VOA标准英语2013--US Has Little Influence in Iraq Decade After Invasion

 

US Has Little Influence in Iraq Decade After Invasion

A decade after the invasion, which began March 19, 2003, analysts² debate what the United States got out of the war in Iraq.

Ten years after President Bush sent troops to Iraq, Washington appears to have little influence over what goes on there.

Shi'ite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki continues to dominate Sunni opponents with what Johns Hopkins University professor Ruth Wedgwood says are few repercussions³.

"There really is nobody for them to worry about. And Maliki seems quite content to have a perpetually unsettled Iraq in which the Sunni will sooner or later find their means to take revenge, but for the moment it is a Shia nation," she said.

With the U.S. handover, Wedgwood says Prime Minister Maliki is free to do as he likes.

"I think when we withdrew so completely, albeit⁴ leaving behind this carapace⁵ of an empty embassy behind, it really was taken by Maliki as a kind of 'do as you wish' signal," she said.

Especially in Baghdad's pursuit of better relations with neighboring Iran.

"Maliki I think has always been under the sway of the mullahs in Iran. He has made no secret of that. And he has more or less gotten away with it," said Wedgwood.

That's a problem for the Obama administration in enforcing sanctions against Iran's nuclear program, and in Syria, where Iran is backing embattled President Bashar al-Assad.

U.S. Institute of Peace analyst¹ Steve Heydemann says Baghdad is taking sides in Syria against the United States.

"They have been permitting over-flights from Iran, which the U.S. would like them to stop," he said. "They have been providing other kinds of support to the Assad regime and have turned something of a blind eye as Iraqi Shia - who are moving into Syria to support the regime - are crossing the Iraqi-Syrian border."

Heydemann says Syria's war risks further undermining Iraq.

"It is sharpening sectarian divisions within those neighboring countries in ways that could have very, very troubling consequences for stability in those countries. And I think Iraq is one of the countries most at risk of instability as a result of the Syrian conflict," he said.

U.S. firms have profited from the privatization of most Iraqi oil. But even there, divisions persist between the government in Baghdad and semi-autonomous Kurdish leaders in the north. 

1 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。

2 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。

3 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 albeit   

conj.即使；纵使；虽然

参考例句：

• Albeit fictional,she seemed to have resolved the problem.虽然是虚构的，但是在她看来好象是解决了问题。
• Albeit he has failed twice,he is not discouraged.虽然失败了两次，但他并没有气馁。

5 carapace   

n.（蟹或龟的）甲壳

参考例句：

• The tortoise pulled its head into his carapace.乌龟把头缩进它的壳里。
• He tickled gently at its glossy carapace,but the stubborn beetle would not budge.他轻轻地搔着甲虫光滑的壳，但这只固执的甲虫就是不动。