2006年VOA标准英语-US, Britain Again Call on Iraqi Leaders To

By Al Pessin
Washington
07 April 2006

British Defense¹ Minister John Reid (left) and Donald Rumsfeld  
  
After meeting in Washington on Thursday, the top U.S. and British defense officials again urged Iraqi leaders to form a new government. But U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld also indicated some understanding of the difficulty Iraqi politicians are having in their effort to do that.

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Secretary Rumsfeld and his guest, British Defense Minister John Reid, continued the series of high level statements urging Iraqi leaders to end their deadlock² over senior posts and form a national unity³ government. The secretary has said in the past that the lack of such a government is contributing to the ongoing⁴ violence in the country. But on Thursday, Secretary Rumsfeld indicated that he understands some of the difficulties the Iraqi politicians are facing.

"It's easy for us here in an air conditioned room and say, 'Gee⁵, they ought to form a government.' And they should. And it would be a help if they did. On the other hand, what they're doing is difficult. They're negotiating. They're meeting with each other. They're talking to each other, as opposed to shooting at each other. They're stepping forward and putting themselves at risk to provide leadership in that country," he said.

Minister Reid said he believes the Iraqi leaders will succeed in forming a government. He said it would be an important show of unity at a time when the insurgents⁶ in Iraq are trying to foment⁷ disunity. "As the terrorists seek, by their own barbaric methods to divide inside Iraq, and divide us outside Iraq, our response should be to hold firm and get maximum unity inside Iraq, and maximum unity outside," he said.

Minister Reid also called for better cooperation among allied⁸ countries in bringing all their powers to bear on a variety of issues, including diplomacy⁹, the international legal system and international organizations like the United Nations.

Minister Reid said he and Secretary Rumsfeld also discussed Afghanistan, and issues related to enabling the U.S. and British militaries to work together more effectively. But, with Secretary Rumsfeld laughing alongside him, Minister Reid said they made only brief mention of the international confrontation¹⁰ with Iran over its nuclear program and went to some length to make clear they had not discussed military action. "If you're asking whether we touched upon, mentioned, implied, nodded to each other, in any way sent signals about military action in Iran, the answer is 'no.'," he said.

Minister Reid said he had a more extensive discussion about Iran earlier in the day with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, but he did not provide any details, beyond saying international unity is also important on that issue.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

3 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 gee   

n.马；int.向右！前进！，惊讶时所发声音；v.向右转

参考例句：

• Their success last week will gee the team up.上星期的胜利将激励这支队伍继续前进。
• Gee,We're going to make a lot of money.哇！我们会赚好多钱啦！

6 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

7 foment   

v.煽动，助长

参考例句：

• The rebels know the truth and seek to foment revolution.那些叛乱者知道真相，并且想办法来挑起革命。
• That's an attempt to foment discord.这是挑拨。

8 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

9 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

10 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。