2007年VOA标准英语-US Domestic Debate Over Iraq Expected To Sharpe

By Jim Malone
Washington
14 September 2007

The domestic political battle lines over the war in Iraq could harden in the months ahead in the wake of President Bush's speech outlining U.S. strategy well into next year. VOA National correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

President Bush speaks from Oval Office of White House, 13 Sep 2007

For the president, improved security in Iraq means the U.S. military surge is giving Iraqis the time they need to overcome their political differences. "It is never too late to advance freedom. It is never too late to support our troops in a fight they can win," he said.

But Democrats¹ argue that it is the absence of progress on the political front that eventually will doom² the U.S. mission in Iraq.

Senator Jack³ Reed of Rhode Island gave the official Democratic response to the president's nationwide speech on Iraq Thursday night. "An endless and unlimited⁴ military presence in Iraq is not an option," he said.

Public reaction to the Bush speech was mixed. There was support from this woman from Georgia, whose son is fighting in Iraq. "If they were doing what the Democrats were saying, pull them all out, all my son's buddies⁵ would have died in vain," she said.

But this man in Chicago remains⁶ unconvinced. "I have two sons over in Iraq right now. So, I disagree with the president. I think he should bring all of them home," he said.

In the short term, the improving security situation in parts of Iraq makes it much more difficult for Democrats to press their case for a troop withdrawal⁷ timetable and gives the president more time to press the Iraqis on political reconciliation⁸.

"I suspect that not a single member of Congress was persuaded to change his or her views. Clearly, the odds⁹ are very long against the administration, now seemingly left to at most, I think as we saw in the president's speech, attempt to buy time, which they probably have," said Jim Warren, managing editor of the Chicago Tribune newspaper and a guest on VOA's Issues in the News program.

In the longer term, though, even some Republicans question how long the U.S. can keep a large number of troops in Iraq without visible signs of progress on the Iraqi political front.

Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana expressed this concern to General David Petraeus during his appearance before Congress. "In my judgment¹⁰, some type of success in Iraq is possible. But as policy makers¹¹, we should acknowledge that we are facing extraordinarily¹² narrow margins¹³ for achieving our goals," he said.

The president may have bought some time politically to fend¹⁴ off Democratic calls for withdrawal from Iraq. But turning around U.S. public opinion would appear to be a much tougher challenge.

Recent polls continue to show most Americans oppose the war in Iraq and favor some sort of a timetable for pulling out U.S. troops.

Ohio State University Professor John Mueller, an expert on war and public opinion, expects little change in the public's attitude on Iraq in the foreseeable future. "You do get some people who move back and forth¹⁵ as news goes up and down, and that has happened in the course of this conflict. But what has happened is that after a few weeks, or even, in some cases, days, that blip goes away."

Iraq is shaping up as a defining issue in the 2008 presidential campaign. Most of the Republican contenders for now support the president's approach on Iraq, while all of the Democratic candidates advocate a change in strategy and various forms of troop withdrawals¹⁶.

1 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》

2 doom   

n.厄运，劫数；v.注定，命定

参考例句：

• The report on our economic situation is full of doom and gloom.这份关于我们经济状况的报告充满了令人绝望和沮丧的调子。
• The dictator met his doom after ten years of rule.独裁者统治了十年终于完蛋了。

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

5 buddies   

n.密友( buddy的名词复数 )；同伴；弟兄；（用于称呼男子，常带怒气）家伙v.（如密友、战友、伙伴、弟兄般）交往( buddy的第三人称单数 )；做朋友；亲近（…）；伴护艾滋病人

参考例句：

• We became great buddies. 我们成了非常好的朋友。 来自辞典例句
• The two of them have become great buddies. 他们俩成了要好的朋友。 来自辞典例句

6 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

7 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

8 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。

9 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

10 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

11 makers   

n.制造者，制造商（maker的复数形式）

参考例句：

• The makers of the product assured us that there had been no sacrifice of quality. 这一产品的制造商向我们保证说他们没有牺牲质量。
• The makers are about to launch out a new product. 制造商们马上要生产一种新产品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 extraordinarily   

adv.格外地；极端地

参考例句：

• She is an extraordinarily beautiful girl.她是个美丽非凡的姑娘。
• The sea was extraordinarily calm that morning.那天清晨，大海出奇地宁静。

13 margins   

边( margin的名词复数 )； 利润； 页边空白； 差数

参考例句：

• They have always had to make do with relatively small profit margins. 他们不得不经常设法应付较少的利润额。
• To create more space between the navigation items, add left and right margins to the links. 在每个项目间留更多的空隙，加左或者右的margins来定义链接。

14 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

15 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

16 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句