2007年VOA标准英语-Middle East Analysts Question Bush Strategy for

By Meredith Buel
Washington
24 January 2007

President Bush used his State of the Union address to call on members of Congress to support his new strategy for Iraq, which includes sending more than 20,000 additional U.S. troops in an effort to quell¹ raging sectarian violence in Baghdad and fight insurgents² in al-Anbar province.  Some Middle East analysts³ are questioning the plan, and many Democratic and some Republican members of Congress are opposed to adding more American soldiers to the fight.  VOA correspondent Meredith Buel has more in this background report from Washington.

 
President Bush delivers his State of the Union address on Capitol Hill in Washington
President Bush says his plan demands new commitments from the Iraqi government while giving U.S. forces in Iraq the reinforcements they need to complete their mission.

Mr. Bush says America's goal is to build a democratic Iraq that upholds the rule of law, respects the rights of its people, provides them security and is an ally in the war on terror.

In his State of the Union address the president urged members of Congress to support his strategy, which he says can turn events in Iraq toward victory.

"We went into this largely united, in our assumptions and in our convictions," said Mr. Bush.  "And whatever you voted for, you did not vote for failure.  Our country is pursuing a new strategy in Iraq and I ask you to give it a chance to work.  And I ask you to support our troops in the field and those on their way."

While Congress is debating non-binding resolutions opposing the troop surge, this is not expected to stop the president's plan to send the additional troops to Iraq.

Lawrence Korb, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, questions whether additional soldiers can suppress the sectarian violence in Baghdad.

"We have seen when we have surged twice in the last six months the violence and death of Americans and Iraqis have increased dramatically," he said.  "An increased surge will only create more targets, put more American lives at risk, increase Iraqi dependence⁴ on the United States, further undermine the precarious⁵ readiness of our ground forces.  If we send all the troops that are supposed to go we will have no strategic reserve left in the United States."

 
A U.S. soldier in Baghdad
President Bush argues that his latest plan differs from previous operations because of commitments from Iraq's political leaders.

Those promises include providing armed forces as part of the effort to bring security to Baghdad, sharing oil revenue, spending billions to rebuild the country and holding local elections.

A Middle East specialist with the International Crisis Group, Robert Malley, expresses concerns about the reliability⁶ of Iraqi security forces.

"On the issue of training I think one of the big misconceptions from the beginning of the war is this notion that by training the Iraqis in the abstract is going to make a difference," he explained.  "It is a question of loyalty⁷ and allegiance that matters and if they are loyal to their group or to their militia⁸ it doesn't matter how well trained they are.  That is why so often trained troops have not performed."

Democratic Congressman⁹ John Murtha, a major critic of the Iraq conflict, set off a political firestorm when he first spoke¹⁰ out against the war in November 2005.

Murtha says there is no military solution to the hostilities¹¹ in Iraq.

"Historically, whether it is India, Algeria or Afghanistan, foreign occupations do not work," he said.  "In fact, they incite¹² civil unrest.  Our military remains¹³ the greatest military in the world, but there are limits to its ability to control a population that considers them as occupiers."

Retired¹⁴ General Richard Myers, a former chairman of the Joint¹⁵ Chiefs of Staff, believes more troops can make a difference on the streets of Baghdad.

Myers says because the president's plan is multi-dimensional, it has a better chance of success.

"The thing I like about the strategy is that it is not just a troop increase, there is also a political dimension where the Iraqi government is held accountable and there is an economic dimension," he explained.  "Those have to go hand in hand.  To often we focus on purely¹⁶ the military dimension of this problem.  It is much more than that."

Current U.S. military commanders have endorsed¹⁷ the president's new strategy, although no one is saying how long the troop surge will last.

1 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

2 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

5 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

6 reliability   

n.可靠性，确实性

参考例句：

• We mustn't presume too much upon the reliability of such sources.我们不应过分指望这类消息来源的可靠性。
• I can assure you of the reliability of the information.我向你保证这消息可靠。

7 loyalty   

n.忠诚，忠心

参考例句：

• She told him the truth from a sense of loyalty.她告诉他真相是出于忠诚。
• His loyalty to his friends was never in doubt.他对朋友的一片忠心从来没受到怀疑。

8 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

9 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 hostilities   

n.战争；敌意(hostility的复数)；敌对状态；战事

参考例句：

• Mexico called for an immediate cessation of hostilities. 墨西哥要求立即停止敌对行动。
• All the old hostilities resurfaced when they met again. 他们再次碰面时，过去的种种敌意又都冒了出来。

12 incite   

v.引起，激动，煽动

参考例句：

• I wanted to point out he was a very good speaker, and could incite a crowd.我想说明他曾是一个非常出色的演讲家，非常会调动群众的情绪。
• Just a few words will incite him into action.他只需几句话一将，就会干。

13 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

14 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

15 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

16 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

17 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》