CNN 2011-10-05

 The United States weighes new actions against the very dangerous Militant¹ group, that maybe as big a threat to American and Afghanistan as al Qaeda or the Taliban. The Obama administration appears to formally call Haqqani network, what so many people believe it is, a terrorist organization. Our foreign affair correspondent Joe is over the state department. She has been digging on the story. Joe, What are you learning? 

 

Well Wolf, you know, the pro-political pressure here in the United States has been building to put the Haqqani network on that list of terrorist organizations, but what really could put force behind the argument is a violent action by the group itself.

 

Violent attacks in Afghanistan, American blood spill. Haqqani operatives planned and conducted that truck bomb attack as well as the assault on our empathy. Now, US official tell CNN, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is on the verge² of designating the al Qaeda-linked Haqqani Network as a foreign terrorist organization. One official says, I think you will likely see action fairly soon."The step is long overdue³." 

 

Behind the scenes, US officials tell CNN, the decision has been debated for months. The Treasury⁴ Department already has targeted individual members of the terrorist group for sanctions, freezing their assets. Publicly, the State Department said the secretary has been pushing Pakistan to break its links with the Haqqani Network. "We have made absolutely clearly that the Haqqani network is job one that we want to do it together, and that's the conversation that we are having now."

 

Some in the military, they say, push throught that terrorist designation. But others in the administration argued, it could hurt efforts that splitting the Haqqanis from al Qaeda, a process called reconciliation⁵, even push the Haqqanis away from a possible peace deal. But says one expert, few in the adminitration now have much hope for any reconciliation.

 

"Every indication suggests that Haqqani Network is getting more extreme, not less extreme, and that it's not the case that they are mostly affiliated⁶ with the Taliban, and maybe a little bit affiliated with others, but that they are affiliated with which ever radical⁷ element is most active at the time." 

 

What's more, some officials tell CNN economic sanctions could do little to a network that  has almost no assets in the US. Another concern, potential damage to the already strain US relationship with Pakistan which American officials have accused of supporting the Haqqani Network. 

 

Now put it individuals and not organizations on that terrorism list accually has been done before. In fact one official pointed⁸ out that the Taliban themselves are not on the list of foreign terrorist organizations, although individuals who are members of the Taliban are on the State Department list of designated terrorists, Wolf?

 

Joe, if the US does designate the Haqqani Network as a terrorist organization, and the Pakistani government, its Intelligence Agency continues to cooperate and support the Haqqani Network. Will that automatically force the Obama administration to separate that 2 billion a year aid package to Pakistan?

 

You know, it could have repercussions⁹ because absolutely when, you know, that's one of the difficulties in holding some of these up. This decision, is that the repercussions of making that determination that they are a terrorist organization would lead you to say that the ISA is supporting, which could lead you to that step and it chould be a radical and important step.

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

3 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

4 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

5 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

6 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

7 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

8 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

9 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》