PBS高端访谈:美国训练伊拉克军队的努力是否功亏一篑?

 　　HARI SREENIVASAN: The Reuters news agency reports that the 17- month U.S. effort to train and build up the Iraqi army has fallen short. Current and former U.S. officers and officials told Reuters that despite U.S. efforts, the army's combat capacity has barely improved, and that the government relies too heavily on Shiite militias² to do the fighting.

　　For more about the readiness of the Iraqi army, I am joined via Skype by Ned Parker of Reuters, who co-wrote the report.

　　For someone watching at home, give us a little bit of the lay of the land here. What's the mix between the Iraqi army and the militias? Who is doing most of the fighting?

　　NED PARKER, REUTERS: Well, it's a mixed bag, really. The problem is is that the Iraqi army only has about five functioning divisions, according to U.S. officers. And those divisions are about 60 to 65 percent capacity. So on the ground now, when fighting happens, the Iraqi military has basically a shortage of labor³. And the one good fighting force that's there, that's effective from the state, is the Iraqi Special Forces. And according to U.S. officers, those forces are in real danger of burning out because they are the only force the state has been able to rely upon time and time again over the last two years.

　　So the other force fighting alongside the special forces are militia¹ groups that many of them are funded by Iran. They have hard-line sectarian ideology⁴, and have been deeply controversial. So on the ground, what happens is many places like north of Baghdad, in areas like Tikrit or Beiji that were retaken from the Islamic State, by the Iraqi special forces, as soon as the battle is over in effect, the militias take over. And people in these areas, whether local officials, ordinary citizens, see not the state but the militia forces as the ultimate power.

　　美国训练伊拉克军队的努力是否功亏一篑?

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: In part of your story, you also talk about the supply chain and that it's not all getting to the Iraqi army. Sometimes that the weapons that the United States is sending is actually getting to these militias.

　　NED PARKER: What has happened is that as supplies go down the chain to big depots⁵, such as Taji, which is the largest weapons warehouse⁶ for the Iraqi military in Iraq, on bases like that, if militias have influence, whether through corruption⁷ or just intimidation⁸, they can take what they want. Now, U.S. officers I've spoken to say that there was a huge effort last summer to tamp⁹ down on this and to stop it, and there are very few cases. But it still continues.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: And so what's the U.S. supposed to do in this?

　　NED PARKER: Some officers say that the Americans are not thinking about this enough and aren't doing enough politically to push the deal. And when you speak with U.S. military spokesmen, they'll say our job is not to police Iraq. And the military track movers far faster than the diplomatic track.

　　But then if the military track is shaping a reality on the ground that is only further antagonizing and pushing Sunnis toward perhaps a new radical¹⁰ force that could emerge after the Islamic State, then it's — that's a problem. Because the political solution is so far behind, the new realities are creating new problems.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN: Ned Parker of Reuters joining us. Thanks so much.

　　NED PARKER: Thank you.

1 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

2 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

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

5 depots   

仓库( depot的名词复数 )； 火车站； 车库； 军需库

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。
• In the coastal cities are equipped with after-sales service and depots. 在各沿海城市均设有服务部及售后维修站。

6 warehouse   

n.仓库；vt.存入仓库

参考例句：

• We freighted the goods to the warehouse by truck.我们用卡车把货物运到仓库。
• The manager wants to clear off the old stocks in the warehouse.经理想把仓库里积压的存货处理掉。

7 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。

8 intimidation   

n.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• The Opposition alleged voter intimidation by the army.反对党声称投票者受到军方的恐吓。
• The gang silenced witnesses by intimidation.恶帮用恐吓的手段使得证人不敢说话。

9 tamp   

v.捣实，砸实

参考例句：

• Then I tamp down the soil with the back of a rake.然后我用耙子的背将土壤拍实。
• Philpott tamped a wad of tobacco into his pipe.菲尔波特往烟斗里塞了一卷碎烟叶。

10 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。