2007年VOA标准英语-American Scholars Recommend Soft Partition of I

By Leta Hong Fincher
Washington
11 July 2007
 

Amid increasing calls in the U.S. Senate for American troops to withdraw from Iraq, two American scholars are recommending the partition of Iraq into three regions.  Their plan includes a substantial reduction of U.S. troops from Iraq, but not a complete withdrawal¹. The scholars concede their proposal is "difficult and risky²."  But they argue that it may be the lesser³ of a range of evils and the only way to avoid all-out civil war in Iraq. VOA's Leta Hong Fincher has more.

Edward Joseph

Edward Joseph of Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies and Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution in Washington admit that their plan to divide Iraq along ethnic⁴ lines is "unpalatable."  "Whether you like the idea of soft partition or not -- and frankly⁵ most of us don't and it wouldn't be a first choice for very many people at all -- it's happening in Iraq. Up to a 100,000 people a month are being violently displaced from their homes. It is being ethnically⁶ segregated⁷."

Michael O'Hanlon

O'Hanlon says Iraqis have fled the mounting violence by sheltering with their respective ethnic groups. He says a soft partition would not force people to move, but would divide Iraq into three main areas: Shi'ite, Sunni and Kurdish. Each region would take primary responsibility for its own security and governance, as Iraqi Kurdistan already does in northern Iraq. The scholars say the United Nations should play a key role in determining the boundaries.

"The idea here is to give people a choice. That if they want to relocate to a safer place, the government will help them, it will protect them while they move, it will help them sell their home that they're leaving, make sure they have access to a new home, and get a job."

Many Iraqis are finding refuge from violence by seeking others of their ethnic background

The scholars' plan builds on a proposal by U.S. Senator and Democratic Party presidential hopeful Joseph Biden, and Leslie Gelb, a former president of the influential⁸ Council on Foreign Relations. That proposal has not won the support of the Bush administration.

Current U.S. policy aims to build a strong central government in Iraq. But Edward Joseph of Johns Hopkins says that strategy may no longer make sense.

"The post-invasion record shows that the more power is concentrated in Baghdad, the more Shi'ites will have to dominate."

The scholars say their plan does not advocate the immediate⁹ withdrawal of U.S. troops.  Rather, they estimate that for at least a year, U.S. forces would remain at their current levels of about 150,000. After the soft partition, O'Hanlon says that about 50,000 U.S. troops might be needed for several years. "This is in a sense a last-gasp effort to try to play a role in helping¹⁰ the Iraqis find a second-best alternative, but still one that's far preferable to genocide, which I think is the likely outcome -- or at least a possible outcome -- of American withdrawal."

Joseph and O'Hanlon are circulating their plan within the Bush administration, which plans to reassess its Iraq war policy in September.

1 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。

2 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

3 lesser   

adj.次要的，较小的；adv.较小地，较少地

参考例句：

• Kept some of the lesser players out.不让那些次要的球员参加联赛。
• She has also been affected,but to a lesser degree.她也受到波及，但程度较轻。

4 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

5 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

6 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

7 segregated   

分开的； 被隔离的

参考例句：

• a culture in which women are segregated from men 妇女受到隔离歧视的文化
• The doctor segregated the child sick with scarlet fever. 大夫把患猩红热的孩子隔离起来。

8 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。

9 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。

10 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。