US Senator Blames Saudi Government for Attack on Foreigners

 

Paula Wolfson

The chairman of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee says the Saudi government bears part of the blame for the latest terrorist attack in that country.
Senator Richard Lugar says the Saudi government is providing the money to run Islamic schools, called madrassas that teach their students dangerous lessons. "And out of these schools come young Saudis who join these militant¹ organizations and who have very little regard for the American-Saudi relationship," he said.
Speaking on the Fox News Sunday television program, the Indiana Republican said this is a serious problem for the Saudis. He said, if attacks on foreign workers continue, the effect on the Saudi oil industry could be very severe.
"Six-million expatriates, essentially², run that industry," he said. "This is an oil industry that is based upon foreign workers, from executives down to the most menial tasks."
The Saudis insist they are doing everything possible to ensure the safety of foreign workers. But the spokesman for the Saudi Embassy in Washington, Nail Al-Jubeir, told CNN's Late Edition that protecting housing complexes from an attack by a small group of armed men is difficult.
"The question that we have is how do you protect against a lone³ gunman or four gunmen moving into an area, wanting to die, committing murder? It is very difficult to protect against," said Mr. Al-Jubeir. "You can protect against car bombs, you can put barriers against car bombs, you can protect as people try to come in, but it is difficult to guard individual buildings in a way that you are absolutely sure nothing is going to happen."
The Saudi spokesman went on to stress that, despite this weekend's attack on a foreign housing complex in the oil city of Khobar, the oil fields to the north are heavily guarded and safe.
He was asked what impact the terrorist siege in Khobar might have on the oil industry, and on Saudi Arabia's pledge last week to raise production in order to help bring down soaring world oil market prices. "Our attempt to increase oil production to help reduce the price of oil is going to have a little of a bump here in the next few days," he said. "Our speculators are waiting to see what is going to happen. Once they realize our oil installations are safe, and they are protected, we should see a down spill [reduction] in the price of oil."
More than 20 people were killed in the day-long siege at the housing complex. An Internet statement purported⁵ to be from al-Qaida claims responsibility for the attack.

注释：
U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee 美国参议院国际关系委员会
senator [5senEtE] n. 参议员
madrassas圣战学校
militant [5militEnt] adj. 好战的
Fox News Sunday 福克斯星期日新闻
severe [si5viE] adj. 严峻的
expatriate [eks5pAtrieit] n. 亡命国外者
menial [5mi:njEl] adj. 奴仆式的
embassy [5embEsi] n. 大使馆
housing complexes 居住区
barrier [5bAriE] n. 屏障
siege [si:dV] n. 围攻
pledge [pledV] n. 保证，声明
bring down 降低
soaring world 发达国家地区
bump [bQmp] n. 阻碍，挫折
speculator [5spekjuleitE] n. 投资者
installation [7instE5leiFEn] n. 装置
purport⁴ [5pE:pEt, -pC:t] v. 据称，谣传

 

1 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。

2 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

3 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。

4 purport   

n.意义，要旨，大要；v.意味著，做为...要旨，要领是...

参考例句：

• Many theories purport to explain growth in terms of a single cause.许多理论都标榜以单一的原因解释生长。
• Her letter may purport her forthcoming arrival.她的来信可能意味着她快要到了。

5 purported   

adj.传说的，谣传的v.声称是…，（装得）像是…的样子( purport的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• the scene of the purported crime 传闻中的罪案发生地点
• The film purported to represent the lives of ordinary people. 这部影片声称旨在表现普通人的生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》