2007年VOA标准英语-US, Pakistan Differ on Cleaning Out Terrorist S

By Gary Thomas
Washington
26 July 2007

U.S. officials now publicly say that the possibility of U.S. military action against al-Qaida and Taleban safe havens² in Pakistan's tribal³ areas cannot be ruled out. The U.S. has criticized Pakistan for what U.S. officials consider its soft approach to the safe haven¹ issue. But as VOA correspondent Gary Thomas reports, the criticism may mask some quiet cooperation.

When the Taleban and their al-Qaida guests were ousted⁴ from Afghanistan in 2001, their leaders managed to escape across the border to the rugged⁵ and lawless tribal areas of Pakistan.

Until now, Washington has nudged Islamabad behind closed doors to get tough about cleaning out the terrorist sanctuaries⁶. But after a U.S. National Intelligence Estimate earlier this month concluded that al-Qaida had regrouped in the tribal areas, U.S. criticism became more public and pointed⁷.

Nicholas Burns (file photo)

In a Senate hearing Wednesday, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns raised the possibility that the U.S. might act in the tribal areas if Pakistan does not.

"Given the primacy of the fight against al-Qaida and Osama bin⁸ Laden⁹, if we have in the future a certainty of knowledge, then of course the United States would always have the option of taking action on its own," said Burns. "But we prefer to work with the Pakistani forces, and we in most situations, nearly every situation, do work with them."

In Islamabad Thursday, Pakistan's foreign minister Khurshid Kasuri called talk of a unilateral U.S. attack "irresponsible and counterproductive."

Analysts¹⁰ agree that any large-scale U.S. incursion into the tribal areas is extremely unlikely. But Daniel Markey, who was until recently on the South Asia Policy Planning staff at the State Department, says the United States is already involved in attacks inside Pakistan in an indirect way.

"I think the United States is involved, if not directly, then indirectly¹¹ by providing intelligence, surveillance, satellite photos, and so on that would allow the Pakistanis to be more effective," said Markey. "So in that narrow sense, the United States already has been involved in attacks in Pakistan."

Some analysts believe U.S. actions may already be more direct. Larry Goodson, a professor of Middle East Studies at the U.S. Army War College, says Pakistani officials may be turning a blind eye to U.S. cross-border pursuit of terrorist suspects so long as such operations remain low-key and secret.

"I speculate that there is a backroom deal about you guys coming across, do what you've got to do, quietly, and as long as there's plausible¹² deniability, we'll put up with it," said Goodson. "I don't know; that's just speculation¹³. But I suspect that since there have been these kinds of cross-border operations that no one talks about, that there is something of -- it's not a green light, maybe sort of a yellow light -- for some of that activity to go forward.

Daniel Markey says the argument over the sanctuary¹⁴ issue centers on the different views that Washington and Islamabad have about the threat residing in the tribal areas.

"The United States and Pakistan don't necessarily see the problem of the tribal areas in identical ways," said Markey. "The United States is much more interested in the global terrorist threat, whereas Pakistan is much more interested in kind of local challenges to Pakistani stability and its influence in the region."

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf cut deals with tribal leaders for their help in rooting out terrorist strongholds. Peter Rodman, who was assistant secretary of Defense¹⁵ for International Security Affairs in the Bush administration, says this approach did not work.

"The government of Pakistan reached some agreements on the ground last year with certain of the tribes, sort of non-aggression pacts," said Rodman. "I mean, the army backed away and made little treaties with some of these tribes, which were designed to deal politically with this problem. And we were very disappointed with that. We thought this really gave the Taleban a free hand. And that is how it has worked out, unfortunately, in some of these cases."

According to a report published earlier this year, a U.S. covert¹⁶ operation was planned to snatch al-Qaida second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri from his Pakistani safe haven in 2005.

However, the operation was called off at the last minute by then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld as being too risky¹⁷ after what was envisioned as small U.S. paramilitary team had ballooned into a large force.

1 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

2 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

3 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

4 ousted   

驱逐( oust的过去式和过去分词 )； 革职； 罢黜； 剥夺

参考例句：

• He was ousted as chairman. 他的主席职务被革除了。
• He may be ousted by a military takeover. 他可能在一场军事接管中被赶下台。

5 rugged   

adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的

参考例句：

• Football players must be rugged.足球运动员必须健壮。
• The Rocky Mountains have rugged mountains and roads.落基山脉有崇山峻岭和崎岖不平的道路。

6 sanctuaries   

n.避难所( sanctuary的名词复数 )；庇护；圣所；庇护所

参考例句：

• The designation of special marine reserves and marine sanctuaries shall be subject to the State Council for approval. 海洋特别保护区、海上自然保护区的确定，须经国务院批准。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After 1965 he acquiesced when they established sanctuaries on that soil. 1965年以后，他默认了他们在那块土地上建立庇护所。 来自辞典例句

7 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

8 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。

9 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。

10 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

11 indirectly   

adv.间接地，不直接了当地

参考例句：

• I heard the news indirectly.这消息我是间接听来的。
• They were approached indirectly through an intermediary.通过一位中间人，他们进行了间接接触。

12 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

13 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

14 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

15 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。

16 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

17 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。