VOA标准英语2008年-Iraqi Parliament Members Discuss US-Iraq Agreem

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
05 June 2008

Two members of Iraq's parliament have testified before a congressional committee about future U.S. - Iraq relations. As VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill, in their testimony¹, the two members of Iraq's Council of Representatives urged a delay in agreements being negotiated with the United States.
　

Nadeem al-Jaberi (l) and Sheikh Khalaf al-Ulayyan testifying on Capitol Hill, 04 Jun 2008

U.S. and Iraqi officials hope to conclude negotiations² by the end of July on a framework accord defining a long-term bilateral³ security relationship, and a Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) formalizing the basis for a U.S. troop presence after a United Nations mandate⁴ expires at the end of this year.

But this week, an Iraqi government spokesman pointed⁵ to differences with the United States, saying the two sides were still far apart, and Iraq is concerned about preserving its sovereignty and protecting its interests.

The Bush administration asserts that neither prospective⁶ agreement would commit U.S. troops to defend Iraq against internal or external threats, or authorize⁷ U.S. bases in Iraq, although a non-binding statement of principles signed last year included language about defending Iraq against threats.

Democrats⁸ and some Republicans believe Congress must approve any accord. Here is Massachusetts Congressman⁹ William Delahunt.

"We continue to demand of President Bush and Secretary Rice that any agreement that is beyond the typical status of forces agreement, and I underscored the word typical, is brought before the U.S Congress, whether it be an international agreement or a treaty for the approval of this House and the U.S. Senate," said Congressman Delahunt.

Iraqi parliament member and professor Nadeem al-Jaberi asserts that negotiations are being hurried, and says Iraq's government isn't ready to undertake such a commitment.

"We believe that for any bilateral agreement to be signed it would be better it would be done after the withdrawal¹⁰ of American troops, when Iraq is fully¹¹ qualified¹² and when the Iraqi government is in a position to defend the interests of the Iraqi people," said Nadeem al-Jaberi.

Representative Delahunt pointed to a letter to the U.S. Congress signed by 34 members of Iraq's parliament. It states that any U.S.-Iraq agreement must be ratified¹³ by Iraq's Council of Representatives, and rejects any accord not requiring a timetable for withdrawing U.S. troops.

Iraqi parliament member Sheikh Khalaf al-Ulayyan, from Sunni al-Anbar province, says any U.S. withdrawal that is not carefully-planned would be dangerous and leave Iraq open to a takeover by Iran.

But he agrees that a U.S.-Iraq agreement should be delayed until a new U.S. president takes office.

"This agreement if it is to go through right now will make things more difficult and we prefer to delay this agreement until there is a new administration in the U.S. Hopefully the new administration will take decisions that will serve the interests of the American people and Iraq," said Sheikh Khalaf al-Ulayyan.

Ulayyan says Iraq will need ongoing¹⁴ help in all aspects, including the training and equipping of its military, but he says any future U.S. presence should be strictly¹⁵ civilian¹⁶ rather than military.

He faced this question from Republican Dana Rohrabacher:

ROHRABACHER: "Would you have preferred that the U.S. would not have conducted the military operations it did in order to rid Iraq of Saddam Hussein?"

ULAYYAN: "We prefer [that] it [wouldn't have] happened, because this led to the destruction of the country."

ROHRABACHER: "OK, so you would have preferred the U.S. not to have gone in and got rid of Saddam Hussein?"

ULAYYAN: "The United States got rid of one person but they brought hundreds of persons who are worse than Saddam."

Kenneth Katzman of the Congressional Research Service believes chances are unlikely of securing Iraqi parliament approval of any draft agreement by July.

"Maliki is going to have to water down the agreement so much, and try to limit what the U.S. military can do in Iraq so much, that it would then become unacceptable to the U.S. military in terms of what legal status the U.S. military would be under, and mainly the freedom of action enjoyed by U.S. forces after such agreements," said Katzman.

A senior Iranian official, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, issued a sharp public criticism Wednesday of U.S.-Iraqi security negotiations.

The remarks, in Saudi Arabia, came in advance of the second visit in a year to Iran by Iraqi Prime Minister al-Maliki.

1 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

2 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

3 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

4 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

5 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

6 prospective   

adj.预期的，未来的，前瞻性的

参考例句：

• The story should act as a warning to other prospective buyers.这篇报道应该对其他潜在的购买者起到警示作用。
• They have all these great activities for prospective freshmen.这会举办各种各样的活动来招待未来的新人。

7 authorize   

v.授权，委任；批准，认可

参考例句：

• He said that he needed to get his supervisor to authorize my refund.他说必须让主管人员批准我的退款。
• Only the President could authorize the use of the atomic bomb.只有总统才能授权使用原子弹。

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 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

11 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。

12 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

13 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

14 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。

15 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

16 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。