听力4新闻原文(3)

The President is making it clear that leaving Afghanistan is not an option; it’s not on the table. According to one White House source, he told the meeting that he wouldn’t shrink the number of troops in Afghanistan or opt for a strategy of merely targeting al-Qaeda leaders. But he wouldn’t be drawn on the military request for more troops.

There appears to be a frustration that the review of strategy has sometimes been portrayed in black-and-white terms of a massive increase of reduction of troop numbers.

President Obama told the group made up of the most senior Republican and Democrat senators and congressmen that his assessment would be “rigorous and deliberate”. But it’s going on too long for some Republicans and members of the President’s own party are dubious about committing more resources and military personnel to a conflict where there is no end in sight. The word “Vietnam” is heard more and more on Capitol Hill.

News item 3

There were traffic jams on the road north, families heading to Gaza City to reunite with friends and relatives. Long lines of cars backed up at the makeshift roadblocks the Israelis have left behind. But the tanks are gone, only the deep tracks remain.

There were buildings pitted with Israeli tank rounds; from the holes that have been punched in the walls it was clear there had also been snipers waiting for them. North of Khan Younis we saw some of the Qassam fighters returning home, their rifles slung lazily around their shoulders.

For three weeks the Israelis pounded the tunnels that run beneath the perimeter wall but last night we met people who insist that some of these tunnels are still open and still some fuel is being pumped from the Egyptian side. If the border crossings remain close, say the Palestinians, these tunnels are their only link to the outside world.

Unit 4

News item 1

This morning in the Ingush capital of Nazran, local police were standing to attention in the courtyard of their headquarters to receive their orders for the day, when a bomber drove a truck loaded with explosives into the gates of the building.

The blast set the building alight destroying much of it and many of the vehicles parked there. Local officials have warned that the number of dead could still rise as local apartment blocks were also hit and children were among the wounded. the bombing is one of the deadliest in months and damages the Kremlin’s claims that the Republic’s new president is bringing the region under control.

The Ingush president Y unus-Bek Yevkurov, who was still convalescing after surviving an assassination attempt in June, spoke about the attack this morning. He pointed the finger at the West saying that it was behind the blast. He said that western powers would never allow Russia to reclaim its status as a world power.

News item 2

Malaysia’s Prime Minister, Najib Razak, announced ambitious targets last week to tackle street crime. He wants a 20% fall by this time next year. Retired policemen are being brought back and members of Malaysia’s people’s volunteer corps are being enlisted to fight on the frontline. They’ll join police on street patrols.