2006年VOA标准英语-Lebanon Conflict Leaves Winners and Losers

By Bill Rodgers
Washington, DC
16 August 2006
 
watch Winner & Loser report 

 
Two Lebanese soldiers stand next to Lebanese army tanks in preparation to deploy¹ in south Lebanon 
  
The fighting in southern Lebanon between Israeli troops and Hezbollah is over for now. A ceasefire deal calls for the deployment² of international peacekeepers and Lebanese troops to the area.  But the repercussions³ of the month-long conflict continue to be felt in the Middle East. Assessments⁴ are being made over who emerged in a stronger position as a result of the fighting. 

The fighting lasted just over a month, leaving numerous casualties. Most of them civilian⁵, and most of them Lebanese.

Now assessments are being made over what the conflict means for the future of Lebanon and the wider Middle East.  For President Bush, the militant⁶ group Hezbollah is the clear loser.

"Hezbollah, of course, has got a fantastic propaganda machine and they're claiming victories.  But how can you claim victory when at one time you were a state-within-a-state, safe within southern Lebanon, and now you're going to be replaced by a Lebanese army and an international force?” asked the president.  “And that's what we're now working on, is to get the international force in southern Lebanon."

 
Former U.S. diplomat⁷ David Newton 
  
Yet Hezbollah's surprisingly strong resistance against Israel won it the support of many Arabs who took the streets in pro-Hezbollah demonstrations⁸. Even if the militant group pulls back from its positions in southern Lebanon, its standing⁹ in the Arab world has been enhanced, according to former U.S. diplomat David Newton.

"They are seen as the heroes now among great numbers of Arabs. Arabs have always felt humiliated¹⁰ by their own weakness in the face of Israel and here is what seems to be just a small militia¹¹ organization without heavy weapons, without aircraft yet it is fighting the most dominant¹² military power in the Middle East to a standstill," said Mr. Newton.

This has implications for Israel, where some are questioning whether Prime Minister Ehud Olmert handled the crisis well. 

 
Ellen Laipson 
  
Ellen Laipson heads the Henry L. Stimson Center, a Washington think-tank. She says, "Clearly, what's happened with Hezbollah reminds Israel that they have neighbors that can interfere¹³ with their desire to live alone.  But nothing that comes out of this struggle changes, I think, the mindset in Israel that peaceful coexistence and positive interaction with the Arab neighbors is really quite difficult to achieve."

The just-concluded conflict also has implications for the United States in the Middle East. Washington was criticized for not intervening earlier to press for a ceasefire.  President Bush dismisses the criticism. "First of all, we from the beginning, urged caution on both sides so that innocent life would be protected.  And secondly¹⁴, I think most leaders around the world would give Condoleezza Rice and her team great credit for finally getting a U.N. resolution passed."

That U.N. resolution calls for the deployment of 15,000 international peacekeepers to patrol a special demilitarized zone in southern Lebanon along with some Lebanese troops.  But even if this takes place, Ellen Laipson believes the conflict has undermined U.S. interests in the region.

"In hindsight, I believe people will be critical of the Bush administration's belief that hitting Hezbollah overall was convergent¹⁵ with American interests and American goals, says Ms. Laipson. “What we now see is that the United States is so preoccupied¹⁶ with Iraq, and Iraq is not going well from a U.S. perspective, that it really didn't have the resources, the time, the attention to devote to some of these long-standing smaller conflicts."

However, some observers think Lebanon and its prime minister, Fuad Siniora, ultimately may come out ahead in the aftermath of this conflict.  Lebanon will have gained more control over its territory, while Hezbollah's power as a state-within-a-state may be diminished.

1 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

2 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

3 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 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

5 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。

6 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

7 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

8 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

9 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

10 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

11 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

12 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

13 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

14 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

15 convergent   

adj.会聚的

参考例句：

• A curved-inwards wall has a convergent effect on wall spray.凹型壁面对碰壁喷雾有聚集作用。
• If a sequence is not convergent,it is divergent.如果一个序列不收敛，我们称它发散。

16 preoccupied   

adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式)

参考例句：

• He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice anything wrong. 他只顾想着心事，没注意到有什么不对。
• The question of going to the Mount Tai preoccupied his mind. 去游泰山的问题盘踞在他心头。 来自《简明英汉词典》