Text 2

Translation 1
Winter semester 2004/05
1-text2e
File Contents
2
German text (Text 2)
3
EM's model translation
4-5
some language notes from the class (reported speech, damit)
6-10
matching texts, with excerpts highlighted in capital letters
Translation 1 (E. Martin, Anglistik) - Winter 2004/05
Text 2
Translate the following newspaper text into English.
Tip 1: As usual, find some good matching texts to help you with the special terminology (e.g.
Widerstandshochburg) and the general journalese (e.g. US-Schätzungen zufolge; hieß es) in the
text. You will also need matching texts to check the English spelling of foreign names. Make
thorough use, too, of all your reference books and dictionaries.
Tip 2: Indirect speech usually plays an important part in journalese texts. Start making systematic
notes on how to translate indirect speech into English, using your parallel texts and your
grammar books to discover how speech is reported in English and listing examples of set phrases
that introduce indirect speech in English and German (for example, create an "Indirect Speech"
wordfield, keep adding to it, and file it for future reference).
Tip 3: Remember the motto "my translation should be as close to the German text as possible, but
as free as necessary" and take care with expressions such as halten sich versteckt.
Always write your translation on a computer and bring a complete print-out to class next week
together with any matching texts you have used to help you.
Großoffensive auf Falludscha hat begonnen
Begleitet von massiven Luftangriffen, haben US-Truppen im Irak am Montag Bezirke im
Westen von Falludscha gestürmt und damit ihre Großoffensive gegen die
Widerstandshochburg eingeleitet. Der irakische Ministerpräsident Ajad Allawi erklärte,
er habe den internationalen und irakischen Truppen die Genehmigung zur Befreiung
Falludschas von „Terroristen“ gegeben. Dort sowie in Ramadi gelte ab 18 Uhr der
Ausnahmezustand. Ferner würden die Grenzen zu Syrien und Jordanien geschlossen und
für 48 Stunden auch der Flughafen von Bagdad.
Die US-Soldaten brachten das größte Krankenhaus und zwei Brücken über den Euphrat
unter ihre Kontrolle. Nachdem die US-Truppen die Gegend abgeriegelt hatten, trafen
mehrere hundert irakische Soldaten im Krankenhaus ein und kontrollierten die Patienten.
38 Personen wurden nach US-Angaben festgenommen.
In Falludscha halten sich US-Schätzungen zufolge 3.000 bewaffnete Aufständische
versteckt. Rund 10.000 US-Soldaten haben die Stadt abgeriegelt. Die Hälfte der 300.000
Einwohner soll geflüchtet sein. Radikale Kleriker in Falludscha warnten am Montag
erneut vor einer Erstürmung der Stadt. Den irakischen Soldaten warfen sie vor, „die
Peitsche der Besatzer“ zu sein. „Diese Erklärung ist unsere letzte Warnung an euch“, hieß
es.
Die Welt, 8 November 2004
Major Falluja(h) assault underway / under way
Major assault on Falluja begins
Accompanied by / Supported by massive air strikes, US troops
attacked the western outskirts of Falluja/ districts in the west of
Falluja on Monday, (thus) beginning their major assault on the
resistance stronghold / the stronghold of resistance.
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad/Iyad Allawi said he had given the
international and Iraqi troops/ forces the authority to liberate
Falluja/ the go-ahead for liberating Falluja from "terrorists". A
state of emergency was in force there and in Ramadi as of 6
p.m., he said, and the Syrian and Jordanian borders would be
closed / were going to be closed, as would be Baghdad airport /
the airport in Baghdad for 48 hours.
The US soldiers took control of / seized the main/ biggest
hospital and two bridges over the Euphrates. After the US troops
had sealed off/ cordoned off the area, several hundred Iraqi
soldiers entered the hospital and interrogated the patients. 38
people were arrested, according to US reports.
US estimates say that 3,000 armed insurgents are hiding / are
holed up in Falluja. Some 10,000 / Around 10,000 US soldiers
have sealed off the city. Half of the 300,000 residents are
reported to have fled / have reportedly fled.
Radical clerics in Falluja repeated their warnings against
storming the city. They accused the Iraqi soldiers/troops of
being "the lash of the occupiers". "This statement is our last
threat/warning to you," they said.
damit (the "damn it" word for translators...)
US-Truppen haben Bezirke im Westen von Falludscha gestürmt
und damit ihre Großoffensive gegen die Widerstandshochburg
eingeleitet.
damit creates a connection back to something that has just
been said, and its translation always depends on the specific
context. Collect examples of its use in German and its
translation for your files; create a "damit" file card.
US troops have attacked the western outskirts of Falluja, (thus)
beginning their major assault on the resistance stronghold.
Reported Speech
German: special verb form (subjunctive)
Der irakische Ministerpräsident Ajad Allawi erklärte, er habe
den internationalen und irakischen Truppen die Genehmigung
zur Befreiung Falludschas von „Terroristen“ gegeben. Dort
sowie in Ramadi gelte ab 18 Uhr der Ausnahmezustand. Ferner
würden die Grenzen zu Syrien und Jordanien geschlossen...
English: reporting verb (rv), no special verb form
if rv is in the past tense:
you backshift the tenses used in direect speech
Iraqi Prime Minister Ayad Allawi said
er habe den internationalen und irakischen Truppen die
Genehmigung zur Befreiung Falludschas gegeben
imagine what is said in direct speech:
"Ich habe den Truppen .... gegeben..."
"I have given the ... troops..."
he had given the international and Iraqi troops the authority to
liberate Falluja
Dort gelte der Ausnahmezustand.
"Dort gilt der Ausnahmezustand."
"A state of emergency is in force there..."
A state of emergency was in force there, he said,
Ferner würden die Grenzen zu S und J geschlossen
"Ferner werden die Grenzen zu S und J geschlossen"
"Also, the S and J borders will be closed..."
and the Syrian and Jordanian borders would be closed...
US begins its biggest urban offensive since Vietnam with long-awaited Fallujah
assault
By Kim Sengupta in Baghdad
08 November 2004 Independent
US forces start their long-awaited attack on Fallujah
Allawi declares martial law as 21 policemen shot dead
Islamists release 'tape of deadly first ambush'
Leading article: This assault on Fallujah risks alienating the entire population of Iraq
The American assault on Fallujah, the stronghold of Iraqi insurgents, finally
began last night in what is expected to be the biggest urban assault by US forces since
Vietnam.
After a day which saw US warplanes bombarding the city with 500lb bombs,
incursions began about 7pm local time with marines moving into the city through a
number of routes and seizing rebel-held territory.
In the early hours of this morning, a tank company and infantry unit moved to a
staging area near Fallujah. Witnesses said there was heavy fighting on the eastern
and western fringes of the city. US forces were reported to have
taken over the main hospital.
Sources say there will not be a full offensive on Fallujah. Instead, US forces
and their Iraqi allies will take the city section by section by clearing houses. The
operation is intended to take no more than two weeks.
The US military, with the fledgling Iraqi security forces in tow, hopes the
Fallujah offensive will deal a heavy blow to the insurgency, creating
sufficient stability for the elections in January. Many of the attacks on the
international forces and members of the Iraqi government are thought to have
been organised from the city, which is thought also to be the base of Abu Musab
al-Zarqawi, the insurgent ringleader. The insurgents say they will counter
with escalating violence.
There has also been criticism that the assault has been so long coming, amid
suspicion that it was delayed to avoid damaging headlines about civilian
casualties in the run-up to the US presidential election.
But the offensive will be controversial. There are fears that significant numbers of
civilians will be killed in the process. British troops have for the first time been
moved to the north of Iraq to free up American forces for the assault. It is understood
that British soldiers sealed off a bridge over the Euphrates yesterday to
prevent insurgents using it to make their escape from Fallujah. Earlier US troops
announced they had "isolated Fallujah" and all traffic into and out of the city had
been halted.
Government negotiators reported the failure of last-minute peace talks as Iyad
Allawi, the interim Prime Minister, maintained that dialogue with Fallujah
leaders was still possible. Mr Allawi, a secular-minded Shia Muslim, faces strong
opposition from within the minority Sunni community to avoid an all-out
assault. The UN secretary general, Kofi Annan, has voiced fears that an assault
could trigger a wave of violence that could jeopardise the January elections.
US commanders pumped up troop spirits yesterday. Standing before some 2,500
marines, who stood or knelt at his feet, Lt-Gen John F Sattler, the commanding
officer of the 1st Marine Expeditionary Force, told them that they would be at the
front of the charge. "This is America's fight," Lt-Gen Sattler said. "What we've added
to it is our Iraqi partners. They want to go in and liberate Fallujah. They feel this
town's being held hostage by mugs, thugs, murderers and terrorists."
Two marine battalions, along with a battalion from the army's 1st Infantry Division,
will be the lead units sent into a Fallujah attack. They will be joined by two brigades
of Iraqi troops.
More than 10,000 US troops massed around the Sunni Muslim city are expected to
take a role in the assault on Fallujah, whose green-lit minarets are visible from the US
base near the city. Sgt Major Carlton W Kent, the senior enlisted marine in Iraq, told
troops that the coming battle of Fallujah would be "no different" to the historic fights
at Inchon in Korea, the flag-raising victory at Iwo Jima, or the bloody Tet Offensive
to remove North Vietnamese from the ancient citadel of Hue in 1968. "You're all in
the process of making history," he told them. "This is another Hue city in the making.
I have no doubt, if we do get the word, that each and every one of you is going to ...
kick some butt."
The US Marines battalion commander Lt-Col Mike Ramos said many would be
going into combat for the first time. Despite the grisly evidence of earlier US
offensives against the insurgents, Lt-Col Ramos, 41, of Dallas, predicted that
"freedom and democracy" would prevail in Fallujah within days. "Make no mistake
about it, we'll hand this city back to the Iraqi people," he said.
Rules of engagement allow US troops to shoot and kill anyone carrying a weapon or
driving in Fallujah, so US troops can fire on car bombers, Lt-Col Ramos said.
Military-age males trying to leave the city would be captured or turned back.
Guardian
4.45pm update
Major Falluja assault under way
Staff and agencies
Monday November 8, 2004
The Guardian
The US military today said a major assault on the
begun.
Iraqi city of Falluja had
Military officials said a major ground attack on the rebel
stronghold was ongoing, with the city's north-eastern Askari neighbourhood
being struck and US marines storming into the western outskirts and
securing a hospital and two bridges.
Artillery fire fell across the city, and US tanks and infantry took up positions
for the next advance. The US military estimated that 42 insurgents had been killed
in the opening battles.
After the attacks began, the interim Iraqi prime minister, Ayad Allawi, said he had
given US and Iraqi forces the authority to clear the southern city
of "terrorists who continue to use [it] as a base for their operations".
He announced a 48-hour closure of Baghdad's airport, the Syrian
and Jordanian borders, and the imposition of emergency rule on
Falluja and the rebel stronghold of Ramadi. Roads and government
institutions in the two cities will be closed, and all weapons are banned.
"We have no other option but to take the necessary measures to protect Iraqi
people from these killers and liberate Falluja," Mr Allawi told a press
conference.
US and Iraqi forces have been encroaching on Falluja for the last few weeks. The
opening salvo of the assault put them on the other side of the Euphrates river from
suspected insurgent bases in the main area of the city.
In the first foray over the river, US forces secured an apartment block in the northwest corner. Captain Brian Heatherman, a US marine commander, said there had
been some Iraqi casualties as troops seized the building.
British Black Watch soldiers were to the south of the city, controlling roads
leading in and out. Two Black Watch soldiers were yesterday seriously injured in a
suicide bomb attack close to the Camp Dogwood base, and were airlifted to a US
field hospital.
The battle for Falluja is likely to be the largest in Iraq since the US-led invasion
took place last year. Reports from inside the city suggested rebels had dug in
and hidden roadside bombs, and US commanders yesterday warned troops to
expect the most brutal urban fighting since the Vietnam war.
On Sunday, the Iraqi government announced the imposition of a 60-day state
of emergency throughout the country, except for the Kurdish areas in the
north. It is feared the attack on Falluja could trigger a fresh wave of violence.
Militants dramatically escalated their attacks at the weekend, killing at least 60
people. At dawn yesterday, armed rebels stormed three police stations
northwest of Baghdad and killed 22 policemen. Some were lined up and shot,
according to police and hospital officials.
Early today, a suicide bomber blew up a red Opel car near a US convoy on the
road to Baghdad's main airport road, and a car bomb exploded near the
Baghdad home of the Iraqi finance minister, Adil Abdel-Mahdi, killing a
bystander.
Overnight, artillery fire and AC-130 gunships pounded Falluja. Most of the
population has fled, but tens of thousands of civilians are believed to still
in the city.
be
In an apparent reference to the Iraqi troops, Falluja
clerics issued a
statement describing them as a US "lash" on their fellow
countrymen.
"This statement is our last threat to you. We swear by God that we will
stand for you in the streets, we will enter your houses and we will slaughter you
just like sheep," the statement said.
Several hundred Iraqi troops were sent into Falluja's main hospital after US forces
sealed off the area. The troops detained around 50 men of military
age inside the hospital, but roughly half of them were later released.
Iraqi doctors said 10 people had been killed and 11 others injured during overnight
clashes. Two US marines were killed in the assault.
Dr Salih al-Issawi, the head of the hospital, said he had asked US officers to allow
doctors and ambulances go into the main part of the city to help the wounded, but
permission had been refused. There was no confirmation from the US military.
During the siege of Falluja last April, the hospital was a main source of reports
about civilian casualties - reports that US officials insisted were overblown.
The reports generated strong public outrage in Iraq and elsewhere in the Arab
world, prompting the Bush administration to call off the offensive.
There is little guarantee that the fresh assault will calm the insurgency, and the
Iraqi president, Ghazi al-Yawar, has publicly spoken out against the operation.
A similar attack on Samarra - another rebel stronghold - last month was hailed as a
success. However, insurgents promptly returned to the city.
Guardian Unlimited © Guardian Newspapers Limited 2004