VOA常速英语2008年-Rice Urges Arab States to Boost Ties With Baghd

By David Gollust
State Department
17 April 2008

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice says she will push Iraq's Arab neighbors to boost diplomatic relations and other ties with Baghdad as a counter-weight to Iranian influence. Rice leaves Saturday on a mission to the Gulf¹ including an Iraq neighbors conference in Kuwait. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The United States has welcomed the stated commitments of key Gulf allies including Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to set up embassies in Baghdad. But Rice is signaling impatience² with a lack of action on such promises, and is making clear her intention to press the matter at the Kuwait conference.

In a talk with reporters, Rice said security conditions in Iraq have vastly improved since the Bush administration began pressing the issue of Arab ties with Baghdad months ago.

She said while Arab states need not match the U.S. diplomatic commitment to Iraq as evidenced by the new $700 million American embassy in Baghdad, they should be represented into order to as she put it "confirm and work for Iraq's Arab identity" in the face of Iranian influence.

"Iraq should be fully³ reincorporated into the Arab world," Rice said. "It think that in and of itself will begin to shield from influences of Iran that are nefarious⁴ influences. Iran is a neighbor. It's going to have influence. But Iraq is first and foremost an Arab state. It's a state in which Iraqi nationalism is very strong, and the neighbors ought to be reinforcing that."

Iran will be represented at the Kuwait ministerial though Rice said she has no plans for any direct contact with the Iranian delegation⁵.

She said Iran must end what she termed "malign⁶ actions" that undermine the Baghdad government, and said ultimately the stability and success of Iraq is in the interests of all of its neighbors including Tehran.

Rice said the stress on Iranian meddling⁷ by senior U.S. figures including Iraq military commander General David Petraeus does not mean the threat from Sunni insurgents⁸ in Iraq has disappeared. But she said the position of groups like al-Qaida in Iraq has been significantly weakened:

"The context for al-Qaida and the Sunni insurgents, to the degree that they continue to operate is a far less hospitable⁹ context, in which their base of operations, Anbar [province], is overwhelmingly controlled-cities like Ramadi and Faluja - by legitimate¹⁰ Iraqi authorities," Rice said. "And the rebuilding of those cities gives reason to the people of those provincial¹¹ cities to continue to support the government."

Rice said Iraqis are turning security gains into political progress, and she suggested that no other country in the Middle East is doing a better job of trying to peacefully reconcile its Sunni and Shiite Muslim communities.

1 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

2 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 nefarious   

adj.恶毒的，极坏的

参考例句：

• My father believes you all have a nefarious purpose here.我父亲认为你们都有邪恶的目的。
• He was universally feared because of his many nefarious deeds.因为他干了许多罪恶的勾当，所以人人都惧怕他。

5 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

6 malign   

adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑

参考例句：

• It was easy to see why the cartoonists regularly portrayed him as a malign cherub.难怪漫画家总是把他画成一个邪恶的小天使。
• She likes to malign innocent persons.她爱诋毁那些清白的人。

7 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

8 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

9 hospitable   

adj.好客的；宽容的；有利的，适宜的

参考例句：

• The man is very hospitable.He keeps open house for his friends and fellow-workers.那人十分好客，无论是他的朋友还是同事，他都盛情接待。
• The locals are hospitable and welcoming.当地人热情好客。

10 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

11 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。