2007年VOA标准英语-Activist Sheehan Takes Anti-Iraq War Message Ov

By Tendai Maphosa
London
21 August 2007

Anti-war activist¹ Cindy Sheehan is in London after meeting in Jordan with Iraqis working on the massive refugee crisis.  Four million Iraqis have been displaced by the war.  Half are refugees, mostly in Jordan and Syria. Tendai Maphosa attended a news conference held by Sheehan and has filed this report for VOA.

Cindy Sheehan first made headlines in 2004 when she set up a peace camp outside President George Bush's Texas ranch² following the death of her son Casey, a U.S. soldier in Iraq.

On Tuesday, she stopped in London after visiting Jordan to see the refugee situation for herself. She called it a humanitarian³ crisis that has overwhelmed the host countries.

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US peace activist Cindy Sheehan holds joint press conference in central London, 21 Aug. 2007

"There are about 2 million internally displaced people in Iraq and from what we hear from Iraqis we talked to, is that there is closer to 1 million in Jordan and closer to two million in Syria, and they don't have the basic human essentials; their children can't go to school they can't get medical care," she noted⁵.  "In Jordan they can't work but there is jobs; in Syria they can work but there are no jobs."

She said the situation is so dire⁶ that young girls are prostituting themselves to feed their families.  She announced that her organization, the Camp Casey Peace Institute, along with other anti-war organizations and Iraqi refugees in Jordan are working together to build awareness⁷ in the United States about the crisis. To this end, she said there would be a mass mobilization in Washington, D.C. and in Iraq on September 15, but she described this as an interim⁸ measure.

"The thing that's going to help them the most is when the occupying forces leave and their country is stable enough for them to go back to," she added.  "So we have two problems here.  We have hundreds of thousands, millions, of people who need humanitarian aid, and we have to end the occupation so we don't create any more refugees."

Sheehan said the inability of U.S.-led forces to provide security to the Iraqi people is a war crime. She said a recent $25 million contribution by the United States to the UN's refugee agency is grossly insufficient⁹.

"That's two hours of the war budget," she noted.  "We are spending $12 million an hour on the war, so it is a very inadequate¹⁰ response."

She said the U.S. contribution has helped only about 40,000 people.
 
In early August, Sheehan announced she would run for a congressional seat in California against U.S. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat¹¹. Sheehan says the Democrats¹², who regained¹³ control of Congress in 2006, have not honored promises they made during the campaign. She says she is running as an independent.

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

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 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

7 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

8 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

9 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

10 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

11 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

12 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》

13 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。