VOA标准英语2013--US Arms to Syrian Rebels Held Up

 

US Arms to Syrian Rebels Held Up

As Syrian government forces make gains on the ground, the limited lethal¹ aid U.S. President Barack Obama promised the opposition² has yet to be sent - almost a month after his announcement.

The issue seems to be Congress, where approval is being stalled while lawmakers debate the types of weapons to send, and to which groups.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney told reporters Friday the administration has been talking with lawmakers in an effort to settle those questions and speed up approval.

“The fact is, we are working with Congress on the issue of the president’s announcement of enhanced military assistance, but I do not have anything about specific shipments to provide to you," said Carney.

Deciding which groups should receive aid is difficult. Shifting alliances among the groups complicate³ this decision, according to Michael Rubin at Washington’s American Enterprise Institute.

“There has been a steady radicalization as this debate has been occurring for the last two years, and so the opposition which we looked at back a year, a year-and-a-half ago, when we had this debate, is not the same opposition that starts today.  The opposition has become steadily⁴ more radical," said Rubin.

Rubin says another question is which arms the opposition wants and whether the U.S. is willing to provide them.   

“What the Syrian opposition wants is a qualitative⁵ military edge.  They want, for example, surface-to-air missiles, and that raises a whole new set of political questions about whether or not we think that the Syrian opposition should have them, whether, when push comes to shove, we trust the Syrian opposition not to turn on us or our allies," he said.

Russia acknowledged in May that it has agreed to sell advanced air defense⁶ missiles to the Assad government.  It is not clear whether the missiles have been delivered.

The Iranian-backed group Hezbollah, which the United States considers a terrorist organization, is also supporting the Syrian government.

These developments, and gains by rebel groups said to be affiliated⁷ with al-Qaida, have some experts wondering whether any U.S. help for the opposition will be too little, too late. 

 

1 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

2 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。

3 complicate   

vt.使复杂化，使混乱，使难懂

参考例句：

• There is no need to complicate matters.没有必要使问题复杂化。
• These events will greatly complicate the situation.这些事件将使局势变得极其复杂。

4 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

5 qualitative   

adj.性质上的，质的，定性的

参考例句：

• There are qualitative differences in the way children and adults think.孩子和成年人的思维方式有质的不同。
• Arms races have a quantitative and a qualitative aspects.军备竞赛具有数量和质量两个方面。

6 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。

7 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。