2006年VOA标准英语-Pakistanis Question Attack on Suspected Terrori

By Gary Thomas
Washington
09 November 2006

On October 30, an aerial attack on a suspected terrorist facility in one of Pakistan's tribal¹ areas killed at least 80 people. The air strike dealt a blow to part of the government's counter-terrorism strategy and heightened anti-American sentiment in Pakistan.

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Pervez Musharraf 
  

Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf says the October 30 raid on a madrassa, or Islamic religious school, in the Bajaur "agency", as tribal areas are called, was a Pakistani army operation against a terrorist training center.

"Anyone who is saying that these people were innocent Taleban is telling lies," said General Musharraf. "We were watching them since the last six or seven days. We knew exactly who they are, what they are doing. They were all militants² using weapons doing military training within the compound."

Some reports have suggested the target of the raid was al-Qaida's number two man, Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is believed to have visited the area before but was not there on October 30.

Syed Farooq Hasnat, a fellow at the Middle East Institute in Washington, says there is widespread belief in Pakistan that the air raid was a direct U.S. attack on Pakistani soil on a religious institution.

"There is a widespread feeling in Pakistan, and according to the eyewitnesses³ account, that it was not the Pakistani forces which attacked," he noted⁴. "In fact, there's a very high suspicion that it was the American drone [pilotless aircraft] which really attacked that place."

Pakistani tribesmen attend funeral of alleged⁵ militants, who died in Pakistani military attack, Oct. 30, 2006 in Chingai    
  
Some witnesses say the initial fatal fire came not from Pakistani helicopter gunships but from U.S. Predator⁶ drone pilotless aircraft, and that the Pakistani gunships came in after the initial salvo.

A Pentagon spokesman says no U.S. forces were involved in the raid. But the carefully worded denial does not rule out civilian⁷ involvement. Asked about the possible use of a drone, CIA and State Department officials said they would not comment on intelligence matters.

Seth Jones, a South Asian specialist at the Rand Corporation, says that, while there may have been U.S. logistical and intelligence support to Pakistani forces, he believes the madrassa raid was a Pakistani operation.

"It's certainly conceivable that there were other governments involved, NATO or U.S. governments involved, in helping⁸ provide information and intelligence. But my hunch⁹ is that this was largely a Pakistani initiated¹⁰ and orchestrated attack," he said.

Chris Fair, a Pakistan affairs specialist at the non-partisan U.S. Institute for Peace, says independent analysis of exactly what happened is impossible because outside observers have been barred from the area.

"This is the big question. And we do not have, as you know, presence of independent observers that can confirm or disconfirm different rumors¹¹," said Fair. "So on the one hand, there is the story that the Pakistanis are maintaining that the Pakistan army did this."

"But there are other rumors, some circumstantial evidence, that maybe the U.S. did this," she continued.  "So, one, we don't really know who did it. Two, we do not really know anything about the credibility of evidence that in fact that these were Zawahiri associates."

But if it was a U.S.-led attack, as many Pakistanis are prepared to believe, then why would Pakistan take full responsibility for it?

General Musharraf has been under great pressure from the United States to stop cross-border terrorist activity. But Pakistani military efforts in tribal areas have been ineffectual, as there is sympathy for the Taleban in those areas and even in some Pakistani military and intelligence circles. So General Musharraf, under what some analysts¹² say was pressure from the army, negotiated an agreement with tribal leaders in North Waziristan to get them to halt cross-border terrorist activity themselves. A similar deal was ready to be signed in Bajaur, which is farther north of Waziristan, just before the attack.

Christine Fair says the United States and Pakistan see the Taleban and al-Qaida through different prisms. The U.S. went into Afghanistan in 2001 to dislodge the Taleban for giving sanctuary¹³ to al-Qaida, so the United States sees them as one and the same. Pakistan, she says, views the al-Qaida as foreign terrorists but sees the resurgent Taleban as potential tool to be used to keep Afghanistan from becoming too strong.

"The Taleban is a huge area of disagreement. We want support for the Taleban to cease. The Pakistanis, for a number of what I think are actually valid¹⁴ security concerns about the region, have been very reluctant to let go of the Taleban," she added.

Husain Haqqani, a former Pakistani diplomat¹⁵ who now heads the Center for International Relations at Boston University, believes that General Musharraf, knowing that to allow direct American military action on Pakistani soil would be political suicide, cut his own deal with the United States.

"So the compromise then is, let the Americans operate against the targets they feel necessary to hit, let the Pakistan government take the responsibility," he said. "It's at least a little less than acknowledging that we can't finish the job and the Americans have to come and do it."

On Wednesday, a suicide bomber¹⁶ killed at least 42 Pakistani soldiers at an army post in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province. The attack is believed by many Pakistani and Western analysts to be a reprisal¹⁷ for the Bajaur strike.

1 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。

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 eyewitnesses   

目击者( eyewitness的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The examination of all the eyewitnesses took a week. 对所有证人的质询用了一周的时间。
• Several eyewitnesses testified that they saw the officers hit Miller in the face. 几位目击证人证明他们看见那几个警官打了米勒的脸。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

6 predator   

n.捕食其它动物的动物；捕食者

参考例句：

• The final part of this chapter was devoted to a brief summary of predator species.本章最后部分简要总结了食肉动物。
• Komodo dragon is the largest living lizard and a fearsome predator.科摩多龙是目前存在的最大蜥蜴，它是一种令人恐惧的捕食性动物。

7 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。

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 hunch   

n.预感，直觉

参考例句：

• I have a hunch that he didn't really want to go.我有这么一种感觉，他并不真正想去。
• I had a hunch that Susan and I would work well together.我有预感和苏珊共事会很融洽。

10 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

11 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 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。

13 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。

14 valid   

adj.有确实根据的；有效的；正当的，合法的

参考例句：

• His claim to own the house is valid.他主张对此屋的所有权有效。
• Do you have valid reasons for your absence?你的缺席有正当理由吗？

15 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

16 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

17 reprisal   

n.报复，报仇，报复性劫掠

参考例句：

• There is no political alternative but a big reprisal.政治上没有旁的选择只能是大规模报复。
• They bombed civilian targets in reprisal.他们炮轰平民目标作为报复。