2007年VOA标准英语-Bush Faces Challenge in Changing Public Opinion

By Jim Malone
Washington
11 January 2007

Reaction in Congress and among the American public suggests President Bush has an uphill battle in trying to win support for his new strategy in Iraq, a strategy that includes deploying¹ more than 21,000 additional troops.  VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more on the president's public opinion challenge from Washington. 

 
U.S. Army soldiers from the 5th Battalion², 20th Infantry³ Regiment⁴ throw open a door in an empty house during a predawn sweep of a neighborhood in southern Baghdad, 02 Jan 2007
Public opinion polls indicate most Americans oppose a troops surge in Iraq and that they are now increasingly pessimistic about the outcome there.

This is a random⁵ sampling of public opinion in San Francisco following the president's speech.

MAN:  "The guy [President Bush] does not understand that this is Vietnam all over again."

WOMAN:  "I am willing to trust my president.  If we do not secure our freedom, it will not exist."

WOMAN:  "A [troop] surge is a bad idea.  It has been tried and it has failed.  We should not do it again."

In his speech to the nation, President Bush argued that his new approach to reduce sectarian violence in and around Baghdad offers the best chance for success in Iraq.

 
President George Bush concludes his address to the nation from the White House Library, 10 Jan 2007
"If we increase our support at this crucial moment and help the Iraqis break the current cycle of violence, we can hasten the day our troops begin coming home," said Mr. Bush.

Most Democrats⁶ disagree and vow⁷ to oppose the new strategy in Congress.

This is Democratic Senator Richard Durbin of Illinois.

"Escalation⁸ of this war is not the change the American people called for in the last election," he said.  "Instead of a new direction, the president's plan moves the American commitment in Iraq in the wrong direction."

The president is getting support from many, but not all, congressional Republicans.  Several Republican Senators have expressed doubts about the troops surge.

Among those who oppose the new strategy is Republican Senator Chuck Hagel of Nebraska, who says implementing⁹ the Bush plan in Iraq would be the most dangerous foreign policy blunder for the United States since the Vietnam War.

Military families are also divided over the deployment¹⁰ of additional troops.

Nancy Lessin is co-founder¹¹ of a group called Military Families Speak Out, which opposed the war in Iraq.

"This is the same commander in chief who took us into this mess and now he wants the American people to trust him, to know some way forward?  I mean this is ludicrous," she said.

But war supporters are rallying to the president's new strategy on Iraq.  Romey Kilgore is founder of a group called United We Serve.

"I really feel like we are not in a position to retreat, to pull out, and that we have no option but to see this through and succeed," he said.

The latest public opinion poll from the Associated Press and the Ipsos research firm found that 70 percent of those surveyed oppose sending additional troops to Iraq, a finding consistent with other recent polls.

Christopher Gelphi is an expert on war and public opinion at Duke University in North Carolina.  Gelphi says President Bush faces a major challenge in trying to regain¹² support for the Iraq effort. 

"I think the public is willing to stay and willing to support larger troop numbers and even willing to support more American casualties if they believe that the military strategy can succeed and is succeeding," he said.  "The problem the president faces now is persuading the public that that is true, and I think at this point his words are not likely be enough, that the public is going to need to see progress on the ground."

Political analysts¹³ question how much time the public is willing to give the president to see if his new policy works.

John Mueller has written and lectured extensively about war and public opinion at Ohio State University.

"There is declining support for the war, eroding¹⁴ support, and I think that is very likely to continue," he said.  "There seems to be an increasing number of people who want to get out.  No one seems to want to get out immediately, and that is because basically that is something that is almost impossible, just in a practical sense.  But the idea of us sending more troops is getting almost no support, and the number of people who support getting out soon or fairly soon or within a year or whatever, seems to be continually growing."

The president's new strategy presents challenges for both major political parties.  Democrats must decide how far they want to go in trying to block funding for the additional troop deployment without being seen as undermining U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq.

For their part, Republicans must decide whether to support a policy that may be unpopular with voters in their home states and congressional districts.

1 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

2 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

3 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。

4 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

5 random   

adj.随机的；任意的；n.偶然的(或随便的)行动

参考例句：

• The list is arranged in a random order.名单排列不分先后。
• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。

6 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

8 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

9 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

10 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

11 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

12 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

13 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。

14 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。