VOA标准英语10月-Unified Ethiopian Opposition Seeks Troop Withdraw

Ethiopia's fractious political opposition¹ is planning a unified² parliamentary campaign to demand a complete withdrawal³ of Ethiopian troops from Somalia. But as VOA's Peter Heinlein reports from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is under pressure by the international community to hold the line at a time of hopeful diplomatic maneuvers⁵ and deteriorating⁶ security conditions.
　

Ethiopian soldiers in Mogadishu (file photo)

Virtually all of Ethiopia's opposition parties have opposed military involvement in neighboring Somalia since troops were sent to dislodge Islamic militants⁷ controlling Mogadishu and surrounding territory in late 2006.

But last week, the lone⁸ holdout among the opposition groups, the Ethiopian Democratic Party sent a letter to Prime Minister Meles Zenawi saying the sacrifice of lives and scarce financial resources had become unbearable⁹.

Party President Lidetu Ayalew says after nearly two years of propping¹⁰ up Somalia's weak transitional government, it is time for Ethiopian troops to go home and demand international organizations such as the United Nations and the African Union take responsibility.

"We are sacrificing a lot. It takes our expenses, we are losing many soldiers there, when you see the international media, our image is in danger ... There must be one point to end our presence in Somalia. We believe the AU and U.N. should play their role, but now it is Ethiopia that is holding the whole burden," he said.

Another opposition leader, Beyene Petros of the United Ethiopian Democratic Front says his party wants the government to reveal the cost of the 21-month Somalia campaign, both in terms of lives lost and money spent.

"The government has irresponsibly refused to account on these two pertinent¹¹ issues relating to the Ethiopian army's deployment¹² to Somalia," he said. "Every country's parliament, even the public at large, has a right to know what its involvement is costing in terms of life and resources. We have been kept in the dark."

Ethiopia Foreign Minister Seyoum Mesfin this week signaled his country's frustration¹³ at being left virtually alone to battle Somalia's raging insurgency¹⁴. In a speech to the U.N. General Assembly in New York, Seyoum demanded the world body dispatch a peacekeeping force, and that the undermanned African Union force in Somalia known as AMISOM be significantly strengthened.

Foreign Ministry¹⁵ spokesman Wahide Belay says Ethiopian troops were dispatched in the belief they would only be a vanguard, and would quickly return home after achieving their objective of driving the Islamists out of Mogadishu.

"We were promised U.N. forces and AMISOM forces would replace us after we achieve the main objective. That did not happen, except a few forces. Ethiopia is still waiting for the U.N. to send peacekeeping troops to Somalia or help AMISOM to achieve objectives," he said.

In the nearly two years they have been in Somalia, Ethiopian forces have increasingly become part of the problem rather than the solution, allowing Jihadist forces known as the Shabaab to gain support by capitalizing on anti-Ethiopian sentiment.

Prominent Ethiopian opposition lawmaker Bulcha Demeksa says longstanding ethnic¹⁶, religious and political animosities make it impossible to persuade Somalia's people that Ethiopia wants to help them.

"No Somali would consider Ethiopia as a savior. They all thought, all of them thought Ethiopia was invading Somalia and they would fight Ethiopia as long as they could," Demeksa said. "They resolved to fight against us, and they are fighting, and in my opinion they are winning."

Opposition leaders are planning to demand a full debate on Somalia when parliament convenes¹⁷ next week. But many in the international community are cautioning Ethiopia not to make any moves that might undermine delicate diplomatic efforts to mediate¹⁸ a ceasefire agreement between the transitional government it supports and an Islamist-led opposition faction¹⁹.

There has been a notable calm in Mogadishu in recent days, after what had been a particularly nasty surge of violence, giving hope that there might finally be peace for a blue-helmeted U.N. force to keep.

But Ethiopian opposition figures like Temesgen Zewde, a leader of the newly-formed Unity⁴, Democracy and Justice Party say the temporary peace is an illusion.

Temesgen argues that Ethiopia should get out immediately, because the United Nations has no intention of entering what experts perceive as a no-win situation in Somalia.

"I am saying cut your losses and get out. The international community is not going to rescue the Somali people, they have had three years to do so, everybody has stood on sideline and watched the people and defense²⁰ forces suffering, and we think it is never too late, and the PM [prime minister] is looking for ways to withdraw forces, and my advice is to do it as quickly as possible, and not wait for the international community to react," said Temesgen.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Wahide Belay says Ethiopian troops are doing well and will stay until replacement²¹ forces arrive.

"I do not believe we are mired²² in Somalia. We can get out any time. We will not. This is what the prime minister said. We are not in a quagmire²³, can get out anytime," he said. "But we cannot abandon the TFG [Transitional Federal Government] and Somali people, have to see progress in reconciliation²⁴ so we do not want to abandon them in middle of crisis in Somalia."

Opposition lawmakers will be listening carefully Monday to see whether Ethiopian President Girma Woldegiorgis mentions the subject of troops in Somalia in his opening address to parliament, as Foreign Minister Seyoum prominently did at the United Nations this week. That could be the signal they are waiting for that the government is prepared to rethink its much-criticized Somalia strategy.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 unified   

(unify 的过去式和过去分词)； 统一的； 统一标准的； 一元化的

参考例句：

• The teacher unified the answer of her pupil with hers. 老师核对了学生的答案。
• The First Emperor of Qin unified China in 221 B.C. 秦始皇于公元前221年统一中国。

3 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 maneuvers   

n.策略，谋略，花招( maneuver的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He suspected at once that she had been spying upon his maneuvers. 他立刻猜想到，她已经侦察到他的行动。 来自辞典例句
• Maneuvers in Guizhou occupied the Reds for four months. 贵州境内的作战占了红军四个月的时间。 来自辞典例句

6 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

7 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。

8 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

9 unbearable   

adj.不能容忍的；忍受不住的

参考例句：

• It is unbearable to be always on thorns.老是处于焦虑不安的情况中是受不了的。
• The more he thought of it the more unbearable it became.他越想越觉得无法忍受。

10 propping   

支撑

参考例句：

• You can usually find Jack propping up the bar at his local. 你常常可以看见杰克频繁出没于他居住的那家酒店。
• The government was accused of propping up declining industries. 政府被指责支持日益衰败的产业。

11 pertinent   

adj.恰当的；贴切的；中肯的；有关的；相干的

参考例句：

• The expert made some pertinent comments on the scheme.那专家对规划提出了一些中肯的意见。
• These should guide him to pertinent questions for further study.这些将有助于他进一步研究有关问题。

12 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

13 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

14 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

15 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

16 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。

17 convenes   

召开( convene的第三人称单数 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The Premier convenes and presides over the executive meetings and plenary meetings of the State Council. 总理召集和主持国务院常务会议和国务院全体会议。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法
• Chinese woman tenth the National People Congress convenes grandly today in Beijing. 中国妇女第十次全国代表大会今天在北京隆重召开。

18 mediate   

vi.调解，斡旋；vt.经调解解决；经斡旋促成

参考例句：

• The state must mediate the struggle for water resources.政府必须通过调解来解决对水资源的争夺。
• They may be able to mediate between parties with different interests.他们也许能在不同利益政党之间进行斡旋。

19 faction   

n.宗派，小集团；派别；派系斗争

参考例句：

• Faction and self-interest appear to be the norm.派系之争和自私自利看来非常普遍。
• I now understood clearly that I was caught between the king and the Bunam's faction.我现在完全明白自己已陷入困境，在国王与布纳姆集团之间左右为难。

20 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。

21 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

22 mired   

abbr.microreciprocal degree 迈尔德（色温单位）v.深陷( mire的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The country was mired in recession. 这个国家陷入了经济衰退的困境。
• The most brilliant leadership can be mired in detail. 最有才干的领导也会陷于拘泥琐事的困境中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

23 quagmire   

n.沼地

参考例句：

• On their way was a quagmire which was difficult to get over.路上他俩遇到了—个泥坑,很难过得去。
• Rain had turned the grass into a quagmire.大雨使草地变得一片泥泞。

24 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。