US Military Vows to Respond to Gruesome Attack on American C

Nick Simeone

U.S. officials in Iraq says Wednesday's gruesome attacks on four American civilians¹ whose burned bodies were put on display in the town of Fallujah will not go unpunished. The U.S. military is threatening to deliver an overwhelming military response.

"It's going to be deliberate, it will be precise and it will be overwhelming," said U.S. General Mark Kimmitt. He told reporters in Baghdad that insurgents³ in Fallujah should be prepared for U.S. forces to strike back following the killing⁴ of four American contractors⁵ by a mob that dragged their charred⁷ bodies through the streets.

"It will be at the time and the place of our choosing. We will hunt down the criminals. We will kill them or we will capture them."

The White House blamed the attack on supporters of Saddam Hussein. Several thousand U.S. Marines are stationed near Fallujah but General Kimmitt says they deliberately⁸ did not to intervene in Wednesday's massacre⁹, believing doing so could have led to an ambush¹⁰ or the taking of human shields.

In the United States, photos of the gruesome murders were splashed across the front-pages of the nation's major newspapers and graphic¹¹ footage from Fallujah was broadcast on television, prompting outrage¹² from Americans and leading some to express new doubts about the war.

"I think we should just say hey guys, you know we're done. Good luck, this is your country, you wanted us out. It's your."

"I was so in favor of us going to Iraq. But now that it looks like it turned out to be a very dirty war the United States has not been able to handle as well as I hoped it would, I have to say that I am not as much for the war as I once was."

Fallujah lies in the heart of the so-called Sunni triangle, a stronghold of Saddam supporters where American troops have taken part in a number of deadly shootouts with Iraqis since the fall of Baghdad nearly a year ago.

The remains¹³ of the four Americans have now been turned over to the U.S. military.
注释：
gruesome [5^ru:sEm] adj. 可怕的，令人毛骨悚然的
Fallujah n. 法鲁加，伊拉克的一个镇
unpunished [5Qn5pQniFt] adj. 未受惩罚的
overwhelming [7EuvE5welmiN] adj. 压倒性的，无法抵抗的
insurgent² [in5sE:dVEnt] n. 起义者
drag [drA^] v. 拖，拖曳
char⁶ [tFB:] v. 烧焦
intervene [7intE5vi:n] vi. 干涉
massacre [5mAsEkE] n. 残杀，大屠杀
ambush [5AmbuF] n. 埋伏，伏兵
shield [Fi:ld] n. 防护物，盾
splash [splAF] v. 登载，报道
front-page n. 头版醒目地位
footage [5futidV] n. 连续镜头
in favor of 赞同
turn out v. 结果
Sunni triangle 逊尼派三角地区，伊拉克西北方纷争地带
stronghold [5strRNhEJld] n. 要塞，据点
shootout [5Fut7aUt] n. 交火，开枪决斗

 

1 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。

2 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

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 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。

5 contractors   

n.（建筑、监造中的）承包人( contractor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Contractors winning construction jobs had to kick back 2 per cent of the contract price to the mafia. 赢得建筑工作的承包商得抽出合同价格的百分之二的回扣给黑手党。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 char   

v.烧焦；使...燃烧成焦炭

参考例句：

• Without a drenching rain,the forest fire will char everything.如果没有一场透地雨，森林大火将烧尽一切。
• The immediate batch will require deodorization to char the protein material to facilitate removal in bleaching.脱臭烧焦的蛋白质原料易在脱色中去除。

7 charred   

v.把…烧成炭( char的过去式)；烧焦

参考例句：

• the charred remains of a burnt-out car 被烧焦的轿车残骸
• The intensity of the explosion is recorded on the charred tree trunks. 那些烧焦的树干表明爆炸的强烈。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

9 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

10 ambush   

n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击

参考例句：

• Our soldiers lay in ambush in the jungle for the enemy.我方战士埋伏在丛林中等待敌人。
• Four men led by a sergeant lay in ambush at the crossroads.由一名中士率领的四名士兵埋伏在十字路口。

11 graphic   

adj.生动的，形象的，绘画的，文字的，图表的

参考例句：

• The book gave a graphic description of the war.这本书生动地描述了战争的情况。
• Distinguish important text items in lists with graphic icons.用图标来区分重要的文本项。

12 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。