VOA常速英语2007-US Commander Hails Decreased Violence in Iraq

By Cindy Saine
Washington
02 October 2007

The U.S. commander of the multi-national corps¹ in Iraq says violence in the country has decreased consistently over the past three months. As VOA's Cindy Saine reports from Washington, Lieutenant² General Raymond Odierno also said that al-Qaida in Iraq is losing some of its capability³ to conduct attacks, and it is losing support among the Iraqi people.

Speaking to reporters at the National Press Club Tuesday General Odierno said the decreased violence is especially encouraging now because the past several years have seen a spike⁴ in attacks in the run-up to the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. He said there was some increased violence last week, but overall, signs of normalcy are beginning to reappear in Iraq.

"Violence throughout the country has dropped to a level not even seen before the first bombing of the Golden Mosque⁵ in 2006," he said.

Figures compiled by the Iraqi and U.S. governments show that the death toll⁶ for Iraqi citizens fell sharply in September to a total of some 827 civilians⁸. This was close to a 50 percent drop from August. The number of U.S. soldiers killed was also down in September, to a total of at least 66.

General Odierno who is responsible for command and control of military operations in Iraq said the surge this year of some 30,000 additional U.S. troops to Iraq means that U.S. forces now have the ability to maintain strategic gains, and this is having an impact on al-Qaida and other insurgents⁹.

"Al-Qaida in Iraq has lost significant capability and they are no longer able to conduct the attacks, the number of attacks that they once were. They still conduct attacks, but not at the levels that they had been in the past. And it has to do with our ability to eliminate safe havens¹⁰ that were in and around Baghdad," he said.

The general said it is equally important that the Iraqi civilian⁷ population has rejected al-Qaida because of its foreign leadership, its Taleban-like methods and its brutal¹¹ targeting of civilians. He said to further decrease the violence, it is now up to the Iraqi government to step up and provide basic services for its people.

"It's now about basic services. We now need to start to improve the basic services. If we can do that, I think we will see a tipping point," he said.

The main issue, he said, is the distribution of electricity and fuel throughout the country. General Odierno also cautioned that U.S. forces in Iraq have not yet achieved what he calls "irreversible momentum¹²", and he said transferring authority to Iraqi security forces must proceed slowly.

1 corps   

n.(通信等兵种的)部队；(同类作的)一组

参考例句：

• The medical corps were cited for bravery in combat.医疗队由于在战场上的英勇表现而受嘉奖。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

2 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

3 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

4 spike   

n.长钉，钉鞋；v.以大钉钉牢，使...失效

参考例句：

• The spike pierced the receipts and held them in order.那个钉子穿过那些收据并使之按顺序排列。
• They'll do anything to spike the guns of the opposition.他们会使出各种手段来挫败对手。

5 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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

10 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

11 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

12 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。