【689-690】Reaction to Trump’s Decision to Withdraw US Forces。。。
1): 邀你加入->【漂泊者乐园-英语学习群】
【每日一歌】
43 孤枕难眠 I Don't Like To Sleep Alone
歌曲选自《最适合学习英语的英文歌曲80首》
提示：关注漂泊者乐园微信公众号公众号后， 回复 d2 可收听查看所有《As It Is 》文章。
《As It Is 》栏目在本号自2018年4月初开始全马力运行，已经推文 688 篇，每日仍在不断增加中。
亲爱的朋友，如果您能能坚持跟着本号听读，相信不用多久，您的英语听力一定会有极大的提高！
漂泊者乐园微信公众号在线英语学习资料
美国之音特别英语节目：慢速英语听力
学英语的朋友，想提高听力的话，请听下面的音频。
有问题可在【漂泊者乐园-英语学习群】里一起交流，谢谢！
本音频包含不同内容的文章，对应的文本依次附在其后。
【689】
AS IT IS
Reaction to Trump’s Decision to Withdraw US Forces from Syria
December 20, 2018
FILE - Photo released by the U.S. Army shows U.S. soldiers gathering for a brief during a combined joint patrol rehearsal in Manbij, Syria, Nov. 7, 2018.
Syrian Kurdish allies of the United States are worried about President Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw all U.S. military forces from Syria.
The Kurdish Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) said in a statement Thursday that a U.S. withdrawal could give Islamic State (IS) militants a chance to regroup. It noted that Turkey has threatened to launch an offensive against Kurdish forces east of the Euphrates River.
Trump announced the unexpected withdrawal -- first in a statement and later in a video message -- on Twitter Wednesday.
“We have won against (IS), we’ve beaten them and we’ve beaten them badly,” he said, adding “now it’s time for our troops to come back home.”
-t1-
U.S. lawmakers reacted with surprise to the president’s decision to immediately begin withdrawing all U.S. troops in Syria.
Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed told reporters the Trump administration is abandoning the Kurds to a “bloody conflict with Turkey.” Reed, a member of the Democratic Party, called the decision a “betrayal.”
South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham said the decision was a “disaster in the making." Graham belongs to the Republican Party and is usually a Trump supporter.
France and Britain expressed concern about the U.S. announcement. The two countries are important members of the 60-member, anti-IS alliance.
A British government statement released Wednesday noted that “much remains to be done and we must not lose sight of the threat…(IS) remains a threat.”
France’s European Affairs minister said that “the fight against terrorism is not over.”
In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomed the U.S. decision. At his yearly press conference on Thursday, Putin said he agreed with Trump. He added that the United States “has done the right thing.”
The administration and the U.S. Defense Department have yet to explain how the nearly 2,000 American soldiers in Syria would be safely removed.
Defense Secretary James Mattis and other U.S officials have been calling for American troops to stay in Syria to completely destroy Islamic State forces. The group still controls a few small areas of Syrian territory.
Earlier this week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he had won “concessions” during a long telephone call with Trump. Erdogan said they talked about a Turkish offensive against the Kurds.
Some Middle East experts have strongly criticized the president’s decision.
Charles Lister at Washington’s Middle East Institute called the move a “dream scenario” for IS, Russia, Iran and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Richard Haas is president of the Council on Foreign Relations. He said it is “morally wrong” to leave the Syrian Kurds to face Turkey alone.
The Syrian civil war began in 2011. It has left nearly 500,000 dead and millions homeless. In 2014, Islamic State militants seized control of several parts of Syria. While IS forces are mostly destroyed, they still hold territory in northeastern Syria.
I’m Jonathan Evans.
Susan Shand adapted this VOA News report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
____________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
abandon – n. to leave and never return to someone who needs protection or help
concession – n. the act of giving up something or doing something in order to reach agreement
scenario – n. a description of what could possibly happen
concession – n. the act of giving up something or doing something in order to reach agreement
scenario – n. a description of what could possibly happen
【690】
AS IT IS
Children Kill and Die in Yemen's War
December 20, 2018
Kahlan, a 12-year-old former child soldier, demonstrates how to use a weapon, at a camp for displaced persons where he took shelter with his family, in Marib, Yemen in this July 27, 2018 photo. (AP Photo/Nariman El-Mofty)
For two years, Mohammed fought with Yemen’s Houthi rebels against a military coalition led by Saudi Arabia and backed by the United States.
Mohamed says he tortured and killed people. He did not care whether he lived or died. But if he did die, the bracelet he wore with a “jihadi number” would guarantee his body made it home.
Mohammed is one of 18 former child soldiers who spoke with the Associated Press. All of them escaped from rebel forces or were captured by coalition units. They are now at camps and a counseling center in the city of Marib, in an area controlled by the Saudi-led, U.S.-backed coalition.
Children recruited or forced to fight
Both sides in the four-year civil war have sent children into battle – a violation of international human rights conventions. The United Nations was able to confirm that 2,721 children have been recruited to fight for all sides in the conflict. A majority of them have fought for the Houthis. But officials say that number is likely low because many families are too fearful to speak out.
A senior Houthi military official admitted to the AP that the rebels have brought 18,000 child soldiers into their army since 2014. He did not wish to be named.
Officially, the Houthis say they do not recruit children and send away children who try to join. But in Sana'a, the Yemeni capital now under Houthi control, locals say the rebels go door to door telling parents they must either turn over their sons or pay money for the war effort.
Some of the former child soldiers told the AP they joined the rebels willingly because of promises of money or the chance to carry a weapon. But others described being taken from their schools or forced to join the Houthis in exchange for a family member’s release from detention.
Some children gave themselves a war name after they joined the fighting. One 10-year-old boy, for example, called himself Abu Nasr, Arabic for “Father of Victory.”
A 13-year-old boy named Saleh told the AP that Houthi fighters came to his home and demanded that he and his father come with them to the front lines of battle. He said his father was pulled away when he refused the order. Saleh added, “I heard the bullets, then my father collapsing dead.”
Joining the jihad
New recruits are usually taken first to “culture centers” for religious courses, which last about a month. They are told they are joining a holy war against Jews and Christians and Arab countries that have been influenced by the West. The boys are told that if they die fighting, they will go to heaven.
Mohammed said, “When you get out of the culture center, you don’t want to go home anymore. You want to go to jihad.”
The recruits are then sent to military training camps in the mountains. At night, they sleep in shelters made of tree branches. During the day, they learn how to fire weapons, plant explosives and avoid missiles fired by coalition airplanes.
After less than a month of military training, they are sent to war wearing the bracelets meant to promise to honor them as martyrs if they die. The children call the lettering on the bracelets their “jihadi number.”
Many child soldiers can be seen holding AK-47 machine guns at search areas along main roads in northern and western Yemen. Others are sent to the front lines as foot soldiers.
“He was my master”
Mohammed fought in and around the city of Taiz.
One day, the Houthis captured a coalition fighter. Mohamed was told to send electric shocks through the man’s body during questioning. When it was over, he said, his commander gave this order: “Get rid of him.”
Mohammed said he took a heavy metal tool, heated it with fire, and then hit the back of the man’s head. “He was my master,” Mohammed said. “If he says kill, I would kill.... I would blow myself up for him.”
A 13-year-old named Riyadh said he and his 11-year-old brother once shot and killed two enemy soldiers. But more often, he said, he closed his eyes when he fired his gun. “Honestly, when I am afraid, I don’t know where I am shooting — sometimes in the air and sometimes just randomly,” he said.
Riyadh said half of the fighters he served with on the front lines were children. He said he asked his commander to let them take cover during airstrikes: “Sir, the planes are bombing.” The commander’s answer, he said, was always: “Followers of God, you must attack!”
Twelve-year-old Kahlan joined the rebels with the promise of a new book bag for school. He and the other boys had no clothes other than their school uniforms, he said. They were so dirty that many developed skin problems.
Thousands have died
The United Nations says more than 6,000 children have died or been injured in Yemen since the beginning of the war. But the organization does not know how many of them died as fighters. The Houthis do not release their records.
A former teacher from Dhamar said that at least 14 students from his school were recruited. They later died in battle. Their photographs were put on empty classroom seats in February of 2016 during the Week of the Martyr. Most of them were fifth and sixth graders, the teacher said. An education official from Dhamar confirmed the story. The teacher and official did not want to be identified out of fear.
The teacher said some of the dead children’s parents were Houthi leaders who willingly sent their sons to the front lines. “It’s painful because this is a child and they are all my children because I was their teacher,” he said. “They were taken from the school and returned in coffins.”
General Yahia Sarie is a spokesman for the Houthis’ armed forces. He told the AP “there is no general policy to use the children in the battles,” but he admitted that some young people do volunteer to join the fight.
He dismissed the claims from the children who spoke to the AP, calling their stories coalition propaganda.
Coming back to society
Mohammed, Riyadh and Kahlan all ended up at the center in Marib that helps children who served as Houthi soldiers. Since September 2017, almost 200 boys have come through the center.
The Wethaq Foundation for Civil Orientation created the center. It is funded with Saudi money.
Mayoub al-Makhlafi is the center’s psychiatrist. He said all the former child soldiers suffer from anxiety, panic attacks and other problems. Some describe being beaten by their own commanders. Others talk about being sexually abused by officers.
Naguib al-Saadi is a Yemeni human rights activist. He said, “The real problem with Houthi recruitment of children will be felt in 10 years — when a generation that has been brainwashed with hatred…toward the West comes of age.”
I'm Bryan Lynn. And I'm Ashley Thompson.
Maggie Michael reported this story for the Associated Press. Hai Do adapted the story for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
_____________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
bracelet - n. a piece of jewelry worn on the wrist
martyr - n. a person who is killed for a religion
recruit - v. to persuade someone to join a company, organization or armed forces
heaven - n. the place where good people go after they die according to some religions
jihad - n. a war fought by Muslims to defend or spread their beliefs
randomly - adv. in a way that does not follow a plan or pattern
coffin - n. a box in which a dead person is buried
anxiety - n. fear or nervousness about what might happen
panic - n. a feeling of extreme fear that makes someone unable to act or think normally
brainwash - v. to cause someone to think or believe something by using methods that make a person unable to think normally
AS IT IS
Hollywood Stars Reveal their Best, Worst Christmas Gifts
December 20, 2018
Saoirse Ronan arrives at the 24th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards at the Shrine Auditorium & Expo Hall on Sunday, Jan. 21, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP)
Still hunting for that perfect present for family or friends? Maybe this will help. With Christmas shopping season well under way, Reuters asked a number of stars about their best and worst Christmas gifts.
A Star Is Born actor and director Bradley Cooper said his favorite present was “a conducting baton” he got when he was eight years old. Mary Queen of Scots star Saoirse Ronan also went back to childhood to answer the question. She said Harry Potter-related presents are on the top of her list. She recalled that Christmas as “probably the best year of my life.”
Joe Alwyn also stars in Mary Queen of Scots. He said his favorite present was “a big toy car.”
Dr Who actor David Tennant named the 1980s electronic game Astro Wars as his best gift ever. He received it first as a child. Then, last year, his wife bought another for him.
“...It was very old but that was a very touching moment,” he said.
Among the less loved gifts, American Hustle actor Alessandro Nivola, has an unusual one. He said his father once gave him an old vacuum cleaner. “I think he was trying to send me a message,” Nivola said.
Movie star Leslie Mann noted the old trick of buying someone a gift that you will enjoy yourself. “My husband likes to give me presents like trips that he wants to go on,” she said.
Emily Blunt said her grandmother would re-gift presents.
“She’d give me back the pashmina that I bought lovingly for her,” she said. “It always used to make me laugh.”
For many stars, it is the predictable gifts that are the least wanted.
“I think the worst present I always get is socks,” said “Hamilton” creator Lin-Manuel Miranda. “I can buy myself socks...”
The Office and Despicable Me actor, Steve Carell, said he once received a pair of Santa socks.
“Those ones, like the aunt who has met you three times sends you and doesn’t really know your likes or dislikes, just gets something at the gas station on the way over, that kind of gift,” he said. “But…it’s done out of love.”
I’m Susan Shand.
Reuters reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. Caty Weaver was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
_______________________________________________________________
Words in This Story
toy – n. an item a child plays with
vacuum cleaner – n. a machine that sucks up dirt
conducting baton – n. a stick used by a music conductor to lead the orchestra
pashmina – n. a type of scarf for a women
pair of socks – n. the items one wears on one’s feet
Santa Claus – n. man who lives in the north pole and delivers gifts to children at Christmas
您好！既然漂到这里，就顺便把本文转到朋友圈吧！