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(单词翻译:双击或拖选)
Tumultuous Year Strains US Pakistani Relations
Pakistan and the United States have maintained a critical strategic partnership1 for the past 10 years despite tense relations over the war in Afghanistan and U.S. suspicions that Islamabad maintains ties to militant2 groups.
But the past year was a particularly difficult one for the two uneasy allies.
The deterioration3 of an already-fragile relationship began in January, when police in Lahore arrested, Raymond Davis, a civilian4 contractor5 working for the Central Intelligence Agency, for killing6 two Pakistanis.
Davis claimed “self defense” and was ultimately released. But the incident unleashed7 public criticism against the Pakistani government over its oversight8 of CIA contractors9.
Before the rift10 had healed, U.S. special forces conducted a unilateral raid and killed fugitive11 al-Qaida chief Osama bin12 Laden13 in Abbottabad, a Pakistani garrison14 city.
The covert15 raid in May plunged16 the relationship to a new low. Outraged17 Pakistani leaders, like Pakistan's foreign secretary Salman Bashir, criticized it as an attack on the country’s sovereignty.
“The fact is that the Pakistani armed forces, they had not been consulted, they were not in the know," said Bashir.
For their part, U.S. officials questioned how the world’s most-wanted man was able to evade18 detection for years, living near a large Pakistani military base.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton visited Islamabad days after the Abbottabad operation to tell Pakistan the way forward for both countries was to step up joint19 efforts against terrorism.
"The United States and Pakistan have worked together to kill or capture many of these terrorists here on Pakistani soil," said Clinton. "This could not have been done without close cooperation between our governments, our militaries, and our intelligence agencies. But we both recognize there is still much more work required and it is urgent."
The powerful Pakistani military came under intense pressure at home for failing to detect both the presence of the al-Qaida leader and the U.S. raid that killed him.
In response, the Pakistani army ordered U.S. military trainers to leave Pakistan and tightened20 visa restrictions21 on U.S. staff. American officials in turn linked billions of dollars of financial assistance to improved cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
In late November, the relationship suffered another blow when NATO air strikes on Pakistani border posts killed 24 soldiers. Pakistan closed its borders to supplies for the U.S.-led international forces in Afghanistan, expelled American personnel from an air base used for drone attacks, and boycotted22 an international conference held in Germany to discuss the future of Afghanistan.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar said parliament is now reviewing the country’s cooperation with the United States.
“I think one of the major reasons why this year has been a bad year is because there are too many gray areas in this relationship.”
Cameron Munter, U.S. ambassador to Pakistan, agreed with Khar's assertion that 2011 has been a very difficult year.
“The best way for us to deal the difficulties we have had is to be honest with each other to try to have more engagement, not less. to work together to discuss the problems we have and to see that 2012 will be better,” Munter said.
Despite the tense political situations throughout the year, educational and cultural programs have continued in an attempt to bridge the differences through more personal interactions.
But whether this kind of public diplomacy23 outreach can overcome the two countries' deep political conflicts remains24 uncertain.
1 partnership | |
n.合作关系,伙伴关系 | |
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2 militant | |
adj.激进的,好斗的;n.激进分子,斗士 | |
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3 deterioration | |
n.退化;恶化;变坏 | |
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4 civilian | |
adj.平民的,民用的,民众的 | |
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5 contractor | |
n.订约人,承包人,收缩肌 | |
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6 killing | |
n.巨额利润;突然赚大钱,发大财 | |
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7 unleashed | |
v.把(感情、力量等)释放出来,发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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8 oversight | |
n.勘漏,失察,疏忽 | |
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9 contractors | |
n.(建筑、监造中的)承包人( contractor的名词复数 ) | |
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10 rift | |
n.裂口,隙缝,切口;v.裂开,割开,渗入 | |
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11 fugitive | |
adj.逃亡的,易逝的;n.逃犯,逃亡者 | |
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12 bin | |
n.箱柜;vt.放入箱内;[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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13 laden | |
adj.装满了的;充满了的;负了重担的;苦恼的 | |
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14 garrison | |
n.卫戍部队;驻地,卫戍区;vt.派(兵)驻防 | |
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15 covert | |
adj.隐藏的;暗地里的 | |
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16 plunged | |
v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 );暴跌;骤降;突降 | |
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17 outraged | |
a.震惊的,义愤填膺的 | |
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18 evade | |
vt.逃避,回避;避开,躲避 | |
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19 joint | |
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合 | |
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20 tightened | |
收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 ); (使)变紧; (使)绷紧; 加紧 | |
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21 restrictions | |
约束( restriction的名词复数 ); 管制; 制约因素; 带限制性的条件(或规则) | |
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22 boycotted | |
抵制,拒绝参加( boycott的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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23 diplomacy | |
n.外交;外交手腕,交际手腕 | |
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24 remains | |
n.剩余物,残留物;遗体,遗迹 | |
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