2006年VOA标准英语-Study Group Report Could Form Basis for US Bipa

By Jim Malone
Washington
06 December 2006

The long-running political debate in Washington over the war in Iraq took a major turn Wednesday with the release of the report of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group. As VOA National correspondent Jim Malone reports, veteran foreign policy makers¹ and members of Congress from both political parties hope the recommendations will shape a new bipartisan approach to stabilizing² Iraq and bringing home U.S. troops.

 
Iraq Study Group report 
The message from the 10-member Iraq Study Group was blunt. The current Bush administration policy on Iraq is not working and changes are needed to salvage³ the mission.

Former Democratic Congressman⁴ Lee Hamilton is the commission co-chairman.

"The situation in Iraq is grave and deteriorating," said Lee Hamilton. "Our ship of state has hit rough waters. It must now chart a new way forward."

 
Co-chairmen of the Iraq Study Group James Baker⁵ (l) and Lee Hamilton 
The major recommendations include shifting the role of U.S. troops from combat to support and training Iraqis, with an eye toward withdrawing many American soldiers beginning in early 2008. The study group also called for a new diplomatic outreach to Iran and Syria in hopes of beginning regional negotiations⁶ on Iraq's future.

Politicians from both major political parties have been eagerly awaiting the study group recommendations for months, hopeful they will provide a blueprint⁷ for successfully drawing to a close the divisive U.S. military presence in Iraq.

Charles Grassley is a Republican senator from Iowa.

"We are not going to pussyfoot around there [spend] the rest of our lives in Iraq, that we want them to get the insurgency⁸ under control, we want to help them do it, but that we are not going stay around forever and we are going to move out," said Charles Grassley.

Senate Democratic leader Harry⁹ Reid of Nevada said what happens next is up to the White House.

"The president has the ball in his court now," said Harry Reid. "It is up to President Bush to implement¹⁰ the recommendations of this commission, the study group."

Mr. Bush is under no obligation to follow the study group recommendations.

After being briefed by commission leaders at the White House, the president said the report includes some interesting proposals and promised he would act in a timely fashion.

"This report will give us all an opportunity to find common ground, for the good of the country, not for the good of the Republican Party or the Democratic Party, but for the good of the country," said President Bush.

University of Virginia political analyst¹¹ Larry Sabato says the study group report will bring new pressure on the president to change his policy toward Iraq.

"The president has a lot of adjusting to do, but he has very little choice at this point," said Larry Sabato. "Even many conservative Republicans and some neo-conservatives are deserting the ship and making it clear that the current policy in Iraq is unsustainable."

Pressure will also continue to come from a small group of Democrats¹² who want Congress to cut funding for the Iraq mission. This is Democratic Congressman Dennis Kucinich of Ohio.

"Stop wasting money," said Congressman Kucinich. "Stop wasting lives. Bring the troops home now and cut off funds for more war."

But many members of Congress and veteran policymakers hope the Iraq Study Group recommendations will form the foundation for a new bipartisan consensus¹³ on a way forward in Iraq.

Former Clinton White House chief of staff Leon Panetta is a member of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group.

"This country cannot be at war and be as divided as we are today," said Leon Panetta. "We have got to unify¹⁴ this country and I suggest to the president that what we did in this group can perhaps serve as an example to try to pull together the leadership of the Congress and try to focus on the recommendations that we have made."

Some foreign policy experts believe the study group proposals could begin to shift the Washington debate over Iraq, especially in the wake of last month's congressional elections in which public discontent over Iraq helped Democrats win back control of Congress.

Former defense¹⁵ department official Lawrence Korb is now a foreign policy analyst at the Center for American Progress in Washington.

"I do not think you will see an immediate¹⁶ change, but I think you will see a beginning of a new direction because I think the president recognizes that the American people spoke¹⁷ in the election and they do not have infinite patience," he said.

Other analysts¹⁸ see the Iraq report as a rare opportunity to put politics aside in trying to figure out how to be successful in Iraq and still bring U.S. troops home in a timely fashion.

James Carafano is a defense and intelligence expert at the Heritage Foundation in Washington. He spoke on the CSPAN T-V public affairs network.

"What this report does have an opportunity to do is to change the politics of how we talk about Iraq inside the United States," said James Carafano. "It is really an opportunity for Republicans and Democrats and political leaders on both sides to really acknowledge the realities on the ground, acknowledge the range of things that are practical that can be done, the advantages and disadvantages that they have, for us to really move forward as a nation and leave politics at the water's edge and implement a consensus policy on Iraq and let our politics go and debate other issues."

But other analysts are more pessimistic. Danielle Pletka is vice¹⁹ president for foreign and defense policy studies at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington.

"One would like to think that there would be a happy moment for a consensus about where to move forward," she said. "I think that is very unlikely. One of the reasons why it is very unlikely is that it is really hard to figure out what to do. None of these are the silver bullet that one might hope for, and because they are not, it is going to be hard to rally a bipartisan group around any set of ideas."

The pressures on the president to adopt at least some of the study group recommendations could escalate²⁰ once Democrats take control of both houses of Congress in January.

1 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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

3 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

4 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

5 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

6 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

7 blueprint   

n.蓝图，设计图，计划；vt.制成蓝图，计划

参考例句：

• All the machine parts on a blueprint must answer each other.设计图上所有的机器部件都应互相配合。
• The documents contain a blueprint for a nuclear device.文件内附有一张核装置的设计蓝图。

8 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

9 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

10 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

11 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。

12 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》

13 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？

14 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。

15 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。

16 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。

17 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

18 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。

19 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

20 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。