VOA常速英语2008年-Possible Pakistan Policy Shift Worries US

By Gary Thomas
Washington
27 March 2008

A newspaper report published Thursday says the United States has stepped up its unilateral air strikes on al-Qaida fighters holed up in Pakistan's rugged¹ tribal² areas.  The story, which appeared in the Washington Post, says the U.S. is concerned about the new Pakistani government's commitment to cooperation with U.S. antiterrorism efforts.  As VOA correspondent Gary Thomas reports, the story raises questions about the future relationship between Washington and Islamabad.

The report quotes unnamed U.S. officials saying the United States has increased the pace of its attacks by unmanned Predator³ drone aircraft out of concern that the new Pakistani government will scale back anti-terrorist operations.

Asked about the issue, Defense⁴ Department spokesman Bryan Whitman neither confirmed nor denied the report.

"Our operations with Pakistan are closely coordinated," he said.  "Pakistan recognizes that we fight a common enemy when it comes to terrorists.  And beyond that, I just don't have anything for you on specific operations."

Although the air strikes are not officially acknowledged, they are controversial in Pakistan, where they are widely seen as a U.S. violation⁵ of Pakistani sovereignty.  The incoming Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani and his coalition⁶ partner, ex-prime minister Nawaz Sharif, have indicated they want less of a military and more of a diplomatic approach to Islamic militants⁷, especially the Pakistani Taliban.  They have also said the issue of cooperation with the United States will be put before parliament.  

Some analysts⁹ wonder why the U.S. would step up the drone attacks, and why the story was leaked.  Christine Fair, a South Asia analyst⁸ at the RAND Corporation, says if the motive¹⁰ is to put pressure on the Pakistani government, it is misguided.  She says Mr. Musharraf has been rendered irrelevant¹¹ by the new elected government, and the decision on cooperation is actually made by Army Chief, General Ashfaq Kayani.

"This doesn't make any sense," she said.  "Everyone here knows that Kayani makes the decision to cooperate or not to cooperate.  Everyone I've spoken to believes that Kayani is very much game to cooperate.  So why would you escalate¹² those very attacks that would put pressure on Kayani when everyone believes that Kayani is cooperating?  So I really don't understand the logic¹³ of this."

Teresita Schaffer, a former U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for South Asia, says the prospect¹⁴ of a policy shift in Islamabad makes Washington uneasy.

"I would not exclude the possibility that doing something different might be more effective than the old policy," she noted¹⁵.  "This is a time that is going to make American policymakers very nervous, however, because they are not keen on experimentation¹⁶ in this area, and they are particularly not keen on any approach that eliminates the military element from this policy."

The report also says there is what it terms a "tacit understanding" between President Pervez Musharraf and army chief Kayani to allow U.S. strikes on foreign fighters, but not on the Pakistani Taliban.

Christine Fair says that differentiating¹⁷ between the Pakistani Taliban and al-Qaida may not make sense to U.S. policymakers, but it is more politically palatable¹⁸ to the new government in Pakistan.

"They've been saying that we need to peel apart the foreigners from the Pakistanis," she explained.  "The foreigners need to be killed and eliminated; the Pakistanis need a political solution.  And that is probably a very fair concern, because they can't just go and eliminate all of their people.  It's just not feasible.  Now the problem, of course, with this negotiated solution is that negotiated solutions always mean giving some kind of concession¹⁹, and I don't know what kind of concession it's going to take to put a movement like the Pakistani Taliban on the ice."

President Musharraf, when he was both President and Army Chief, tried to strike peace deals with pro-Taliban tribal leaders, but those deals eventually frayed²⁰ and then fell apart.

1 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

2 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。

3 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

4 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。

5 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 motive   

n.动机，目的；adv.发动的，运动的

参考例句：

• The police could not find a motive for the murder.警察不能找到谋杀的动机。
• He had some motive in telling this fable.他讲这寓言故事是有用意的。

11 irrelevant   

adj.不恰当的，无关系的，不相干的

参考例句：

• That is completely irrelevant to the subject under discussion.这跟讨论的主题完全不相关。
• A question about arithmetic is irrelevant in a music lesson.在音乐课上，一个数学的问题是风马牛不相及的。

12 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

13 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

14 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

15 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。

16 experimentation   

n.实验，试验，实验法

参考例句：

• Many people object to experimentation on animals.许多人反对用动物做实验。
• Study and analysis are likely to be far cheaper than experimentation.研究和分析的费用可能要比实验少得多。

17 differentiating   

[计] 微分的

参考例句：

• They succeed in differentiating the most commodity-like products. 在最通用的日用产品方面，它们也能独树一帜标新立异。
• The simplest and most effective method of differentiating areas is to use different colours. 区别面状要素最简单而又行之有效的办法，是使用不同的颜色。

18 palatable   

adj.可口的，美味的；惬意的

参考例句：

• The truth is not always very palatable.事实真相并非尽如人意。
• This wine is palatable and not very expensive.这种酒味道不错，价钱也不算贵。

19 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

20 frayed   

adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His shirt was frayed. 他的衬衫穿破了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The argument frayed their nerves. 争辩使他们不快。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》