英伦范儿的战争复盘报告

Britainin Iraq 英国出兵伊拉克 The beginning of the end 善后刚刚开始 The interminable Chilcot inquiryinto the Iraq war is on its last lap 主播：凤梨君 个人微信号：fenglisama 微信公众号：EnglishQiPa Apr 23rd 2016 | From the printedition ​ ALMOST seven years after theannouncement of the Iraq Inquiry by Gordon Brown, then prime minister, thecompleted report of the committee led by Sir John Chilcot was delivered intothe hands of a team of Whitehall officials and spooks this week for national-securityvetting. Mr Brown’s successor, David Cameron, hopes they will complete theirchecks on a document the size of 15 chunky novels within two weeks. 1 interminable |ɪnˈtɜ:mɪnəbl;美 -ˈtɜ:rm-| 冗长的；没完没了的 2 Chilcot inquiry 齐尔考特调查 3 lastlap（行程和时间的）最后阶段 4 Whitehall |ˈwaɪthɔ:l| 白厅（指英国政府）5 spook |spu:k| 吓；惊吓；受惊6 vet |vet| 仔细检查，审查（内容、质量等）7 chunky |ˈtʃʌŋki| 粗重的；厚实的；结实的 注释：由英国伊拉克战争调查委员会主席约翰齐尔考特爵士主持的伊拉克战争调查已经进行了超过6年的时间。齐尔考特将在下个月告诉英国现任首相卡梅伦公布这份报告的日期。 John Penrose, the Cabinet Officeminister in charge of shepherding the report through to publication, reassuredMPs on April 14th that nothing would be censored to save ministers or officialsfrom embarrassment. Its long-awaited release is likely to be soon after, ratherthan before, the EU referendum on June 23rd. Sir John and his committeehave been the butt of much criticism, including from Mr Cameron himself, forthe time they have taken to complete their work. They are accused of failing torespect the desire of families who lost loved ones to learn what happened andput it all behind them. That was never the purpose of the report. It wasintended to provide a complete record of Britain’s involvement in Iraq frommid-2001 to 2009, two years after British forces ignominiously pulled out ofBasra. It is hoped that future governments will be able to draw lessons fromit. 1 shepherd |ˈʃepəd; 美 -ərd| 带领；引；护送 2 MPs (英国)下院议员 Memberof Parliament 3 censor |ˈsensə(r)| 删剪4 long-awaited 等待（或期待）已久的 5 butt |bʌt| 屁股 bethe butt of sth 受到嘲讽（或批评）；是笑柄（或话柄等）6 ignominious|ˌɪgnəˈmɪniəs| 耻辱的；可耻的；不光彩的 7 Basra[ˈbæzrə] 巴士拉 One reason why the report has takenso long is the amount of material that had to be gathered and examined. To drawdefensible conclusions and make recommendations that will be heeded, an inquiryhas to show that it has left no stone unturned and has weighed the evidenceobjectively. 1 defensible |dɪˈfensəbl| 可辩解的；合乎情理的；有正当理由的 2 recommendation |ˌrekəmenˈdeɪʃn| 正式建议；提议3 heed|hi:d| 留心，注意，听从（劝告或警告） 4 leaveno stone unturned 千方百计；想尽办法 Another is the need for fairness.Inquiries of this kind are set up on the assumption that some people mademistakes or behaved badly. Those whose reputations may be damaged by itsconclusions must be allowed to see and respond to the case against them. Someaccuse individuals including Tony Blair, the prime minister who took Britaininto Iraq, of using the process both as a delaying tactic and as a way todeflect or dilute criticism. Mr Blair strongly denies such charges. Theresponses of some others were worth the wait as they made a positivecontribution to the report. 1 tactic |ˈtæktɪk| 策略；手段；招数2 deflect |dɪˈflekt| 转移；引开3 dilute |daɪˈlu:t; British English also -ˈlju:t| 削弱；降低；使降低效果