美国国家公共电台 NPR Big Changes And Major Dilemmas Loom In Next Phase Of ISIS War In Syria

 

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

U.S. forces are playing a bigger and more direct role in the fighting in Syria. This week they have increased air strikes around the ISIS stronghold of Raqqa. American special operations troops have rappelled out of helicopters along with local troops to begin an attack on a strategic dam held by ISIS. The Pentagon says a push to take the city of Raqqa is coming soon and the U.S. will play a key role. To talk more about that, we're joined by NPR's Pentagon correspondent, Tom Bowman. Hello.

TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE¹: Hey, Kelly.

MCEVERS: And Middle East correspondent Alice Fordham, who is in Beirut. Hi there.

ALICE FORDHAM, BYLINE: Hi, Kelly.

MCEVERS: All right, Tom, let's start with you. We are going to see more big U.S. operations in Syria. What is the plan?

BOWMAN: OK, what we're seeing is a more aggressive version, Kelly, of the Obama strategy. It's not really a new Trump² plan. And it's worked with, trained, in some cases accompanied local rebels and had the U.S. serve as its air force. And along these more aggressive lines you're going to see two things pretty soon, I think. The U.S. plans to send in hundreds more trainers in special operations forces. Defense³ Secretary Jim Mattis hasn't really signed off on that yet. And also, the U.S. will send weapons - small arms, heavy machine guns, tank rounds - to U.S.-backed Arab and Kurdish forces for this final assault on Raqqa. And Kelly, that last part, supporting Kurdish forces, is a problem for America's ally Turkey. They see all these Kurds as terrorists. So a big question is how will Turkey react?

MCEVERS: And, Alice, I'll put that question to you. I mean, what's Turkey's plan?

FORDHAM: Well, I've spoken to a few people in Turkey and who analyze⁴ Turkey, and no one's exactly sure what the response would be. But Turkey has a number of options that could make these U.S.-led operations in Syria very difficult. So the most disruptive thing that they could do would be to stop the United States and its allies using an airbase called Incirlik in southern Turkey, which is where a lot of the planes in the anti-ISIS fight fly from. A less what you might call nuclear option and something they have done before is to use their own forces and their proxies⁵ inside Syria, some of which are themselves supported by the U.S., to attack these Kurdish-led factions⁶.

That has already happened near a town called Manbij after it was retaken from ISIS. And when that happened, American forces actually intervened in support of the Kurdish ones. Now, what some analysts⁷ say is that a real risk for the United States as it upsets troop numbers in Syria is getting drawn⁸ into de-escalating feuds⁹ like this between different factions and regional powers.

MCEVERS: Right. I mean, Tom, there are a number of factions involved in Syria - right? - the Syrian government, also Russia, Turkey and Iranian-backed militias¹⁰. I mean, many of these are not allied¹¹ with the U.S. or with each other. How is the United States going to handle operating in such a complicated environment as it goes after Raqqa?

BOWMAN: You know, Kelly, that's a key question that people are looking at right now. Now, officials, of course, have talked about possible safe zones for civilians¹³. And just yesterday, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson raised what he called zones of stability once ISIS has been cleared. But there are also discussions about how do you separate these warring parties that you just mentioned? Now, you do have what you might call zones of interest, such as the Americans and its rebels around Raqqa, the Russians and the Syrians around Aleppo and let's say Palmyra. Basically, each side has a section they're responsible for. No decisions on that yet, but that's something they're talking about.

MCEVERS: Does that mean the Trump administration is going to be committed to the area around Raqqa long-term? I mean, something the Obama administration was loath¹⁴ to do.

BOWMAN: Well, clearly what I'm hearing is the U.S. will likely be part of any hold force around Raqqa once ISIS is pushed out. Now, they could be on the outskirts¹⁵ of the city and you could see local forces actually patrol inside the city and, of course, police. But yeah, you're looking at what will likely be a U.S. presence in Syria for some time. And clearly next door in Iraq we're going to see thousands of U.S. troops. They've already talked about a more permanent presence in Iraq.

MCEVERS: Alice, do we have any sense of how this ramping¹⁶ up of military action around Raqqa is impacting the people there?

FORDHAM: Sure. We've been able to reach people who have relatives in the area. Tom, you mentioned attacks on bridges. The coalition¹⁷ actually says that over the course of its air strikes on Raqqa they have destroyed 18 bridges over the river Euphrates, which is designed to restrict the movement of ISIS. But people there say, I mean, that it's very difficult for them to flee. What they see is a significant uptick in air strikes that is causing civilian¹² deaths and injuries.

MCEVERS: NPR's Alice Fordham in Beirut and Tom Bowman at the Pentagon. Thanks to both of you.

FORDHAM: Thanks for having me.

BOWMAN: You're welcome.

(SOUNDBITE OF DEIA SONG, "ELECTROMANA")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

5 proxies   

n.代表权( proxy的名词复数 )；（测算用的）代替物；（对代理人的）委托书；（英国国教教区献给主教等的）巡游费

参考例句：

• SOCKS and proxies are unavailable. Try connecting to XX again? socks和代理不可用。尝试重新连接到XX吗？ 来自互联网
• All proxies are still down. Continue with direct connections? 所有的代理仍然有故障。继续直接连接吗？ 来自互联网

6 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

7 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。

8 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

9 feuds   

n.长期不和，世仇( feud的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Quarrels and feuds between tribes became incessant. 部落间的争吵、反目成仇的事件接连不断。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史
• There were feuds in the palace, no one can deny. 宫里也有斗争，这是无可否认的。 来自辞典例句

10 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

11 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

12 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

13 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。

14 loath   

adj.不愿意的；勉强的

参考例句：

• The little girl was loath to leave her mother.那小女孩不愿离开她的母亲。
• They react on this one problem very slow and very loath.他们在这一问题上反应很慢，很不情愿。

15 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

16 ramping   

土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯

参考例句：

• The children love ramping about in the garden. 孩子们喜欢在花园里追逐嬉戏，闹着玩。
• Have you ever seen a lion ramping around? 你看到过狮子暴跳吗？

17 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。