voa标准英语2008-Motivation for Mumbai Attacks Murky

The terrorist attack that left more than 170 people dead in the Indian city of Mumbai remains¹ shrouded² in mystery. Charges, countercharges, and sketchy³ and sometimes contradictory⁴ information have contributed to confusion about the attack. As VOA correspondent Gary Thomas reports, the most pressing questions about the attack are: who and why?

The original claim of responsibility came from an unknown group calling itself the Deccan Mujahedin. But Indian security officials have linked the attack to a group of Islamic radicals⁵ called Lashkar-e-Taiba, or LET, and, by extension, to Pakistan.
　

An image released on Dec. 1, 2008 of Ajmal Qasab who police say was one of the attackers captured during attacks in Mumbai

The LET has denied responsibility for the Mumbai attack. India has so far offered no solid evidence of Lashkar-e-Taiba involvement outside of what it said was gleaned⁶ from interrogating⁷ the sole surviving gunman. But as one senior U.S. intelligence official, whose position requires him to remain anonymous⁸, put it, "There's not a whole lot that points to anyone else."

At least into the 1990s, Lashkar-e-Taiba - which means "army of the pure" in Urdu - was funded and trained by Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence directorate for a proxy⁹ war against Indian troops in Indian-controlled Kashmir. It has been blamed for a series of attacks, including the 2001 attack on the Parliament in New Delhi, which brought Pakistan and India to brink¹⁰ of open conflict.

After that attack, Pakistan's then-president, Pervez Musharraf, banned the LET. But Robert Grenier, a former CIA counterterrorism chief with experience in Pakistan, said Islamabad made no real effort to quash the group.

"Pakistani support certainly has lessened¹¹. But my strong suspicion, shared by others, that the Pakistanis have balked¹² at really trying to take these organizations apart in a serious way, number one, because they're concerned about domestic backlash, and, number two, in the back of their minds they're thinking, 'You know, at some point we may have to really reconsider this policy," he said.

If the well-planned, sophisticated attack was carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba, the question arises: Does Pakistan control the group or was it operating independently?

Christine Fair, an analyst¹³ with the RAND Corporation in Washington, said there is little doubt in her mind that Lashkar-e-Taiba still answers to the Pakistani intelligence service.

"They're an ISI asset. So the big question is not why did Lashkar do this, but, 'Why did the ISI order it,'" she asked.

Former CIA officer Robert Grenier said the LET may have been worried about the slowly thawing¹⁴ relationship between India and Pakistan.

"It potentially brings Kashmir back to the fore¹⁵. And it demonstrates to the Pakistani government and the Indian government, for that matter, that they won't stand by and watch a separate peace gain any momentum," he said.

Shaun Gregory, a South Asia terrorism analyst at the University of Bradford in Britain, said some elements in the ISI and the army are wary¹⁶ of Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari as well.
　

Indian PM Manmohan Singh (l) hugs Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari during a meeting in New York on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting, 24 Sep 2008

"Now Zardari was talking rather casually¹⁷ about nuclear arms control regimes," he said. "He's talking about progress on Kashmir and all those kinds of things. And it's possible that that alarmed some in the military and ISI who want to destabilize this [Indo-Pak] relationship or that they want to destabilize Zardari himself."

Christine Fair said the attack even could have been a signal for the incoming U.S. president, Barack Obama, who during the campaign took a tough line on the issue of terrorist sanctuaries¹⁸ on Pakistani soil.

"If you believe that Lashkar did this and that Lashkar is an asset of the ISI, and if you believe that Obama has been signaling a much more strong line on Pakistan, this could have been an opportunity to even break the U.S.-Pakistan alliance," she said.

But Fair said the United States very much needs Islamabad's support to fight terrorist groups along the Afghan border so it would not act against Pakistan, even if its complicity in the Mumbai attacks were proved.

"I think that Pakistan sort of banks on this idea that the U.S. believes that it needs Pakistan more than Pakistan needs it," she said. "So in some sense they may, in fact, just get away with this. I think that's going to be it. I mean, what are we really going to do about this? Nothing. Are we going to cut money off to the Pakistan army? Are we going to cut money off to the civilians¹⁹?"

But analysts²⁰ said that without evidence or a full investigation²¹, all they have to offer now are theories. U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice has urged Pakistan to cooperate fully²² with the investigation of the Mumbai attack.

　

1 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。

2 shrouded   

v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密

参考例句：

• The hills were shrouded in mist . 这些小山被笼罩在薄雾之中。
• The towers were shrouded in mist. 城楼被蒙上薄雾。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 sketchy   

adj.写生的，写生风格的，概略的

参考例句：

• The material he supplied is too sketchy.他提供的材料过于简略。
• Details of what actually happened are still sketchy.对于已发生事实的详细情况知道的仍然有限。

4 contradictory   

adj.反驳的，反对的，抗辩的；n.正反对，矛盾对立

参考例句：

• The argument is internally contradictory.论据本身自相矛盾。
• What he said was self-contradictory.他讲话前后不符。

5 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

6 gleaned   

v.一点点地收集（资料、事实）( glean的过去式和过去分词 )；（收割后）拾穗

参考例句：

• These figures have been gleaned from a number of studies. 这些数据是通过多次研究收集得来的。
• A valuable lesson may be gleaned from it by those who have eyes to see. 明眼人可从中记取宝贵的教训。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 interrogating   

n.询问技术v.询问( interrogate的现在分词 )；审问；（在计算机或其他机器上）查询

参考例句：

• She was no longer interrogating but lecturing. 她已经不是在审问而是在教训人了。 来自辞典例句
• His face remained blank, interrogating, slightly helpless. 他的面部仍然没有表情，只带有询问的意思，还有点无可奈何。 来自辞典例句

8 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

9 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

10 brink   

n.(悬崖、河流等的)边缘，边沿

参考例句：

• The tree grew on the brink of the cliff.那棵树生长在峭壁的边缘。
• The two countries were poised on the brink of war.这两个国家处于交战的边缘。

11 lessened   

减少的，减弱的

参考例句：

• Listening to the speech through an interpreter lessened its impact somewhat. 演讲辞通过翻译的嘴说出来，多少削弱了演讲的力量。
• The flight to suburbia lessened the number of middle-class families living within the city. 随着迁往郊外的风行，住在城内的中产家庭减少了。

12 balked   

v.畏缩不前，犹豫( balk的过去式和过去分词 )；（指马）不肯跑

参考例句：

• He balked in his speech. 他忽然中断讲演。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• They balked the robber's plan. 他们使强盗的计划受到挫败。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

13 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。

14 thawing   

n.熔化，融化v.（气候）解冻( thaw的现在分词 )；（态度、感情等）缓和；（冰、雪及冷冻食物）溶化；软化

参考例句：

• The ice is thawing. 冰在融化。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• It had been snowing and thawing and the streets were sloppy. 天一直在下雪，雪又一直在融化，街上泥泞不堪。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹

15 fore   

adv.在前面；adj.先前的；在前部的；n.前部

参考例句：

• Your seat is in the fore part of the aircraft.你的座位在飞机的前部。
• I have the gift of fore knowledge.我能够未卜先知。

16 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

17 casually   

adv.漠不关心地，无动于衷地，不负责任地

参考例句：

• She remarked casually that she was changing her job.她当时漫不经心地说要换工作。
• I casually mentioned that I might be interested in working abroad.我不经意地提到我可能会对出国工作感兴趣。

18 sanctuaries   

n.避难所( sanctuary的名词复数 )；庇护；圣所；庇护所

参考例句：

• The designation of special marine reserves and marine sanctuaries shall be subject to the State Council for approval. 海洋特别保护区、海上自然保护区的确定，须经国务院批准。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After 1965 he acquiesced when they established sanctuaries on that soil. 1965年以后，他默认了他们在那块土地上建立庇护所。 来自辞典例句

19 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

20 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。

21 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

22 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。