VOA标准英语2008年-Global Poll Shows Doubt About al-Qaida Role in

Seven years after terrorist attacks killed several thousand people in the United States, a new global public opinion poll shows that many people do not believe the attacks were the work of the al-Qaida terror network. VOA's Kent Klein reports from Washington.
　
World Trade Center attacks 11 Sept 2001 (file)

An independent U.S.-based group called World Public Opinion.org asked 16,000 people in 17 countries who they thought was responsible for the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington.

Majorities in only nine of the 17 countries believed that al-Qaida was behind the attacks, a finding that surprised World Public Opinion.org's director, Steven Kull.

"I think it is very striking, given that even bin¹ Laden² has publicly made statements affirming that al-Qaida was behind the September 11th attacks," he said.

An average of 46 percent of the people polled in each country blames al-Qaida for the attacks. If not al-Qaida, then who? Kull says an average of 15 percent say the U.S. government plotted the attacks.

"In Turkey, 36 percent have this view, Turkey, one of our allies. Palestinian territories, 27 percent have this view. In Mexico, 30 percent have this view, and perhaps most surprising of all, in Germany, 23 percent have the view that the United States was behind the 9/11 attacks."

Of those who said the United States was the perpetrator, Steven Kull says many believe it was an attempt to justify³ an impending⁴ U.S. invasion of Iraq.

"Some people backed themselves into the belief, saying, 'Well, the U.S. had an interest in this, therefore it is clear that it must be the case.' And that interest that is suggested is that the U.S. was looking for an excuse to go to war with Iraq," he said.

Seven percent of the people polled blame Israel for the 9/11 attacks, and one in four questioned say they do not know who was responsible.

People in the Middle East, especially Muslims, were especially likely to tell the pollsters they believe the United States plotted the attacks. Kull says his group's polling over time shows that Muslims believe the attacks were morally wrong and contrary to Islam.

"So it is very hard for them to accept that a Muslim could do such a thing. At the same time, they do feel some resonance⁵ with many of the things that bin Laden says, so they feel some conflict about this," he said. "They are basically using a kind of defense⁶ mechanism⁷ to deny the strong evidence that al Qaida was behind 9/11, as a way of resolving the kind of internal conflict they feel."

Kull says he interprets the global ambivalence⁸ about the origins of the 9/11 attacks as a result of doubts about the United States' role in the world.

"Broadly, I think what this tells us is that there is a lack of confidence in the United States around the world. It is striking that even among our allies, the numbers that say al-Qaida was behind 9/11 do not get above two-thirds, and barely become a majority. So this is a real indication that the United States is not in a strong position to, in a sense, tell its story. The American narrative⁹ is not as powerful in the world today."

Respondents with a positive view of the U.S. influence in the world are more likely to blame al-Qaida for 9/11, and less likely to blame the United States, than those with a negative view.

 

1 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

2 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

3 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

4 impending   

a.imminent, about to come or happen

参考例句：

• Against a background of impending famine, heavy fighting took place. 即将发生饥荒之时，严重的战乱爆发了。
• The king convoke parliament to cope with the impending danger. 国王召开国会以应付迫近眉睫的危险。

5 resonance   

n.洪亮；共鸣；共振

参考例句：

• Playing the piano sets up resonance in those glass ornaments.一弹钢琴那些玻璃饰物就会产生共振。
• The areas under the two resonance envelopes are unequal.两个共振峰下面的面积是不相等的。

6 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。

7 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

8 ambivalence   

n.矛盾心理

参考例句：

• She viewed her daughter's education with ambivalence.她看待女儿的教育问题态度矛盾。
• She felt a certain ambivalence towards him.她对他的态度有些矛盾。

9 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。