2007年VOA标准英语-US Says Iran Using Hezbollah as Proxy in Iraq

By Margaret Besheer
Baghdad
02 July 2007

The American military says it has evidence Iran is using the Lebanese Shiite militia¹ group Hezbollah as a proxy² to arm Shiite militants⁴ in Iraq. Officials also say Iran's elite⁵ Quds Force was aware of and helped plan a militant³ attack on U.S. forces in Iraq that killed five American soldiers. From Baghdad, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.

General Kevin Bergner

U.S. Brigadier General Kevin Bergner told reporters Monday a senior Hezbollah operative was captured in March in southern Iraq. He says Lebanese-born Ali Musa Daqduq spent 24 years in Hezbollah and commanded a special operations unit within the organization.

In 2005, senior Hezbollah leadership sent him to Iran to work with the elite Quds Force to train Iraqi extremists both in Iran and Iraq.

"Quds Force along with Hezbollah instructors⁶ train approximately 20 to 60 Iraqis at a time, sending them back to Iraq organized into these special groups," he said. "They are being taught how to use EFPs [explosively formed projectiles], mortars⁷, rockets, as well as intelligence, sniper and kidnapping operations."

In addition to training, General Bergner says Quds Force supplied these special groups with weapons and funding of 750,000 to $3 million a month.

The Quds Force is a special unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, which reports directly to Supreme⁸ Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Iranian-made weapons

General Bergner says American intelligence reports senior leaders in Iran are aware of this activity. Pressed as to whether Ayatollah Khamenei could possibly not know about it, the general replied.

"That would be hard to imagine," he said.

The American military has accused the Quds Force of arming and financing Iraqi extremists to carry out attacks against U.S. and Iraqi forces -- a charge Tehran denies.

Associated Press quotes Hezbollah spokesmen in Lebanon as saying they were checking into the claims Dakdouk was a member of the group and would not comment. In the past, the group has denied any activities in Iraq. In late 2005, British Prime Minister Tony Blair said his government suspected Iran and Lebanon's Hezbollah might be supplying technology and explosives to Shiite Muslim militant groups operating in Iraq, but he provided no proof.

Also captured with Daqduq were two members of these special groups network: Iraqi brothers Qayis and Laith Khazali.

Bergner told reporters the captured militants are accused of ordering the attack on a U.S. compound in Karbala in January and admitted that senior leaders from the Iranian Revolutionary Guards' unit supported the strike.

"Both Ali Musa Daqduq and Qayis Khazali state that senior leadership within the Quds Force knew of and supported planning for the eventual⁹ Karbala attack that killed five coalition¹⁰ soldiers,"he said.

Iraq's two main Shi'ite militias¹¹ - the Mehdi Army of Moqtada al-Sadr and the Badr Brigade of Abdul Aziz al-Hakim - which both have strong ties to Iran - were not implicated¹² in these special groups.

The general says Hezbollah does not appear to have an extensive network inside Iraq, but that they provide the Quds Force with a proxy to do the work may not want to do themselves, as well as a technical skill, a level of sophistication and street credibility to their interaction with these special groups and secret cells.

1 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

2 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 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。

5 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

6 instructors   

指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The instructors were slacking on the job. 教员们对工作松松垮垮。
• He was invited to sit on the rostrum as a representative of extramural instructors. 他以校外辅导员身份，被邀请到主席台上。

7 mortars   

n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵

参考例句：

• They could not move their heavy mortars over the swampy ground. 他们无法把重型迫击炮移过那片沼泽地。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Where the hell are his mortars? 他有迫击炮吗？ 来自教父部分

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

10 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。

11 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

12 implicated   

adj.密切关联的；牵涉其中的

参考例句：

• These groups are very strongly implicated in the violence. 这些组织与这起暴力事件有着极大的关联。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Having the stolen goods in his possession implicated him in the robbery. 因藏有赃物使他涉有偷盗的嫌疑。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》