2006年VOA标准英语-After Political Upset in US, Many Wonder What N

By Sonja Pace
London
09 November 2006

Tuesday's elections in the United States resulted in a major political upset.  Democrats¹ appear to have taken control of both houses of Congress and Defense² Secretary Donald Rumsfeld resigned on Wednesday.  These changes that are widely viewed as a result of voter discontent with the Bush Administration's policy in Iraq.  Many are now wondering how policies might change. 

 
Donald Rumsfeld 
"The cost of war" is how Britain's Guardian³ newspaper describes the Republican election defeat and the departure of Donald Rumsfeld. The newspaper goes on to say that Rumsfeld, one of the principal architects of the Iraq war had to be "sacrificed," after the election upset.

Tuesday's vote was widely seen as a referendum on President Bush and his Iraq policy. Democrats are talking about a change in policy, but many in the U.S. and around the world are wondering what that means.

President Bush has acknowledged voter discontent with what he termed the "lack of progress" in Iraq, and the president says he is open to different views, but he has also ruled out any immediate⁴ troop withdrawal⁵.

Some of Washington's close allies have already said their policy toward Iraq will not change.  Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was the first to confirm that and Australia's Prime Minister John Howard said his government will keep its troops in Iraq.

 
Margaret Beckett (file photo)
In London, British Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett did not directly mention the U.S. election outcome in an address to a foreign policy organization Thursday. But she did say Britain's policy remains⁶ unchanged.

"We will do what we told the democratically elected government [of Iraq] that we would do, stay there as long as that government asks us to do so," she said.  "We will leave when they're confident that they can take the role of security on their own shoulders."

Beckett did warn of even greater instability and bloodshed in Iraq in the near future, but she said a precipitous withdrawal would be potentially disastrous⁷.

 
Iraqi fire fighters remove debris⁸ following explosion in Baghdad, Iraq, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2006
A former British ambassador to Washington, Christopher Meyer, says he sees no good options in Iraq.  In an interview with British radio, Meyer said he believes the White House and the Democrats will look for some new bipartisan consensus⁹.  Meyer believes one likely change will be to lower expectations for victory in Iraq. Instead of trying to democratize the country, the focus now will be on simply stabilizing¹⁰ it.  But he says whatever changes emerge, Britain remains closely aligned¹¹ with American policy.

"We are there. We are fully¹² integrated in what is going on and the consequence of that must be that we are being fully consulted and our views taken into full account as things start to change in Washington," said Meyer.

Meyer also said Washington should consider engaging neighboring countries Iran and Syria - something the Bush Administration has rejected because it accuses Damascus and Tehran of unhelpful meddling¹³. 

But, says Meyer, the real question is whether Syria and Iran have some influence in Iraq.

"If the answer is yes, they do influence it, somehow you engage with them," he added.  "Sticks and carrots - it may work, it may not.  But just to turn your back on them, is rank silliness."

Engaging Iran and Syria would be a good idea, says Hassan Nafae, head of the Political Science Department at Cairo University.  But, he says, there is a need to deal with broader regional issues as well.

"If there is an opening toward Iran and Syria, to agree on a sort of international conference to reactivate the peace process because I think the question of Iraq is very much linked to Iran and both are very much linked to the Arab-Israeli conflict," he noted¹⁴.

There has so far been a noticeable lack of official reaction from leaders in the Middle East to the U.S. election outcome.

However, Jordan's semi-official English language daily, the Jordan Times, did hail the vote as possibly bringing to an end what it termed a "very unfortunate era of American unilateralism and disregard for international law and norms."

1 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》

2 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。

3 guardian   

n.监护人；守卫者，保护者

参考例句：

• The form must be signed by the child's parents or guardian. 这张表格须由孩子的家长或监护人签字。
• The press is a guardian of the public weal. 报刊是公共福利的卫护者。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 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。

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

8 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

9 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

10 stabilizing   

n.稳定化处理[退火]v.（使）稳定， （使）稳固( stabilize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The disulfide bridges might then be viewed primarily as stabilizing components. 二硫桥可以被看作是初级的稳定因素。 来自辞典例句
• These stabilizing design changes are usually not desirable for steady-state operation. 这些增加稳定性的设计改变通常不太符合稳态工作的要求。 来自辞典例句

11 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

13 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

14 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。