Words in the News Wednesday 09 January 2002 Vocabulary from the news. Listen to and read the report then find explanations of difficult words below.
USA - War on Terrorism Phase Two Summary: In an interview with the New York Times, the US Deputy Defence Secretary, Paul Wolfowitz, has said the next phase of America's war on terrorism will focus on preventing terrorist groups establishing a foothold in such places as Somalia, Yemen, Indonesia and the Philippines. This report from Roger Hardy.
The interview with Mr Wolfowitz, seen as one of the more hawkish members of the US administration, makes it clear that while the Americans have not ended their military involvement in Afghanistan, they're already active in a number of other areas. In that sense, the much-discussed Phase Two of President Bush's war on terrorism has already begun.
As in Afghanistan, the Americans want others to do the fighting wherever possible. They're helping friendly governments, in the Philippines for example, with counter-terrorist training. In lawless states like Somalia, which lack a strong central government, they're trying to find reliable proxy forces. One of the most difficult things, Mr Wolfowitz said, was to establish which of America's current "allies of convenience", as he put it, would become real allies over the long term. Some countries were afraid of getting on the wrong side of America, they weren't acting, he said, out of the goodness of their heart. The interview reinforces the impression that the United States is putting a string of governments on probation giving them a chance to carry out their promises to act against people the Americans regard as terrorists. But the undisguised threat is that, if they don't do enough, the Americans are ready to take action themselves, preferably with their allies, but if necessary alone.
