VOA常速英语2007年-Experts Say Bhutto Assassination Could Embolden

By Andre de Nesnera
Washington
28 December 2007

The body of former Pakistan Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest Friday in a grave at the family mausoleum in southern Sindh province. In this report from Washington, VOA Senior Correspondent André de Nesnera looks at some of the implications for Pakistan of Ms. Bhutto's death.

Benazir Bhutto was assassinated¹ in a suicide attack Thursday as she left an election rally of her Pakistan's People's party in the city of Rawalpindi. The Pakistani government said Friday, there are indications al-Qaida terrorists were behind the assassination².

Karl Inderfurth, former assistant secretary of state for South Asia affairs in the Clinton administration, says the forces of extremism are on the rise in Pakistan.

"The numbers of suicide bombings that have taken place, which is something that is not part of Pakistani history - all of this at the same time as reports about the rise of, resurgence⁴, reconstitution of Al-Qaida in the tribal⁵ areas of Pakistan, and the Taliban," said Inderfurth.

"Pakistan has been under the gun from [Osama] Bin³ Laden⁶ himself. Bin Laden in September had a tape recording⁷ in which he called on Pakistanis to rise up against President [Pervez] Musharraf and his government and all of its supporters," he continued.

Christine Fair, a Pakistan expert with the RAND Corporation, says Ms. Bhutto's assassination will only strengthen Islamic militants⁸.

"The increasing impunity⁹ that the militants have been able to demonstrate, both in terms of the rapidity of their attacks, the kinds of attacks, the increasing use of suicide attacks - they are no longer just in the tribal areas, they are operating with impunity throughout Pakistan - clearly will embolden¹⁰ the militants to continue targeting important actors within the Pakistani government, as well as other people that they deem to see as a threat to what they are trying to do," said Fair.

Ms. Bhutto was killed as she campaigned for national elections scheduled January 8. Her death, says Karl Inderfurth, has serious implications for the country's immediate¹¹ political future.

"The implications are greater uncertainty¹² and greater risk as it [Pakistan] tries to make its transition from the military government of General Pervez Musharraf to a civilian¹³ government with Musharraf now as a civilian president and elections that were scheduled for January," said Inderfurth. "And now, of course, one has to ask whether or not those elections can be held under these circumstances. They may need to be delayed for a period of time to allow the political situation to right itself after this terrible blow that it has received."

Christine Fair from the RAND Corporation says President Musharraf faces a very difficult situation in the days and weeks ahead.

"If Musharraf is not able to get his political legs together, I think you are going to see increasing pressure - not only from civil society, which you are already seeing - but even from the army itself, that maybe it would be better for the country if Musharraf moved on," said Fair.

"And, obviously, if that happens, I think all of the capitals that deal with Pakistan are going to be thrown into a swivet because they don't have a plan. They don't have a post-Musharraf plan. They have no plan in place," she added.

Many experts say Benazir Bhutto's death may force many governments to reassess their policy towards Pakistan and President Pervez Musharraf.

1 assassinated   

v.暗杀( assassinate的过去式和过去分词 )；中伤；诋毁；破坏

参考例句：

• The prime minister was assassinated by extremists. 首相遭极端分子暗杀。
• Then, just two days later, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas. 跟着在两天以后，肯尼迪总统在达拉斯被人暗杀。 来自辞典例句

2 assassination   

n.暗杀；暗杀事件

参考例句：

• The assassination of the president brought matters to a head.总统遭暗杀使事态到了严重关头。
• Lincoln's assassination in 1865 shocked the whole nation.1865年，林肯遇刺事件震惊全美国。

3 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

4 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

5 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

6 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

7 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

8 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。

9 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

10 embolden   

v.给…壮胆，鼓励

参考例句：

• Emboldened by the wine,he went over to introduce himself to her.他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
• The Prime Minister was steadily emboldened by the discovery that he faced no opposition.发现自己并未遭到反对，首相渐渐有了信心。

11 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

12 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

13 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。