VOA标准英语2014--继续打击"伊斯兰国"可能令阿萨德受益

 

Coalition¹ to Fight Islamic State Could Reward Assad

STATE DEPARTMENT—

The United States along with European and Mideast allies are considering a broader assault against Islamic State fighters who have spread from Syria into Iraq and risk further destabilizing an already troubled region. But, confronting those militants² could end up helping³ the embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Losing ground to Islamic State fighters, Syria's government says it is ready to cooperate with the international community to combat these resurgent militants.

Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem says Damascus welcomes even the United States, which is backing Syria's more-moderate opposition⁴.

"The coming few days will judge the seriousness of regional and international countries in fighting terrorism. Until now we have not sensed this seriousness," said al-Moallem.

Getting that sort of cooperation would be a big boost for Assad, says American University professor Akbar Ahmed.

"It would exonerate⁵ him and in a sense it would also establish his legitimacy⁶ in the eyes of his own regime that look, 'We did all this because it was necessary. There may have been some bloodshed, but it was necessary. And here is the proof, that even the West - who are the biggest critics of what we are doing - even the West, the United States and the U.K. have now come onboard,'" said Ahmed.

But acknowledging the Islamic State threat - and attacking its fighters in Iraq - does not make Washington an ally of Damascus even as State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki says the Obama administration considers a range of options "not limited by borders."

"That doesn’t mean that our view has changed of the brutality⁷ of the Assad regime and the brutality of the actions that he has taken against his own people," she said. "But given the growing threat of ISIL, it is a threat that we need to take on and work with countries in the region to do that."

Regional leaders agree there must be a broader coalition to defeat the Islamic State, even if that may directly benefit Syria's government and its allies, says U.S. Institute of Peace analyst⁸ Steve Heydemann.

"The risk is that we are in some ways rewarding Iran, rewarding the Assad regime, rewarding the Russians for bad behavior to the extent that the Assad regime, with Iranian and Russian support, created the conditions that permitted the rise of ISIS for the Saudis and the West to now become involved in solving the problem that those governments and those movements had a hand in creating suggests that we are helping them to avoid the consequences of their own policies," he said.

Center for a New American Security analyst Nora Bensahel says there is "very careful thinking" in Washington about the Islamic State.

"The United States certainly does not want to be seen as intervening in the civil war, period, much less being seen as intervening on the side of the Assad regime. So that's why we're seeing a lot of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions now starting to be flown so the United States can get a better picture hopefully of what's going on on the ground to inform future decisions," she said.

U.S. military action against Islamic State fighters so far has been limited to airstrikes in Iraq, but there may be more direct involvement in a broader fight that President Obama says "won't be easy, and it won't be quick."

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 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。

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 exonerate   

v.免除责任，确定无罪

参考例句：

• Nothing can exonerate her from that.任何解释都难辞其咎。
• There is no reason to exonerate him from the ordinary duties of a citizen.没有理由免除他做公民应尽的义务。

6 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

7 brutality   

n.野蛮的行为，残忍，野蛮

参考例句：

• The brutality of the crime has appalled the public. 罪行之残暴使公众大为震惊。
• a general who was infamous for his brutality 因残忍而恶名昭彰的将军

8 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。