VOA常速英语2007-Islamic Party in Kurdish Iraq Growing in Popular

By Brian Padden
Irbil, Iraq
19 October 2007
 

The Kurdish region of Iraq is dominated by two pro-American secular¹ parties -- the Patriotic² Union of Kurdistan and the Kurdistan Democratic Party.  A third party, the Islamic Union of Kurdistan, advocates an Islamic state and is growing in popularity.  VOA's Brian Padden reports.

While the two parties that control the Kurdish region of Iraq may endorse³ democratic values, critics say they practice one-party rule.

The Patriotic Union of Kurdistan controls the eastern section, with the city of Suleymaniya as its power base.  The Kurdistan Democratic Party controls the rest and is centered in the regional capital, Irbil.   Both parties have their own militias⁵, and after a brief civil war in the mid-1990s, have shared power over the region. 

The most popular alternative to the ruling parties is the Islamic Union of Kurdistan.  It has no militia⁴, only a local television station to present its vision of a moderate, Islamic democracy.

Hadi Ali is one of its leaders. He says his party is growing in popularity, particularly with young people. "We presented something new.  The other parties – they were fighting against the regime before.  And after the uprising, they started to fight each other and formed a corrupt⁶ administration that disappointed many young people,” he says. “Young people found our party as a non-corrupt alternative."

Ali says that his party advocates an inclusive democracy in a framework of Islam that would be very similar to western democracies.

"We want the secular like in the western countries with a separation of religion and the state,” says Ali. “But we are not against religion and here in these countries, when they say secular, they mean they are against religion.  

David Romano of Rhodes College in Tennesse is a Middle East researcher and recently published a report on the growth of the Islamic movement in the Kurdish region of Iraq.  He says the rise of the Islamic Union of Kurdistan should be a concern to the U.S. and other Western countries. 

"I think they do have a marked, more anti-American stance than the secular Kurdish nationalist parties.  You just have to remember that the Kurdistan Islamic Union comes from the Muslim Brotherhood⁷, the Iraqi chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood," said the professor.

The Muslim Brotherhood was founded in Egypt in 1928. Since then, the Egyptian government has banned the Muslim Brotherhood and other political parties based on religion.  But its members continue to speak out and have called for a board of Muslim clerics to oversee⁸ the government. 

Still, Romano does not agree that banning opposition⁹ groups is good for the long-term future of the region.  "As long as they play by the democratic rules of the game, as long as they talk the talk and walk the walk of democracy, so to speak, they need to be allowed a chance to compete and win elections; otherwise a turn to radicalism¹⁰ is legitimized," he said.

Romano says suppressing dissent¹¹ will turn the loyal opposition to extremism and violence. 

1 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

2 patriotic   

adj.爱国的，有爱国心的

参考例句：

• His speech was full of patriotic sentiments.他的演说充满了爱国之情。
• The old man is a patriotic overseas Chinese.这位老人是一位爱国华侨。

3 endorse   

vt.(支票、汇票等)背书，背署；批注；同意

参考例句：

• No one is foolish enough to endorse it.没有哪个人会傻得赞成它。
• I fully endorse your opinions on this subject.我完全拥护你对此课题的主张。

4 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。

5 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

6 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

7 brotherhood   

n.兄弟般的关系，手中情谊

参考例句：

• They broke up the brotherhood.他们断绝了兄弟关系。
• They live and work together in complete equality and brotherhood.他们完全平等和兄弟般地在一起生活和工作。

8 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

9 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

10 radicalism   

n. 急进主义, 根本的改革主义

参考例句：

• His radicalism and refusal to compromise isolated him. 他的激进主义与拒绝妥协使他受到孤立。
• Education produced intellectual ferment and the temptations of radicalism. 教育带来知识界的骚动，促使激进主义具有了吸引力。

11 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。