VOA常速英语2008年-Iraq War Enters Sixth Year

By Bill Rodgers
Washington
17 March 2008

Five years ago, on March 20, 2003, U.S.-led forces invaded Iraq to overthrow¹ a dictatorship that President Bush accused of developing weapons of mass destruction. No WMD were ever found. As VOA's Bill Rodgers reports in this first in a series of reports on the Iraq war, the fight against an insurgency² continues even though a troop surge last year has helped reduce the level of violence.

Combat in Iraq, and U.S. troops are still battling insurgents³, five years after the invasion.

A U.S.-led coalition⁴ of some 300,000 troops launched the attack on Iraq in the pre-dawn hours of March 20, 2003. The objective was to topple Saddam Hussein's dictatorship - accused by the United States and its coalition partners of possessing and actively⁵ developing weapons of mass destruction.

In the build-up to the war, then U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell laid out the case against Iraq before the U.N. Security Council. In his presentation, he displayed aerial photographs of alleged⁶ chemical weapons sites and mobile labs designed to make nerve agents.

"Ladies and gentlemen, these are sophisticated facilities. For example, they can produce anthrax and botulinum toxin - in fact they can produce enough dry biological agent to kill thousands upon thousands of people," he said.

U.S.-led forces soon achieved the invasion's main objective - overthrowing⁷ Saddam Hussein's regime. Saddam himself was captured in December 2003, and then executed three years later after a lengthy⁸ trial.

But no weapons of mass destruction were ever found, despite thorough searches of the Iraqi countryside by U.S. soldiers and teams of weapons specialists. By 2004, it was clear that any WMD Saddam Hussein possessed⁹ had been destroyed in the 1990s.

Meanwhile, an insurgency initially¹⁰ made up mainly of Sunni fighters grew in strength, taking a heavy toll¹¹ on U.S. forces through roadside bombs and other attacks. Iraqi civilians¹³, especially Shi'ites, also were targeted and many were killed.

Anthony Cordesman, a military expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, says the Bush administration was unprepared to deal with the invasion's aftermath.

"We went into Iraq prepared for one kind of war which was to overthrow Saddam's regime and defeat Iraq's conventional forces. We had the illusion we wouldn't need stability operations and nation-building," he said. "We were unprepared for what happened, we did not create the conditions for stability."

Despite free elections and the formation of a representative government, instability grew.

Civilian¹² casualties mounted, from car bombs and other attacks carried out by Sunni and Shi'ite militias¹⁴. Al-Qaida in Iraq was behind many of the bombings in a drive to escalate¹⁵ sectarian violence. By 2006, the country bordered on civil war.

In early 2007, President Bush ordered an additional 30,000 troops to Iraq in an effort to quell¹⁶ the violence. The troop surge, and new tactics of holding areas after insurgents were expelled, brought a measure of calm to parts of Baghdad and other areas of Iraq. Civilian deaths are down 70 percent from a year ago. In once violent Anbar province, the U.S. military says there are fewer than 20 incidents a week - compared to over 300 in October 2006.

One reason for the decline in attacks is that many former Sunni fighters have turned against al-Qaida and are helping¹⁷ U.S. forces maintain security.

"We capitalized on a spontaneous tribal¹⁸ uprising against al-Qaida. That allowed us to create the "Sons of Iraq", a force that now has some 90,000 men about three times the size of our surge," added Anthony Cordesman.  "Al-Qaida helped us immeasurably. I think we have to give credit to our enemy. They did so much damage to themselves in alienating¹⁹ tribal groups and Sunnis, in driving former insurgents to work with U.S. troops, that oddly enough one of our strongest allies in making this work was our enemy."

The top commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus developed the surge strategy, but expressed caution about its success while speaking recently with VOA's Persian News Network.

"We can certainly say the security aspect of the surge has achieved considerable progress. I wouldn't ever use the word success or victory or anything like that."

He later told the Washington Post newspaper that the Iraqi government has made insufficient²⁰ progress in achieving national reconciliation²¹ and providing basic public services. One of the main objectives of the surge was to reduce the level of violence so that the Shi'ite-dominated government could take advantage of the lull²² to move forward on these. General Petraeus told VOA much more needs to be done.

"Nothing is easy here, progress is difficult to achieve and it is difficult to sustain and build on. There has been progress, we're intending to try to build on it, to try to cement some of the gains, because so far they are tenuous²³ and fragile. They require national political acts of reconciliation, resolving the national political issues."

The Iraq war is now the second-longest in modern U.S. history, with almost 4,000 Americans dead.

And a majority of Americans have now concluded the war was a mistake. However, President Bush strongly believes otherwise.

"The decision to remove Saddam Hussein was the right decision early in my presidency²⁴, it is the right decision at this point in my presidency and will forever be the right decision," said Mr. Bush.

Mr. Bush went on to vow²⁵ America will continue to stand with Iraq. Yet with Americans still dying, pressure seems likely to mount to bring an early end to the war.

1 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

2 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

3 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

6 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

7 overthrowing   

v.打倒，推翻( overthrow的现在分词 )；使终止

参考例句：

• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship. 他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I always delight in overthrowing those kinds of schemes. 我一向喜欢戳穿人家的诡计。 来自辞典例句

8 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

9 possessed   

adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的

参考例句：

• He flew out of the room like a man possessed.他像着了魔似地猛然冲出房门。
• He behaved like someone possessed.他行为举止像是魔怔了。

10 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

11 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

12 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。

13 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。

14 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

15 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

16 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

17 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

18 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

19 alienating   

v.使疏远( alienate的现在分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The phenomena of alienation are widespread. Sports are also alienating. 异化现象普遍存在，体育运动也不例外。 来自互联网
• How can you appeal to them without alienating the mainstream crowd? 你是怎么在不疏忽主流玩家的情况下吸引住他们呢？ 来自互联网

20 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

21 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。

22 lull   

v.使安静，使入睡，缓和，哄骗；n.暂停，间歇

参考例句：

• The drug put Simpson in a lull for thirty minutes.药物使辛普森安静了30分钟。
• Ground fighting flared up again after a two-week lull.经过两个星期的平静之后，地面战又突然爆发了。

23 tenuous   

adj.细薄的，稀薄的，空洞的

参考例句：

• He has a rather tenuous grasp of reality.他对现实认识很肤浅。
• The air ten miles above the earth is very tenuous.距离地面十公里的空气十分稀薄。

24 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

25 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。