美国国家公共电台 NPR Where Did The Islamic State Fighters Go?

Where Did The Islamic State Fighters Go?

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

The U.S. and its allies have killed many Islamic State militants¹ and, for now, stopped their plan to build a state in Syria and Iraq. But what has happened to the surviving members of ISIS? NPR's Greg Myre takes a look.

GREG MYRE, BYLINE²: The Islamic State doesn't control any cities. Its ranks are decimated. Survivors³ have scattered⁴. Yet ISIS still has militants with weapons and plans for renewed mayhem.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JIM MATTIS: We have repeatedly said in this room, the war is not over.

MYRE: Defense⁵ Secretary Jim Mattis, speaking here at the Pentagon, says U.S. forces are still tracking down small pockets of ISIS fighters in Iraq.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MATTIS: It may be a dozen guys who finally find each other, you know, and they get together, and they start living in one house, and they start licking their wounds and think, what can we do? So what we want to do is drive this down to a point it can be handled by local authorities, by police and that sort of thing.

MYRE: And in Syria, where the U.S. and its allies have pounded the militants in the eastern part of the country, some are fleeing westward⁶. The ISIS fighters apparently⁷ believe their chances of survival are better in areas controlled by their other enemy, Syrian President Bashar Assad and his army. So how many Islamic fighters are there? It's always been a guesstimate. When ISIS was at its peak three years ago, the CIA said it had as many as 31,000 fighters. The U.S. military now thinks fewer than 1,000 are left in areas where the American coalition⁸ is operating.

DANIEL BYMAN: The Islamic State fighters in a number of places - Mosul, Raqqa, many others - put up very fierce fighting, and thousands of their fighters died in these battles.

MYRE: Daniel Byman of Georgetown University closely follows ISIS. He puts the surviving ISIS members in a couple other categories with intentions that vary.

BYMAN: Another group of fighters probably tries to flee or blend in locally. And then there's a third category that's either trying to hide out in places in Iraq or Syria or who have tried to make their way outside the country.

MYRE: Many foreign fighters came from Europe. And Nick Rasmussen, who just stepped down as the head of the U.S. National Counterterrorism Center, says European countries have been bracing⁹ for returning militants. However...

NICHOLAS RASMUSSEN: The problem that we envisioned perhaps a few years ago of thousands and thousands of foreign fighters departing the conflict zone once the war started to subside¹⁰ - that's what we anticipated happening, and it's not happening in those numbers.

MYRE: So most of this news sounds pretty good. ISIS has no safe haven¹¹. Its fighters are on the run, and they aren't escaping abroad in large numbers. But remember this. The forerunner¹² of ISIS was al-Qaida in Iraq. The U.S. and its allies dismantled¹³ that group a decade ago. It then reemerged as ISIS, stronger than ever, as conditions proved more favorable. This included the chaotic¹⁴ Arab uprisings of 2011 and the U.S. military withdrawal¹⁵ from Iraq that same year. This lesson isn't lost on ISIS.

GAYLE TZEMACH LEMMON: It is far easier to kill a terrorist than to slay¹⁶ an ideology¹⁷, and that has always vexed¹⁸ the folks who are prosecuting¹⁹ the campaign.

MYRE: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon is with the Council on Foreign Relations. The U.S. has a good record when it comes to winning battles in the Middle East. What's hard, she says, is the aftermath.

LEMMON: And as long as the ground is still ripe for insurgency²⁰, it's very hard to keep a war ended. And the truth is, no one really wants to pay for the rebuilding. Nation building is a 14-letter word that has become a four-letter word.

MYRE: The Islamic State stresses that it's waging a long war, and the hardcore leadership sees the recent setbacks as something that can be reversed. Greg Myre, NPR News, Washington.

1 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

5 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

6 westward   

n.西方，西部；adj.西方的，向西的；adv.向西

参考例句：

• We live on the westward slope of the hill.我们住在这座山的西山坡。
• Explore westward or wherever.向西或到什么别的地方去勘探。

7 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

8 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

9 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

10 subside   

vi.平静，平息；下沉，塌陷，沉降

参考例句：

• The emotional reaction which results from a serious accident takes time to subside.严重事故所引起的情绪化的反应需要时间来平息。
• The controversies surrounding population growth are unlikely to subside soon.围绕着人口增长问题的争论看来不会很快平息。

11 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

12 forerunner   

n.前身，先驱（者），预兆，祖先

参考例句：

• She is a forerunner of the modern women's movement.她是现代妇女运动的先驱。
• Penicillin was the forerunner of modern antibiotics.青霉素是现代抗生素的先导。

13 dismantled   

拆开( dismantle的过去式和过去分词 )； 拆卸； 废除； 取消

参考例句：

• The plant was dismantled of all its equipment and furniture. 这家工厂的设备和家具全被拆除了。
• The Japanese empire was quickly dismantled. 日本帝国很快被打垮了。

14 chaotic   

adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的

参考例句：

• Things have been getting chaotic in the office recently.最近办公室的情况越来越乱了。
• The traffic in the city was chaotic.这城市的交通糟透了。

15 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

16 slay   

v.杀死，宰杀，杀戮

参考例句：

• He intended to slay his father's murderer.他意图杀死杀父仇人。
• She has ordered me to slay you.她命令我把你杀了。

17 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

18 vexed   

adj.争论不休的；（指问题等）棘手的；争论不休的问题；烦恼的v.使烦恼( vex的过去式和过去分词 )；使苦恼；使生气；详细讨论

参考例句：

• The conference spent days discussing the vexed question of border controls. 会议花了几天的时间讨论边境关卡这个难题。
• He was vexed at his failure. 他因失败而懊恼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

19 prosecuting   

检举、告发某人( prosecute的现在分词 )； 对某人提起公诉； 继续从事（某事物）； 担任控方律师

参考例句：

• The witness was cross-examined by the prosecuting counsel. 证人接受控方律师的盘问。
• Every point made by the prosecuting attorney was telling. 检查官提出的每一点都是有力的。

20 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网