2006年VOA标准英语-Pakistan in Difficult Position on Eve of O

By Gary Thomas
Washington
19 January 2006

US Vice¹ President Dick Cheney shakes hands with Pakistan's President, Pervez Musharraf, left   
  
Pakistan's prime minister is in the United States and is scheduled to meet with President Bush next week.  But in conjunction with the visit, a new audiotape of al-Qaida leader Osama bin² Laden³ surfaced.  The hunt for terrorist leaders has created political troubles for Pakistan's president Pervez Musharraf.

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Osama bin Laden's new audiotape surfaced just after Pakistani Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz's arrival in the United States.
 
Analysts⁴ say that in light of the tape the Bush Administration may ratchet up pressure on Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf and his government to do even more to clear the Pakistani border areas of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters.

Larry Goodson of the U.S. Army War College, says Mr. Musharraf has been caught in a dilemma⁵ ever since the terrorist strikes on the United States on September 11th, 2001. President Musharraf's cooperation with American anti-terrorist efforts have spawned⁶ opposition⁷ at home, where there is sympathy among the population for both bin Laden and the Taliban, which ruled neighboring Afghanistan until 2001.

"If I'm President Musharraf, the way I'm playing this is I'm going, 'okay, I'm on the American team, although I don't much want to be," said Mr. Goodson.  "But back on 9/12 [2001], they held a gun to my head and said, you're on our team, aren't you?  Meanwhile, these other chaps like bin Laden are holding a gun to my other vital body parts.  And so I'm sort of caught between these two guns.'"

On January 13, U.S. officials launched a missile on a village along the Pakistan-Afghan border.  The missile strike was apparently⁸ aimed at bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahri, who was believed to be in the village.  Zawahiri appears to have escaped. But several people, reportedly including both al-Qaida operatives and local civilians⁹, were killed, sparking protest demonstrations¹⁰ across Pakistan. Pakistani officials have officially said they had no advance warning of the attack. 

Appearing on VOA's "Press Conference USA," former U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage called President Musharraf "the real deal" and praised his support to the U.S.-led anti-terrorist effort.

"Remember, he's got difficult situations on both his borders," said Mr. Armitage.  "He's the one who's got to make the determination on the pace and the speed, et cetera, of reform and of assistance to the United States.  But I can assure you that we'd be nowhere without his and his colleagues' assistance in the war on terror."

But former CIA officer Michael Scheuer says the Pakistani leader may have gone as far as he can go in helping¹¹ the United States. The only alternative, Scheuer says, is for the United States to go after the al-Qaida leadership on its own.
 
"He has really done quite a lot for the United States, and we keep expecting him to do more," he said.  "I guess the bottom line here is that if we're going to get bin Laden and Zawahiri, and I think that it is important to do so, then we're going to have to do it ourselves.  And that involves, not only once, but probably repeatedly, violating Pakistani sovereignty to try to kill them inside of Pakistan."

However, unilateral U.S. action could ignite a political firestorm in Pakistan, perhaps even bringing down President Musharraf.  Analysts say that whoever replaced him would in all likelihood not be as friendly to American anti-terrorist efforts.
 

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

6 spawned   

（鱼、蛙等）大量产（卵）( spawn的过去式和过去分词 )； 大量生产

参考例句：

• The band's album spawned a string of hit singles. 这支乐队的专辑繁衍出一连串走红的单曲唱片。
• The computer industry has spawned a lot of new companies. 由于电脑工业的发展，许多新公司纷纷成立。

7 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。

8 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

9 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

10 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

11 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。