2007年VOA标准英语-Iraq Study Group Says Political Solutions in Ir

By Dan Robinson
Washington
18 July 2007

William Perry (file photo)

A former U.S. defense¹ secretary and member of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group was among witnesses testifying Wednesday before Congress about the situation in Iraq. VOA's Dan Robinson reports William Perry and others provided lawmakers with tough advice on how to assess the situation in Iraq and how the United States should adjust its policy in coming months and years.

Last year, the Iraq Study Group commissioned by Congress described the situation in Iraq as grave and deteriorating² and made a series of recommendations to decrease the role for U.S. combat forces and increase the role of political and diplomatic efforts.

Now, one month into President Bush's military surge aimed at securing Baghdad, former defense secretary Perry describes what he calls a disastrous³ security situation which continues to deteriorate⁴.

Perry also says that without political progress, it won't really matter how long U.S. forces remain in Iraq. "As grim as this situation is it could be even worse when U.S. soldiers leave, as the administration has stated. But, in the absence of political reconciliation⁵ that could be true whether we leave a year from now or whether we leave five years from now," he said.

Perry offered a critical assessment⁶ of President Bush's approach in Iraq. "I believe that the president's diplomatic strategy is too timid, and his military strategy too little and too late, to effect what he calls the lasting⁷ and profound changes needed. His strategy is not likely to succeed, because it is tactical not strategic, because it does not entail⁸ real conditionality⁹ for the Iraqi government," he said.

But Perry says he agrees with the president's assessment that a rapid withdrawal¹⁰ would lead to disastrous results, adding that implementing¹¹ Iraq Study Group findings would provide an opportunity to stabilize¹² the situation before U.S. combat forces leave.

Fred Kagan, of the American Enterprise Institute, says the president has a political-military strategy, not just a change in tactics.

He points to successes by U.S. and Iraqi government forces against al-Qaida forces in Iraq, in Anbar province and elsewhere, and criticizes those calling for withdrawing U.S. forces. "Responsible people in this city understand and say repeatedly that we cannot simply abandon Iraq and allow it to become an al-Qaida safe haven¹³, and advocate leaving U.S. forces behind to engage in counter-terrorism," he said.

Jessica Tuchman Mathews, President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, questions whether Iraqis will move toward a political solution anytime soon.

Saying the United States has continued to pursue a possibly unachievable objective of unifying¹⁴ Iraqi factions¹⁵ based on benchmarks, she maintains the U.S. presence will prolong and delay an inevitable¹⁶ but understandable struggle for power in a political vacuum:

"What we are talking about here are fundamental allocations of political power, and I believe the Iraqis are not yet ready to make those choices themselves because they haven't yet tested each other's strength and will, and there are too many organized groups determined¹⁷ to do that. So I believe we are engaged in a rather elaborate exercise of self-delusion about the benchmarks," she said.

House Armed Services Committee chairman Ike Skelton repeated his view that with forces tied down in Iraq, U.S. counter-terrorism efforts elsewhere are suffering. "Iraq has proven to be a distraction¹⁸ from the war on those who attacked us on September 11th, and I believe that we must move to a more limited presence in Iraq so that we can dedicate more resources towards finally eliminating al-Qaida and posturing¹⁹ our forces to deal with future strategic threats," he said.

In other hearings on Capitol Hill, lawmakers heard from other experts, among them Daniel Byman, of Georgetown University's School of Foreign Service and the Brookings Institution.

 

"I regret to say that I believe the United States will not be able to bring peace and stability to Iraq in the next several years, and that even in the long term, ending the Iraqi civil war would require a far greater military and civilian²⁰ commitment than we currently have, and even then I think the chances for success are far from certain," he said.

Byman advocates a substantial draw down of U.S. forces from their current levels, with what he calls a containment²¹ strategy to deal with any spillover from an all out Iraqi civil war, involving a force of some 20-thousand U.S. troops based in neighboring countries.

The numerous hearings, also including on a yet to be passed Iraqi government oil law, came a week after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted for a resolution calling for an April first target for removing most combat forces from Iraq.

They also came as two Bush administration officials, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, visited Capitol Hill to meet with Republican lawmakers, part of administration efforts to reassure²² members of the president's party nervous about administration strategies.

1 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。

2 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

3 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。

4 deteriorate   

v.变坏；恶化；退化

参考例句：

• Do you think relations between China and Japan will continue to deteriorate?你认为中日关系会继续恶化吗？
• He held that this would only cause the situation to deteriorate further.他认为，这只会使局势更加恶化。

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 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

7 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

8 entail   

vt.使承担，使成为必要，需要

参考例句：

• Such a decision would entail a huge political risk.这样的决定势必带来巨大的政治风险。
• This job would entail your learning how to use a computer.这工作将需要你学会怎样用计算机。

9 conditionality   

n.受限制性，制约性

参考例句：

• We have the same value plus half the upside, with no conditionality. 我们获得了相同价值，外加一半的上行机会，而且没有条件限制。 来自互联网
• Gate conditionality does not mitigate the adverse effect of gate review criteria. 关卡制约性不会减少关卡评价标准的反作用。 来自互联网

10 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。

11 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

12 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

13 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

14 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。

15 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

16 inevitable   

adj.不可避免的，必然发生的

参考例句：

• Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
• The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。

17 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

18 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

19 posturing   

做出某种姿势( posture的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• She was posturing a model. 她正在摆模特儿的姿势。
• She says the President may just be posturing. 她说总统也许只是在做样子而已。

20 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

21 containment   

n.阻止，遏制；容量

参考例句：

• Your list might include such things as cost containment,quality,or customer satisfaction.你的清单上应列有诸如成本控制、产品质量、客户满意程度等内容。
• Insularity and self-containment,it is argued,go hand in hand.他们争论说，心胸狭窄和自我封闭是并存的。

22 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。