VOA常速英语2014--Obama Rethinks Policy on Syrian Civil War 奥巴马重新审视对叙利亚内战的政策

 

Obama Rethinks Policy on Syrian Civil War 奥巴马重新审视对叙利亚内战的政策

The Obama administration appears to be rethinking options regarding the civil war in Syria following a deadlock¹ in peace talks, the rapidly growing death toll², and the expansion of the massive humanitarian³ crisis.

在叙利亚和平谈判陷入僵局后，奥巴马政府似乎在重新思考有关叙利亚内战的其它解决方案

The bombings in Syria continue.

叙利亚的炮火仍在继续

The civil war is grinding into its third year.

内战正在进入第三年

The moderate opposition⁴ to the Assad government is weaker.

对阿萨德政权的温和反对派在弱化

“What has happened is that Assad and Hezbollah are winning and the al-Qaida affiliates⁵ are becoming stronger within the insurgency," said Michael O'Hanlon, who is with the Brookings Institution. "So our current policy is failing to prevent the very outcomes that we most fear.”

“现在阿萨德政府和真主党正在取胜，同时叛乱分子内部的基地组织联系在不断加强。”米歇尔奥汉隆说道。“所以我们现在的政策不能阻止我们最害怕的结果发生。”

Analysts⁷ say the strength of groups inspired by al-Qaida is actually helping⁸ Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who calls all the rebels terrorists.

分析人士说这些在基地组织激励下的组织的力量实际上正在帮助叙利亚总统巴沙尔阿萨德取胜，阿萨德称所有的叛军是恐怖分子

“The narrative⁹ that is prevailing¹⁰ today is that this is a fight between the Assad regime and al-Qaida," said Mideast analyst⁶ David Schenker, a Middle East analyst at The Washington Institute. "And therefore the United States, the Obama administration, has taken this ambivalent¹¹ position.”

“现在普遍的局势是阿萨德政权和基地组织的战斗。”华盛顿研究机构的中东的分析人士大卫斯根克说，“现在联合国和奥巴马政府采取了一个相矛盾的立场。”

The conflict has killed more than 135,000 people and has driven more than nine million from their homes.

这场内战已经造成超过135000人死亡，迫使900多万人离开家园

The U.S. hoped the peace talks in Geneva would bring a breakthrough, but the latest round ended in deadlock.

美国希望日内瓦和平谈判能取得突破，但是最近一轮的谈判在将僵局中收场

"It is very clear that Bashar al-Assad is continuing to try to win this in the battlefield rather than to come to the negotiating table in good faith," said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry.

“很明显巴沙尔阿萨德政府正在试图赢得这场战斗而不是诚心诚意地谈判。”美国国务卿约翰克里说

Syrian military pilots are dropping barrel bombs on civilian¹² populations. This has so terrified people in recent weeks that a half-million have fled their neighborhoods.

叙利亚的军用飞行员正在朝平民投掷着大量的炸弹。最近几周的轰炸令人们如此多地害怕以至于有50万人已经逃离他们的社区

Analysts say the Obama administration could provide intelligence on the pilots to help the rebels stop the carnage.

分析人士说奥巴马政府可能会提供关于飞行员的情报来帮助叛军阻止这场屠杀

“We don't see so many fixed¹³ wing aircraft flying around Syria anymore because most of the pilots have defected," said David Schenker. "We have got to work on this with the remaining helicopter pilots either by convincing them to leave or by helping the rebels to better target them.”

“我们不会再看到如此之多的固定翼飞机在叙利亚盘旋，因为大多数的飞行员已经叛变了。”大卫斯根克说道“我们通过要么劝说他们离开或者是帮助叛军更好地攻击他们的方式和剩下的直升机飞行员继续解决此事。”

Analysts also say the U.S. and its allies can still build the moderate Free Syrian Army (FSA) into an effective force.

分析人士说美国和其盟友仍在继续把一般的“自由叙利亚军队”打造成一高效的军队

They say the FSA could be supplied with anti-tank weapons, better ammunition¹⁴ and cash to pay fighters.

他们说FSA将会供给反坦克武器、更好的军火和雇佣士兵的金钱。

The CIA could also expand its modest rebel training program in Jordan.

中央情报局可能会扩大其在约旦的训练项目。

However, officials say President Barack Obama remains¹⁵ skeptical¹⁶ about any step that could draw the U.S. into the war.

然而，官员说奥巴马总统对任何可能把美国拖入战争的方式持怀疑态度

“History would suggest that Obama does not want to play any major role in this war," Michael O'Hanlon said. "And he prefers to ignore it for as long and as often and as much as he can.”

“历史将会表明奥巴马不想在这场战争中发挥主要作用。”米歇尔奥汉隆说，并且他更倾向于尽可能世间长地忽略它

Short of military force, it's not clear how Washington can change the course of the war, in which Syria's government is supported by Iran and Russia.

 

军队不足，华盛顿将怎样改变战争的走向仍然不清楚，而在这场战争中叙利亚政府得到了伊朗和俄罗斯的支持

1 deadlock   

n.僵局，僵持

参考例句：

• The negotiations reached a deadlock after two hours.两小时后，谈判陷入了僵局。
• The employers and strikers are at a deadlock over the wage.雇主和罢工者在工资问题上相持不下。

2 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

3 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

4 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。

5 affiliates   

附属企业( affiliate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She affiliates with an academic society. 她是某学术团体的成员。
• For example, these security affiliates participated in the floating of 19,000,000,000 of issues in 1927. 例如，这些证券发行机构在1927年的流通证券中，就提供了一百九十亿美元的证券。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 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。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

10 prevailing   

adj.盛行的；占优势的；主要的

参考例句：

• She wears a fashionable hair style prevailing in the city.她的发型是这个城市流行的款式。
• This reflects attitudes and values prevailing in society.这反映了社会上盛行的态度和价值观。

11 ambivalent   

adj.含糊不定的；(态度等)矛盾的

参考例句：

• She remained ambivalent about her marriage.她对于自己的婚事仍然拿不定主意。
• Although she professed fear of the Russians,she seemed to have ambivalent feelings toward Philby himself.虽然她承认害怕俄国人，然而她似乎对菲尔比本人有一种矛盾的感情。

12 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。

13 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

14 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

16 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。