2007年VOA标准英语-Bush Iraq Plan Meets With Skepticism in Middle

By Challiss McDonough
Cairo
11 January 2007

President Bush's plan to increase troop levels in Iraq is being met with skepticism in the Middle East.  Many Arab analysts¹ say, there can be no military solution to the crisis, and urge more effort toward political reconciliation².  VOA Correspondent Challiss McDonough has more from our Middle East bureau in Cairo.

 
President George Bush concludes his address to the nation from the White House Library, 10 Jan 2007
Newspapers and political analysts throughout the Arab world have been almost uniformly critical of the Bush administration's new plan for Iraq, saying it could actually widen Iraq's sectarian divisions, and increase the violence.

Qatar University political science professor Mohamed Al-Musfir said, increasing the U.S. troop presence in Iraq will only further anger the Arab public.

He says sending new troops to Iraq will not solve America's problem in Iraq or in the Middle East.

President Bush has called on his Middle East allies to support the Iraqi government but the Shi'ite-led government of Iraq is viewed with much suspicion in the region. 

"I don't think that the appeal to Egypt, Saudi Arabia and other friendly countries in the region will help the United States, unless the United States has the good strategy to work out a reconciliation in Iraq," said Hassan Nafaa, head of the political science department at Cairo University.  "The military option will fail.  The political solution in Iraq has to be based in reconciliation, and all the prerequisites³ for reconciliation in Iraq [are] not there.  And, I think, the Iraqi government itself is a problem, and is not willing to open up to other factions⁴."

The editor-in-chief of the Saudi newspaper, The Arab News, Khaled Al-Maeena, says he sees the widening violence as a problem Iraqis need to solve themselves.

"On what basis and how would the Saudi government, and the Jordanian and the Egyptians and the Gulf⁵ countries support the Iraqi government? I think the support for the Iraqi government should come from the Iraqi people itself," he said.

 
A group of Iraqi doctors watch President Bush's speech
He and other analysts echoed the findings of the Iraq Study Group, which said the U.S. should engage with Iraq's neighbors, Iran and Syria. Hassan Nafaa of Cairo University says he did not hear that in President Bush's speech.

"There must be an opening up to Iran and Syria," he added.  "Unless you have a dialogue with Iran and Syria, you will not be able to find a working exit from Iraq.  But in the speech, I have noticed that he is taking a tough stand against Iran and Syria."

The announcement of the troop increase comes as relations between the U.S. and its Arab allies have become increasingly strained over Iraq and other issues.

 
Condoleezza Rice 
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is heading to the Middle East in the next few days to promote the Iraq plan and discuss other regional issues, including Iran's nuclear program and the Israeli-Palestinian crisis.

Al-Maeena, the Saudi newspaper editor, says it will not be the most cordial visit.

"Do not be fooled, and I say this loud and clear, let us not be fooled by joint⁶ statements at the end of Condoleezza Rice's visits to any country in the Arab world," he noted⁷.  "Because deep inside, there is resentment⁸, and people are upset."

There has been little official reaction from Washington's Arab allies to the troop-increase announcement.  A spokesman for Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak refused to comment, but the Iranian government quickly denounced the plan.

1 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。

2 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

3 prerequisites   

先决条件，前提( prerequisite的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Good muscles are one of the prerequisites of physical fitness. 肌肉发达是身体健康的一个必备条件。
• One of the outstanding prerequisites of any city is a local transportation system. 本地运输系统是任何城市的突出前提条件之一。

4 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

5 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 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。

8 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。