2007年VOA标准英语-Bush, Democrats Clash Over Iraq War, Prosecutor

By Jim Malone
Washington
05 April 2007

President Bush and Democrats² in Congress appear headed for a showdown on two issues in the weeks ahead, funding for the Iraq war and last year's firing of eight U.S. attorneys.  VOA National Correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington. 

President Bush gestures while posing for photos with troops during his visit to the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California

In the wake of their election success last year, Democrats are flexing³ their muscles in Congress.  Both the House and Senate have approved spending bills for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan that include demands for the withdrawal⁴ of most U.S. troops from Iraq by next year.

President Bush says it is irresponsible for Democrats to set a date for withdrawal and he has vowed⁵ to veto any bill that includes a troop pullout deadline.

"Democratic leaders in Congress are more interested in fighting political battles in Washington than providing our troops what they need to fight the battles in Iraq," he said.

Democrats insist they represent the will of the majority of the American people who favor setting a timetable for withdrawal. 

"He should become in tune⁶ with the fact that he is President of the United States, not king of the United States," said Senate Majority Leader Democrat¹ Harry⁷ Reid of Nevada.

Reid says he now supports withdrawing U.S. troops by next April and would favor cutting off funding for the war if the president vetoes the congressional attempt to set a withdrawal deadline.

Democrats believe they won control of Congress last November largely because of unhappiness over the war in Iraq.  They also point to recent public-opinion polls that indicate about 60 percent of the country favors a withdrawal from Iraq within a year.

Ruth Wooden is president of a group called Public Agenda, which describes itself as a non-partisan monitor of public opinion.  She spoke⁸ about a recent survey on how Americans feel about the war in Iraq.

"Seventy percent of the respondents say they favor withdrawal within the next 12 months from Iraq, and that is despite a 60 percent number in our survey who do feel we have a moral obligation to the Iraqi people," she said.

Republicans reject what they see as congressional meddling⁹ by Democrats in the Iraq war effort.  They maintain it is the president's constitutional responsibility to wage war as he sees fit.

Democrats counter that the Constitution gives Congress the responsibility for funding the war, and that lawmakers have the right to attach conditions to spending bills that directly fund the war effort.

Richard Wolffe is White House correspondent for Newsweek magazine and a recent guest on VOA's Issues in the News program.

"On the Democratic side, they think they have public opinion with them and they are testing the president and seeing whether or not he has real authority anymore in terms of what he would call political capital," he explained.  "So it is a game of who blinks first."

President Bush says the attempt by Democrats to link funding for the war to a demand for eventual¹⁰ withdrawal from Iraq will have a negative impact on training U.S. troops and repairing damaged equipment.

Analysts¹¹ say Democrats need to guard against being portrayed¹² as taking action that will hurt or weaken U.S. troops in the field.

Susan Bennett is a veteran journalist and now deputy director for the Newseum in Washington.  She also appeared on Issues in the News.

"A majority of Americans say that we should end the conflict in Iraq, but an equal number of them say we should continue to support our troops," she said.  "So you have got the conflict, both in the American public and also in the Congress.  The Democrats have to be so careful in that they have to do what they think the electorate¹³ wants them to do, and that is get the troops out of Iraq.  But they cannot deny the funding for the troops that are there or the support."

Many experts contend that Democrats need to improve their image on foreign policy and defense¹⁴ issues if they are to win the presidency¹⁵ in 2008.

"The Democrats, I think, constantly have their eyes on the past in which their party has been taken to task, sometimes in a tremendously effective way, by Republicans who argue that the Democrats are just not strong on issues of national defense," said Ross Baker¹⁶, a political scientist at Rutgers University in New Jersey¹⁷.

In addition to Iraq, Democrats in Congress are also engaged in confrontation¹⁸ with the Bush administration over last year's firing of eight U.S. attorneys.

The Justice Department says the eight federal prosecutors²⁰ were replaced because of poor job performance.  But Democrats believe the firings were political and have demanded testimony²¹ from White House aides, including the president's top political adviser²² Karl Rove.

Tom DeFrank of the New York Daily News says the controversy²³ over the prosecutors is in part a result of the Democrats retaking control of Congress in last year's midterm elections.

"This is what happens to a White House when it loses control of Congress," he noted²⁴.  "The Democrats control Congress.  The Democrats now have a subpoena²⁵ power and an investigatory power that they did not have when the Republicans were running Congress."

Rutgers University professor Ross Baker predicts there will eventually be a political compromise over the issue between the president and Congress.

"Yes, this is a classic confrontation between the two branches of the federal government and it is really what the framers of the Constitution intended," he said.  "It is a political dispute and political disputes get ironed out politically, not in the streets, not with the use of the military."

Several Democrats and even a few Republicans have called for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales to resign for his handling of the prosecutor¹⁹ controversy.  Gonzales will have a chance to defend himself later this month when he testifies before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 flexing   

n.挠曲，可挠性v.屈曲( flex的现在分词 )；弯曲；（为准备大干而）显示实力；摩拳擦掌

参考例句：

• Flexing particular muscles allows snakes to move in several ways. 可弯曲的特殊的肌肉使蛇可以用几种方式移动。 来自电影对白
• China has become an economic superpower and is flexing its muscles. 中国已经成为了一个经济巨人而且在展示他的肌肉。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

6 tune   

n.调子；和谐，协调；v.调音，调节，调整

参考例句：

• He'd written a tune,and played it to us on the piano.他写了一段曲子，并在钢琴上弹给我们听。
• The boy beat out a tune on a tin can.那男孩在易拉罐上敲出一首曲子。

7 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

8 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。

9 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

10 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

11 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。

12 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

14 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。

15 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

16 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

17 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

18 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。

19 prosecutor   

n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人

参考例句：

• The defender argued down the prosecutor at the court.辩护人在法庭上驳倒了起诉人。
• The prosecutor would tear your testimony to pieces.检查官会把你的证言驳得体无完肤。

20 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

21 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

22 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

23 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

24 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

25 subpoena   

n.（法律）传票；v.传讯

参考例句：

• He was brought up to court with a subpoena.他接到传讯，来到法庭上。
• Select committees have the power to subpoena witnesses.特别委员会有权传唤证人。