2006年VOA标准英语-Bush: Saddam Execution Will Not End Violence

By Scott Stearns
White House
30 December 2006

U.S. President George Bush says Saddam Hussein's execution is an important milestone¹ for Iraq, but will not stop the violence there. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, Mr. Bush is working on what he says will be a new way forward in the war in Iraq.

 
President George W. Bush 
President Bush says Saddam's hanging comes at the end of a difficult year for the Iraqi people and for U.S. troops.

In a written statement from his Texas ranch², Mr. Bush said bringing the former dictator to justice will not end the violence in Iraq. But he called it an important milestone on Iraq's course to becoming a democracy that can govern itself, sustain itself and defend itself.

Those are the benchmarks that President Bush has been using to define success in Iraq at a time when he and his senior advisers⁴ are working on what they say will be a new way forward in the war.

In his statement, Mr. Bush says Saddam's execution reminds Americans how far the Iraqi people have come since the end of the former Iraqi leader's rule. He says that progress would not have been possible without the continued service and sacrifice of the U.S. military.

December has been the deadliest month for U.S. troops in Iraq in two years, with the overall death toll⁵ now approaching 3,000.

President Bush says many difficult choices and further sacrifices lie ahead in Iraq, but the safety and security of the American people require that there be no relenting in U.S. efforts to ensure that Iraq's young democracy continues to progress.

Two-thirds of Americans doubt a stable, democratic government will ever be established in Iraq. A public opinion poll taken for The Associated Press earlier this month also showed that more than 70 percent of Americans disapprove⁶ of the president's handling of the war in Iraq.

Disaffection over Iraq was one of the key issues attributed to opposition⁷ Democrats⁸ winning control of Congress in last month's elections. In the Democrats' weekly radio address Saturday, incoming Congressman⁹ Jerry McNerney said voters clearly want a change of direction.

He said, "The Iraqis need to understand that the responsibility for the future of that country is theirs. Beginning the redeployment of American forces would send that message."

"We must also improve the training of Iraqi security forces by ensuring that Iraqi units are not infiltrated¹⁰ by either militia¹¹ members or insurgents," he continued.

Among the options President Bush is considering for his new Iraq policy is a temporary surge of several thousand more U.S. troops to improve security in Baghdad.

Mr. McNerney says that would be a mistake, showing the president following what he called the same failed logic¹².

 
Video grab from al-Iraqiya television shows Saddam Hussein moments before being hanged in Baghdad, 30 Dec 2006
President Bush spoke¹³ briefly¹⁴ with his national security adviser³ Saturday about world reaction to Saddam's execution. Mr. Bush had been briefed on the plans and went to sleep Friday evening before the hanging.

Many Arab-Americans in the state of Michigan celebrated¹⁵ Saddam's death by waving Iraqi flags. Some said they had family members killed by Saddam forces, and saw the execution as an act of justice and revenge.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said the hanging was cruel and inhumane, despite the former dictator's widespread human rights violations¹⁶. The group said his trial was "deeply flawed."

President Bush says Saddam received a fair trial, something he says was unimaginable under what he called Saddam's tyrannical rule.

1 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

2 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

5 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。

6 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。

7 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。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

10 infiltrated   

adj.[医]浸润的v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The headquarters had been infiltrated by enemy spies. 总部混入了敌方特务。
• Many Chinese idioms have infiltrated into the Japanese language. 许多中国成语浸透到日语中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

11 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

12 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

15 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

16 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。