2006年VOA标准英语-Debate Centers on Relation Between Terrorism an

By Peter Fedynsky
Washington, DC
12 October 2006
 
watch US Terrorism Report

Last month, portions of a classified U.S. government intelligence estimate on global terrorism were leaked to the media, which reported the document as saying the war in Iraq is creating more terrorists than it is eliminating.  The White House says the media misinterpreted the secret information, and President Bush ordered the declassification¹ of relevant portions so everyone, as the president put it, "can draw their own conclusions." 

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After it was declassified², the director of U.S. National Intelligence, John Negroponte, publicly read one of the key assessments³ from the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE). "The Iraq jihad is shaping a new generation of terrorist leaders and operatives," he read. "However, should jihadists leaving Iraq perceive themselves, and be perceived, to have failed, fewer fighters will be inspired to carry on the fight."

James Phillips (file photo)   
  
James Phillips, a terrorism expert at the Heritage Foundation think tank in Washington, D.C., says the NIE news leak was selective, and he downplayed the importance of winning the war in Iraq. "While it is true that the war itself has allowed jihadists to attract greater recruits, that same NIE also stated that a jihadist victory there would lead them to be able to attract even more.  And that was ignored by whoever leaked the first sentence."

The leak, published in The New York Times newspaper, revealed the assertion of U.S. intelligence agencies that the Iraq conflict is cultivating supporters for the global jihadist movement.

However, the declassified estimate named other factors that are also fueling the jihadist spread.  They include entrenched⁴ grievances⁵ in many Muslim nations, such as corruption⁶ and injustice⁷, as well as a slow pace of economic, social and political reforms.  

 
Anthony Cordesman (file photo)
  
Terrorism expert Anthony Cordesman at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C., says the National Intelligence Estimate failed to address some additional concerns. "For at least the next 15 years, there is going to be very serious demographic pressure on the Middle East," said Cordesman.  "Millions of young men and women will enter a labor⁸ market where there already is massive unemployment, or underemployment and few opportunities.  You have hyper-urbanization in areas where the educational institutions, housing, all the conditions of life have not yet been modernized⁹."

Cordesman said the Bush administration is not focusing enough attention on reforms to address factors that radicalize people. "We need, honestly, to look at this problem, not in terms of politics, but in terms of governance, economics, basic divisions in the country between ethnic¹¹ and sectarian groups; how quickly you can actually change people," said Cordesman.  "What will their values accept?"

The National Intelligence Estimate says the jihadist movement has various vulnerabilities, above all, an ultraconservative interpretation¹² of Shariah-based governance that is unpopular with the vast majority of Muslims. 

The Heritage Foundation's James Phillips said Afghanistan's deposed¹³ Taleban government showed the downside of the radical¹⁰ Islam. "In Afghanistan, what happened was a horror show of tremendous human rights abuses; where women couldn't go work outside their homes, girls couldn't be educated, men were put in jail if they weren't able to grow a beard long enough to suit the Taleban," said Phillips, "and Afghans quickly became tired of that."

Phillips said many terrorists, swept up in the emotion of the moment, go to Iraq and fight a jihad, but fail to consider what happens after the war is over.

1 declassification   

n.不再当机密文件处理，从机密表删除

参考例句：

• Technology of GCD is the combination of grid computing and declassification. 网格密码破解技术 (GCD)是网格计算理论和密码暴力破解需求的结合。 来自互联网
• Its essential is how to determine the reasonable allocating among all parts of the declassification system. 该问题的实质就是如何确定到解系统各部分的合理配置关系。 来自互联网

2 declassified   

adj.解密的v.对（机密文件等）销密( declassify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Thousands of classified documents have now been declassified. 数以千计的保密文件现在被解密了。
• The software used for Siemens S7-300 encryption logic block declassified. 此软件用于对西门子S7-300加密逻辑块解密。

3 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

4 entrenched   

adj.确立的，不容易改的(风俗习惯)

参考例句：

• Television seems to be firmly entrenched as the number one medium for national advertising.电视看来要在全国广告媒介中牢固地占据头等位置。
• If the enemy dares to attack us in these entrenched positions,we will make short work of them.如果敌人胆敢进攻我们固守的阵地，我们就消灭他们。

5 grievances   

n.委屈( grievance的名词复数 )；苦衷；不满；牢骚

参考例句：

• The trade union leader spoke about the grievances of the workers. 工会领袖述说工人们的苦情。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• He gave air to his grievances. 他申诉了他的冤情。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 modernized   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的过去式和过去分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• By 1985 the entire railway network will have been modernized. 等到1985年整个铁路网就实现现代化了。
• He set about rebuilding France, and made it into a brilliant-looking modernized imperialism. 他试图重建法国，使它成为一项表面华丽的现代化帝业。

10 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

11 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。

12 interpretation   

n.解释，说明，描述；艺术处理

参考例句：

• His statement admits of one interpretation only.他的话只有一种解释。
• Analysis and interpretation is a very personal thing.分析与说明是个很主观的事情。

13 deposed   

v.罢免( depose的过去式和过去分词 )；（在法庭上）宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The president was deposed in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被废黜。
• The head of state was deposed by the army. 国家元首被军队罢免了。 来自《简明英汉词典》