VOA常速英语2008年-Peacekeeping Troops Trickle Into Darfur

By Sabina Castelfranco
Khartoum
14 March 2008

Egyptian troops will begin arriving in Darfur in the next few days as the combined U.N. / African Union Peacekeeping force for Darfur (UNAMID) continues its deployment². U.N. officials say full deployment of the 26,000 strong force will take longer than many expected. For VOA, Sabina Castelfranco reports from Khartoum.

U.N. officials are expecting Egyptian troops to start deploying³ in Darfur over the next few days and Ethiopian troops should follow after that. But in total, U.N. officials say, no more than 1,800 troops are expected in over the next couple of months and they say it is difficult to predict deployment of other troops beyond that.

Spokesman Adrian Edwards says the ultimate goal is to reach 26,000 police and military forces deployed⁴ in Darfur and further 5,000 civilian⁵ staff. The full deployment will make it the biggest peace operation anywhere. Edwards says the difficulties posed by the environment will not make this deployment a speedy process.

"Just getting this thing operational itself is hugely challenging," he said. "I think there is no time line at the moment but realistically we're talking throughout 2008 we'll see this mission being built up and possibly into 2009 if the resources are coming through slowly."

The mission is two and half months old. Some 9,200 soldiers and police have already been deployed in addition to civilian personnel, that's less than a third of the total. Edwards says it is an extraordinarily⁶ difficult mission.

He says it is no easy job to deploy¹ troops in the desert areas of Darfur. The challenges include getting enough water and accommodation for the huge peace operation.

"This is not going to be a short-term operation. It's going to be an effort," said Edwards. "It's going to take a lot of time, a lot of energy and a lot of effort."

Edwards says the U.N. mission requires both military attack and transport helicopters. These, he says, are of utmost importance to move people around this region rapidly and in order to respond quickly.

He adds that the deployment of the troops is facing a number of questions at the moment. The first is whether there is the political will for the mission to go ahead and if communal⁷ support for peace in the region be obtained. Then, whether the resources are going to be forthcoming, and finally will the efforts be sufficient to bring the parties back to the negotiating table.

"It's a crucial point to understand that peace is not going to come from the blazing barrel of a gun," said Edwards. "It is going to have to be a political solution at the end of it, and the peace operation that we have going on here is designed to support a political process."

Edwards added that, right now, a number of belligerents⁸ represent a threat to civilians⁹ in the region. These people, their leaders, he says, have to be brought to the negotiating table and a solution needs to be found other than through violence.

To achieve this goal and for the troops to be effective, he says, the U.N. mission will first need to win the support of the Sudanese government and of all the major players.

1 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

2 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。

3 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

4 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

5 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。

6 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

7 communal   

adj.公有的，公共的，公社的，公社制的

参考例句：

• There was a communal toilet on the landing for the four flats.在楼梯平台上有一处公共卫生间供4套公寓使用。
• The toilets and other communal facilities were in a shocking state.厕所及其他公共设施的状况极其糟糕。

8 belligerents   

n.交战的一方（指国家、集团或个人）( belligerent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• At long last an armistice was declared by the belligerents. 交战双方终于宣布停战。 来自辞典例句
• Yet it remains unclear whether the actual belligerents will accept it. 但真正的交战双方是否会接受还是个未知数。 来自互联网

9 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。