VOA标准英语2012--Iraq Attacks Cloud Debate over Syria Intervention

 

Iraq Attacks Cloud Debate over Syria Intervention¹

 

Workers clear rubble² and twisted metal after a bomb attack in the town of Taji, north of Baghdad on Monday. The town's Sunni community was one of the worst hit with more than 40 people killed, as bomb blasts struck 19 towns and cities across the country.

The scenes of death and destruction are reminiscent of the darkest days of the Iraqi insurgency³.

Last week the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq declared a new offensive was underway.

Recent intelligence backs this up, says Shiraz Maher of the International Center For The Study Of Radicalization at Kings College London.

“Certainly from the Internet forums⁴ and what we can see of al-Qaida discussing amongst themselves, they really never considered themselves to have gone away as a force," Maher said. "With the departure of American troops at the end of last year, now seems to be a moment when they are regrouping and re-emerging as a force."

Violence in Iraq has been increasing steadily⁵ in recent weeks. In June at least 237 people were killed making it one of the bloodiest⁶ months since the U.S. withdrawal⁷.

Shiraz Maher explains some of the motive⁸.

“Even now al-Qaida in Iraq continues to target civil institutions in Iraq because it regards them principally as continuing to further a Western agenda," he said. "And, of course, we’re just at the start of Ramadan which is traditionally a peak time for al-Qaida attacks, particularly in Iraq.”

The ongoing⁹ violence in Iraq has its roots in the rule of Saddam Hussein, says Nadim Shehadi of independent policy institute Chatham House.

“We allowed Saddam Hussein to massacre¹⁰ the Kurds, the Shias in the south, the Marsh¹¹ Arabs... a lot of the sectarianism and the extremism that we see in Iraq is the product of that period before,” he explained.

Shehadi says the West’s experience in Iraq is influencing the debate on intervention in Syria.

“The lesson they’ve learned is that if you take out the dictator then the country falls apart," he said. "And I think this is the wrong lesson to take because what made the transition in Iraq difficult is what happened before the invasion.”

Shehadi argues that the government crackdown on the Syrian uprising is stoking sectarianism and extremism.

“When we take the lid off, this is what we will find. Even though intervention has its costs, non-intervention, especially now in Syria, will also incur¹² a lot of costs and these are costs we will have to face when the regime ultimately falls,” he said.

That cost, says analysts¹³, could be a prolonged sectarian conflict in Syria and even neighboring Lebanon, fanned by extremist groups like al-Qaida.

 

1 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

2 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

3 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

4 forums   

讨论会； 座谈会； 广播专题讲话节目； 集会的公共场所( forum的名词复数 )； 论坛，讨论会，专题讨论节目； 法庭

参考例句：

• A few of the forums were being closely monitored by the administrators. 有些论坛被管理员严密监控。
• It can cast a dark cloud over these forums. 它将是的论坛上空布满乌云。

5 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

6 bloodiest   

adj.血污的( bloody的最高级 )；流血的；屠杀的；残忍的

参考例句：

• The Russians were going to suffer their bloodiest defeat of all before Berlin. 俄国人在柏林城下要遭到他们的最惨重的失败。 来自辞典例句
• It was perhaps the bloodiest hour in the history of warfare. 这也许是战争史上血腥味最浓的1个小时。 来自互联网

7 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。

8 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。

9 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

10 massacre   

n.残杀，大屠杀；v.残杀，集体屠杀

参考例句：

• There was a terrible massacre of villagers here during the war.在战争中，这里的村民惨遭屠杀。
• If we forget the massacre,the massacre will happen again!忘记了大屠杀，大屠杀就有可能再次发生！

11 marsh   

n.沼泽，湿地

参考例句：

• There are a lot of frogs in the marsh.沼泽里有许多青蛙。
• I made my way slowly out of the marsh.我缓慢地走出这片沼泽地。

12 incur   

vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇

参考例句：

• Any costs that you incur will be reimbursed in full.你的所有花费都将全额付还。
• An enterprise has to incur certain costs and expenses in order to stay in business.一个企业为了维持营业,就不得不承担一定的费用和开支。

13 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。