VOA常速英语2007年-Could Pakistan's Internal Unrest Pose Wider Dan

By Ravi Khanna
Washington
09 November 2007
 

The current political turmoil¹ in Pakistan has raised concerns in Washington that the Pakistani government is no longer focused on battling Islamic militants² and it is making the country an even safer haven³ for terrorists. VOA's Ravi Khanna has more.

Taliban fighters are not just hiding out in Pakistan's remote mountains bordering Afghanistan. They are in Swat, just 145 kilometers away from Islamabad.

A Taliban commander says the Pakistani army belongs to the people, but it is carrying out atrocities⁴ against Muslims on the orders of foreign countries. Experts say the Taliban and al-Qaida are well established in nuclear-armed Pakistan. Reports from the region indicate that not only have Islamic militants killed hundreds of people this year in Pakistan, but they are operating openly in several major cities.

Caroline Wadhams is an analyst⁵ at the liberal leaning Center for American Progress in Washington, D.C. She says the situation is dangerous for Pakistan and the whole region.

"I just think this is not good for the stability of Pakistan, and therefore it is bad for its relationship with India, its ability to conduct operations against the Taliban and al-Qaida on the border," says Wadhams. "Also I think by stifling⁶ the secular⁷ opposition⁸, it makes the religious or the extremist opposition the only voice of opposition still around. And I think that's dangerous."

Patricia Taft at the independent Fund for Peace in Washington is more concerned about U.S. and NATO forces trying to keep peace in neighboring Afghanistan. "The other big concern is that for the United States, and also our NATO allies who have peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan, because Pakistan is one of the main overland supply routes both for military and humanitarian⁹ aid into Afghanistan. So that could have much more dangerous consequences," she said.

Former U.S. Ambassador Teresita Schaffer at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington is concerned about the future of Pakistan's ongoing¹⁰ efforts to control terrorism. "My concern is that this will turn out to be a distraction¹¹ from the very difficult task of controlling Pakistan's border areas and dealing¹² with domestic extremism," says Schaffer.

Asked whether, during the emergency, the army would have the upper hand, Schaffer replied, "But it will also have new responsibilities. Where will it deploy¹³ its forces? What will people be thinking about? Will they be thinking about how to control the press or how to control the extremists?"

International concern heightened after a failed attempt to blow up airlines over the Atlantic Ocean last year and the London subway bombings in 2005.

1 turmoil   

n.骚乱，混乱，动乱

参考例句：

• His mind was in such a turmoil that he couldn't get to sleep.内心的纷扰使他无法入睡。
• The robbery put the village in a turmoil.抢劫使全村陷入混乱。

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 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

4 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 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。

6 stifling   

a.令人窒息的

参考例句：

• The weather is stifling. It looks like rain. 今天太闷热，光景是要下雨。
• We were stifling in that hot room with all the windows closed. 我们在那间关着窗户的热屋子里，简直透不过气来。

7 secular   

n.牧师，凡人；adj.世俗的，现世的，不朽的

参考例句：

• We live in an increasingly secular society.我们生活在一个日益非宗教的社会。
• Britain is a plural society in which the secular predominates.英国是个世俗主导的多元社会。

8 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。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

10 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

11 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

12 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

13 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。