2007年VOA标准英语-Iraq War Strains Ties Between Bush, Republicans

By Jim Malone
Washington
14 May 2007

Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania

For the past six years, President Bush has enjoyed strong support from Republicans in Congress for his domestic and foreign policy agendas. But divisions over the war in Iraq are beginning to strain that political alliance. VOA national correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

Mindful of public opinion polls that indicate most Americans have turned against the war in Iraq, some Republicans are taking a more confrontational¹ tone in hopes of forcing the White House to change Iraq strategy in the months ahead.

 "There is a sense here, certainly by the Democrats² and growing among Republicans, that there has to be some progress, significant progress to sustain it beyond September," said Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania.

Another moderate Republican, Senator Olympia Snowe from Maine, has joined with Democrats in sponsoring legislation that would link continued U.S. military support to specific economic and political benchmarks that must be met by the Iraqi government.

Snowe says a number of her fellow Republicans are concerned with the current direction of the president's Iraq strategy.

"I think many of them are deeply frustrated³, yes, yes. Absolutely, no question, and troubled by the current direction and the lack of results and the failure of the Iraqi government to bring about progress," added Snowe.

But some of the Republican concerns go beyond Iraq.

Nebraska Republican Senator Chuck Hagel is considering a run for president next year. But Hagel told the CBS program Face the Nation that he has become so disenchanted with his party that he might be open to running as an independent candidate for the White House.

"The president may find himself standing⁵ alone sometime this fall, where Republicans will start to move away and you are starting to see trap doors and exit signs already with a number of Republicans. I am not happy with the Republican Party today," he said.  "It has drifted from the party of Eisenhower, of Goldwater, of Reagan, the party that I joined. It is not the same party."

Similar complaints come from longtime Republican political strategist Victor Gold. Gold has written a new book that blames neoconservative foreign policy strategists and social conservative activists⁶ for leading the Republican Party astray.

Gold's book is entitled, Invasion of the Party Snatchers, How the Holy-Rollers and the Neo-Cons Destroyed the GOP (Republican Party).

"First, I say, the Republican Party has to die and be reborn. [We need] a Republican Party that renders unto Caesar and unto God, but on separate days of the week. A Republican Party that sees America as a beacon⁷, not the policeman for the world. A Republican Party that sees family values as something for the family, not the state, to define," he said.

Eleven moderate House Republicans recently met with President Bush in what they later described as a candid⁴ assessment⁸ of the uneasiness many Republicans feel over the political fallout from the Iraq war.

The president described the encounter as a good exchange, but said Republicans and Democrats need to give his new security plan for Iraq more time to work.

"I spent time talking with them about what it meant to fail and what it means when we succeed. They expressed their opinions. They are obviously concerned about the Iraq war, but so are a lot of other people," said Mr. Bush.

Democrats and their supporters are trying to exploit the strains between the president and his fellow Republicans for their own political gain.

"There is barely a third of the country that continue to support his policies there. Now we are seeing the president being further and further isolated⁹ from his own party," said Brad Woodhouse, a spokesman for a pro-Democratic group called Americans United for Change.

Political analyst¹⁰ Craig Crawford says some Republicans are getting nervous that sticking with the president on Iraq could cost them the White House and their own seats in Congress in 2008.

"Yes, there is great fear among Republicans about the next election. And it is not a hypothetical [concern]. They saw it in the [congressional] mid-term election last year. They lost control of the House and Senate, largely over their alignment¹¹ with President Bush," said Crawford.

During a recent debate among Republican presidential contenders in California, most of the 10 candidates invoked¹² the name of former President Ronald Reagan much more often than President Bush.

"While it was interesting that the candidates did not criticize President Bush, they certainly did not embrace him. The Republican candidates in this electoral cycle are sort of feeling rather awkward." said Commentator¹³ David Aikman, who is a regular guest on VOA's Issues in the News program.

Analyst Craig Crawford says he expects the strains between President Bush and Republicans in Congress to continue to play out through the final year and a half of the president's term.

"So they face a bit of a dilemma¹⁴. They want distance from the president," he said.  "They want to change some of his policies. But at the same time, if they participate in bringing him down and scuttling¹⁵ his White House that does not help them either. So they are in a bit of a straightjacket on this."

Complicating¹⁶ Republican efforts to stand by the president are Mr. Bush's low public approval ratings. A recent Newsweek magazine poll found the president's approval rating at an all time low of 28 percent.

1 confrontational   

adj.挑衅的；对抗的

参考例句：

• Fans love rappers partly because they strike such a confrontational pose. 乐迷热爱这些饶舌艺人一定程度上是因为他们所采取的那种战斗姿态。 来自互联网
• You prefer a non confrontational approach when it comes to resolving disputes. 面对争端，你不喜欢采用对抗性的手段来解决。 来自互联网

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 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 candid   

adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的

参考例句：

• I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance for it.我只有希望公正的读者多少包涵一些。
• He is quite candid with his friends.他对朋友相当坦诚。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

8 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

9 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

10 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

11 alignment   

n.队列；结盟，联合

参考例句：

• The church should have no political alignment.教会不应与政治结盟。
• Britain formed a close alignment with Egypt in the last century.英国在上个世纪与埃及结成了紧密的联盟。

12 invoked   

v.援引( invoke的过去式和过去分词 )；行使（权利等）；祈求救助；恳求

参考例句：

• It is unlikely that libel laws will be invoked. 不大可能诉诸诽谤法。
• She had invoked the law in her own defence. 她援引法律为自己辩护。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 commentator   

n.注释者，解说者；实况广播评论员

参考例句：

• He is a good commentator because he can get across the game.他能简单地解说这场比赛，是个好的解说者。
• The commentator made a big mistake during the live broadcast.在直播节目中评论员犯了个大错误。

14 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

15 scuttling   

n.船底穿孔，打开通海阀（沉船用）v.使船沉没( scuttle的现在分词 )；快跑，急走

参考例句：

• I could hear an animal scuttling about in the undergrowth. 我可以听到一只动物在矮树丛中跑来跑去。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• First of all, scuttling Yu Lung (this yuncheng Hejin) , flood discharge. 大禹首先凿开龙门（今运城河津市），分洪下泄。 来自互联网

16 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。