Nations to take over the under-manned and under-funded African Union peacekeeping effort in Darfur.

Assistant Secretary Whelan says the Khartoum government is only postponing⁷ inevitable⁸ negotiations⁹. And she praised the effort by Chinese President Hu Jintao in Khartoum this week to convince leaders there to resume the talks.

Robert Gates

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton raised the Darfur issue at a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday. She asked Defense Secretary Robert Gates and the top U.S. military officer, General Peter Pace, about a proposal she and other senators sent to President Bush to consider military action to prevent Sudan's air force from attacking Darfur and to blockade the Port of Sudan.

Clinton: "I'd like to ask you if you have been instructed by the president to begin planning or preparing any such measure, and whether or not you would look into that if you have not yet been asked to do so?
Gates: I have not been asked to. I would defer¹⁰ to General Pace in terms of whether the Joint¹¹ Chiefs have done any contingency¹² planning along those lines. And I'm certainly willing to pursue it.
Clinton: General Pace?
Pace: I have not been asked to do that ma'am."

Senator Clinton, who is running for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination¹³, said her suggestions on Darfur have been ignored in the past. And she accused the Khartoum government of what she called "repeated and blatant¹⁴ violations¹⁵ of numerous ceasefires, peace agreements and U.N. obligations."

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

5 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。

6 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

7 postponing   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He tried to gain time by postponing his decision. 他想以迟迟不作决定的手段来争取时间。 来自辞典例句
• I don't hold with the idea of postponing further discussion of the matter. 我不赞成推迟进一步讨论这件事的想法。 来自辞典例句

8 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

9 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

10 defer   

vt.推迟，拖延；vi.(to)遵从，听从，服从

参考例句：

• We wish to defer our decision until next week.我们希望推迟到下星期再作出决定。
• We will defer to whatever the committee decides.我们遵从委员会作出的任何决定。

11 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。

12 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

13 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

14 blatant   

adj.厚颜无耻的；显眼的；炫耀的

参考例句：

• I cannot believe that so blatant a comedy can hoodwink anybody.我无法相信这么显眼的一出喜剧能够欺骗谁。
• His treatment of his secretary was a blatant example of managerial arrogance.他管理的傲慢作风在他对待秘书的态度上表露无遗。

15 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。