VOA标准英语2009-Afghan Corruption Concerns US Policy Planner

By Gary Thomas
Washington, D.C
17 November 2009

Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai has been roundly criticized in the international community for presiding over a corrupt¹ government. A new report reinforces the perception of widespread corruption² in Afghanistan, naming it the second most corrupt country of all those surveyed. That worries American policy makers³ as they deliberate on the future U.S. strategy in Afghanistan.

 
Afghan President Hamid Karzai is seen during the inauguration⁴ ceremony of polio immunization campaign at the presidential palace in Kabul, Afghanistan, 15 Nov 2009
In Transparency International's just-released 2009 survey of world corruption, Afghanistan was only one step above the bottom rung, ranking 179th out of 180 countries surveyed. According to the group's report, only another war-ravaged state, Somalia, is perceived as being more corrupt.

President Barack Obama is considering whether to send more troops to Afghanistan to battle the Taliban. Dispatching more troops would further commit the U.S. to a strategy of counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. The central premise⁵ of counterinsurgency is to win hearts and minds and weaken popular support for the insurgents⁶.

Georgetown University Security Studies Professor Christine Fair points out corruption concerns policy makers because it undercuts Afghans' support for their government and support among Western nations for the enterprise in Afghanistan.

"I am not someone who goes around thinking this has to be a clean government. That being said, I do think that this counter-insurgency effort is not going to be successful until there is some handle on this corruption, at least to the point that the government can be seen as being effective," said Fair. "And it would not necessarily be as problematic as in some scenarios⁷ if it were not for the fact that the Taliban themselves actually market themselves as being the anti-corruption entity⁸."

She adds that until recently, U.S. support for President Hamid Karzai was unquestioning, which may have fostered a climate of corruption.

"The problem is, it is not only the government," continued Fair. "It is just that we have facilitated it and enabled it and we have largely been insouciant⁹ about it for the past eight years. I mean, how can we say that we want Karzai to do something about his brother's alleged¹⁰ narcotics¹¹ activities, while apparently¹² the CIA has been paying the same brother?"

 
Former US Ambassador to Afghanistan Ronald Neumann (File)
Former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Ronald Neumann tells VOA he believes President Karzai to be a decent man, but points out that he does not have a great deal of actual power outside of Kabul and has to be very careful about alienating¹³ some people. Ambassador Neumann says the Western nations have painted the Afghan leader into a corner with relentless¹⁴ criticism of his administration's conduct.

"I think, in very general terms, in the last year or two, that the strident public criticism and denunciation from the outside has also been a factor and has in my view has been something of a mistake," said Neumann. "The strident criticism, I think, is not effective, usually does not work. You know, when you shout at your wife in an argument it usually does not get her to agree with you. It is still worse among nations.

Ambassador Neumann, who has just published a memoir¹⁵ of his tenure¹⁶ in Afghanistan, says there are different kinds of corruption and that at least some lower level corruption is to be expected.

"It depends on what you are talking about. If you are talking about some money that bleeds around the edges to get a road paved, but you get the road paved, you get it paved on time, you get it paved to the quality it is supposed to be, frankly¹⁷ it is a nuisance," he added.  "If you find that the road is not paved, or that the road is paved but breaks down because the corruption is so bad you do not get standards and quality, then you have got a major problem. This may be a little less purist than the normal view, but I think that it is more realistic."

Some analysts¹⁸ have argued that in some states, government is just so dysfunctional that corruption is actually the only thing that makes governmental machinery¹⁹ work.  But Transparency International Director of Policy and Research Robin²⁰ Hodess, says the idea that corruption works is an illusion.

"Even petty bribery²¹, small bribery, is not a long-term sustainable approach to kind of grease the wheels," said Hodess.  "It was always thought that you needed a little bit of something to get the system going. But in fact academic studies have shown that this is wrong-footed and that in the long run by not having a level playing field, by not building systems, by not creating competitive markets you are actually undermining development and you are undermining economic growth and you are taking away the trust of potential investors²²."

In an attempt to blunt the criticism, President Karzai just announced the creation of a new anti-corruption unit. Robin Hodess says creating a new anti-corruption body is common practice when confronted with corruption, but that the track record of such bodies is mixed.

"They can work, they can be effective. They need to be adequately resourced. They need to be independent," added Hodess. "They need to have full vested powers that are given them, whether it is of investigation²³ or prosecution²⁴. Above all they need the political will behind them. And then they can be effective."

Only hours after Mr. Karzai's victory in the tainted²⁵ election, President Obama welcomed the Afghan leader's pledge to eradicate²⁶ corruption, but frankly warned the proof of those efforts will be not in words, but in deeds. 

1 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 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》

4 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

5 premise   

n.前提；v.提论，预述

参考例句：

• Let me premise my argument with a bit of history.让我引述一些史实作为我立论的前提。
• We can deduce a conclusion from the premise.我们可以从这个前提推出结论。

6 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

7 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

8 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

9 insouciant   

adj.不在意的

参考例句：

• But not all central bankers are so insouciant.然而，不是所有的央行人士都对此高枕无忧。
• Americans are remarkably insouciant about this development.美国人对这个数字漫无关心。

10 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

11 narcotics   

n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒

参考例句：

• The use of narcotics by teenagers is a problem in many countries. 青少年服用麻醉药在许多国家中都是一个问题。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Police shook down the club, looking for narcotics. 警方彻底搜查了这个俱乐部，寻找麻醉品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

13 alienating   

v.使疏远( alienate的现在分词 )；使不友好；转让；让渡（财产等）

参考例句：

• The phenomena of alienation are widespread. Sports are also alienating. 异化现象普遍存在，体育运动也不例外。 来自互联网
• How can you appeal to them without alienating the mainstream crowd? 你是怎么在不疏忽主流玩家的情况下吸引住他们呢？ 来自互联网

14 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

15 memoir   

n.[pl.]回忆录，自传；记事录

参考例句：

• He has just published a memoir in honour of his captain.他刚刚出了一本传记来纪念他的队长。
• In her memoir,the actress wrote about the bittersweet memories of her first love.在那个女演员的自传中，她写到了自己苦乐掺半的初恋。

16 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

17 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

18 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。

19 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

20 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

21 bribery   

n.贿络行为，行贿，受贿

参考例句：

• FBI found out that the senator committed bribery.美国联邦调查局查明这个参议员有受贿行为。
• He was charged with bribery.他被指控受贿。

22 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

23 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。

24 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

25 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

26 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。