PBS高端访谈:伊拉克军队开始对伊斯兰国进行反击

 　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM, PBS NEWSHOUR ANCHOR: We're turning now to the threat of ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Just a few months ago, some U.S. officials worried that ISIS fighters could actually overtake Baghdad, but there are new signs of confidence in the fight against the Islamic jihadists in Iraq.

　　For more, we are joined from Grand Rapids, Michigan, by Douglas Ollivant, a partner with Mantid International.

　　Doug, welcome back.

　　I understand you spent a good deal of time in Baghdad. What is it like in Baghdad today?

　　DOUGLAS OLLIVANT, MANTID INTERNATIONAL: The atmosphere in Baghdad was very positive, both among the Iraqis and with many of the U.S. forces at our embassy.

　　I think what most struck me in Baghdad was the sense of normality of life. People are going about their business. They're shopping. There are traffic jams because everyone is out shopping and going to work and going to where they need to go.

　　When you go to Baghdad airport, the security is tight, but you get there, and there are lines. There are people flying all over the world to and from Baghdad — just how much life is going on, even though the front in some places is not too far away.

　　BRANGHAM: President Obama recently approved the sending of another 1,500 troops, which is basically a doubling of the U.S. force there.

　　How much of the recent changes that you witnessed would you credit to U.S. forces involvement there?

　　OLLIVANT: Well, I think external forces, both the United States and — we have to be candid¹ — Iran's intervention² have greatly assisted the Iraqis with pushing back the Islamic State. With coaching from these outside powers and, of course, with U.S. air power in support, both the Iraqi army and the Kurdish Peshmerga, both of which did not look very good — let's face it — in the initial push of the Islamic State into Iraq, have made some fairly serious gains over the last couple of weeks.

　　In Salah Al-Din and Diyala, the Iraqi army has pushed forward. They broke the siege at Beiji refinery³. And in the north, the Kurds have been able to push a little further, in towards Mosul.

　　BRANGHAM: I'm curious about the Iraqi Army because, you know, we spent years and billions of dollars trying to create a reliable force, and when ISIS first showed up, much of that force was defeated or vanished into thin air. But you seem to feel that they are doing a better job now and are able to stand up a little more effectively.

　　OLLIVANT: Well, I think some more reliable troops have been brought from the south, troops that are very devoted⁴ to the Iraqi state. But part of this, I think, is the army that we built for the Iraqi army. This was an army that was built to be a police garrison⁵ force. And that's what we built it for. And then when it faced this Islamic State army that came in and pushed through it, this was an opponent for which they were not prepared.

　　Now, we don't want to downplay the very real problems with the Iraqi army — the corruption⁶, the lack of training, the siphoning off of money. There are very real problems with the Iraqi army that we don't want to downplay. But there is some thought that if we focus this new Iraqi army on this new problem set that they're facing, that we could have some different results in the not-too-distant future.

　　Now, we don't want to get ahead of ourselves. They're not going to beat the Islamic State next month. This is still a 12 to 30-month endeavor. But the signs right now are good.

　　BRANGHAM: A lot of our fight in Iraq, obviously, is against ISIS. They're not just in Iraq but they're also in Syria. Do you have any sense, any sense that the successes that you've seen in Iraq could possibly translate to success in Syria?

　　OLLIVANT: Unfortunately, no.

　　In Iraq, we have the basis of a political solution. Now, there's a huge uphill climb in Iraq — to get reconciliation⁷ with the Kurds, with the Iraqi Sunnis in the north, and we can't downplay how difficult that is. But there's a very real possibility that that could happen if everyone plays their cards right.

　　In Syria, there's no way that I can tell you a story, however implausible, about how the politics in Syria might come back together in a way that produces an outcome that would be OK with us. I mean, let's be candid — the most likely outcome were the Assad regime to fall in Syria is the take of Syria by the Islamic State and/or the Nusra Front, the official al Qaeda affiliate⁸ in Syria, which sometimes gets lost in the talk about the Islamic State, but is nonetheless a very real — you know, official al Qaeda affiliate in the country.

　　So, the politics in Syria are just much, much more difficult.

　　BRANGHAM: Douglas Ollivant, thank you very much for joining us.

　　OLLIVANT: Thank you, William.

1 candid   

adj.公正的，正直的；坦率的

参考例句：

• I cannot but hope the candid reader will give some allowance for it.我只有希望公正的读者多少包涵一些。
• He is quite candid with his friends.他对朋友相当坦诚。

2 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

3 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

4 devoted   

adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的

参考例句：

• He devoted his life to the educational cause of the motherland.他为祖国的教育事业贡献了一生。
• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。

5 garrison   

n.卫戍部队；驻地，卫戍区；vt.派(兵)驻防

参考例句：

• The troops came to the relief of the besieged garrison.军队来援救被围的守备军。
• The German was moving to stiffen up the garrison in Sicily.德军正在加强西西里守军之力量。

6 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

7 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。

8 affiliate   

vt.使隶(附)属于；n.附属机构，分公司

参考例句：

• Our New York company has an affiliate in Los Angeles.我们的纽约公司在洛杉矶有一个下属企业。
• What is the difference between affiliate and regular membership?固定会员和附属会员之间的区别是什么？