PBS高端访谈:巴格达两起爆炸案是ISIS弱化的标志吗?

 　　But first: Twin bombings rocked Baghdad early this morning, just days after the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. Jeffrey Brown has more.

　　The first attack hit a popular ice cream parlor¹ in the Karrada district of the capital just after midnight.

　　A suicide bomber² struck as families milled about following their breaking of the fast.

　　At least 15 people were killed, and nearly twice as many were wounded. ISIS has claimed responsibility.

　　The second attack came during the morning rush hour in a central district of Baghdad.

　　A car bomb there killed at least 14 and wounded more than 30,

　　all this as Iraqi forces, backed by U.S. and coalition³ airstrikes, press the offensive on Mosul, the last major ISIS foothold in Iraq.

　　We turn to Susannah George of the Associated Press in Baghdad. Susannah, thank you for joining us.

　　So, these attacks are clearly targeting places where many are gathered, right? What can you tell us about the bombings?

　　In the aftermath of the bombings, there was a lot of anger. Some of that anger was to the militants⁴ that carried out the bombings,

　　that deliberately⁵ targeted targets where there were children and families.

　　But there was a lot of anger at Iraq's political leadership,

　　who many Iraqis hold responsible for the security failings that allowed these bombs to get into Central Baghdad.

　　This is not the first time that we have seen these large-scale bombings during Ramadan.

　　Last year, a large truck bombing in the same neighborhood in Karrada killed hundreds of people.

　　That was the largest single attack in Baghdad since the 2003 overthrow⁶ of Saddam Hussein.

　　And, afterwards, Iraqi security officials pledged to revamp the security of the district of Baghdad.

　　They increased checkpoints. They increased security checks. But the attacks have continued.

　　So is there a fear or a sense even that this is the beginning of a new terror campaign,

　　the beginning of Ramadan season, and what is the level of security in Baghdad?

　　Well, this is just the first few days of the holy month of Ramadan that often sees an uptick of violence here in Iraq.

　　And civilians⁷ and Iraqi security officials are warning of more attacks to come.

　　They say this is partially⁸ because of the holy month of Ramadan, but also because I.S. fighters are losing ground in Mosul in the north of Iraq,

　　and we often see this increase in insurgent⁹ activity in Baghdad, other places far from the front lines as the extremists lose territory on the battlefield.

　　You mentioned Mosul and ISIS losing ground, yes, but the fight does continue there very much. Give us — very briefly¹⁰, where do things stand?

　　I.S. only holds a small pocket of neighborhoods in Western Mosul, mainly the Old City and a few other neighborhoods around that area.

　　Iraqi forces are advancing, but the advance is incredibly slow.

　　This is some of the most densely¹¹ populated neighborhoods in Mosul.

　　The U.N. estimates that more than 100,000 civilians are trapped in this part of Mosul,

　　and the Iraqi military has asked these people to flee in an effort to speed up the military operations in that district.

　　But aid groups are warning that that could be incredibly dangerous for the civilians who are trapped inside the Old City, as there are no safe passageways for them to exit.

　　So it would mean that thousands of civilians would be crossing front lines and could get caught up in some of the deadly clashes between I.S. fighters and the Iraqi security forces.

　　Susannah, you alluded¹² to this earlier, but these new bombings in Baghdad raise the question about whether this is because ISIS is stronger or weaker in taking an action like this.

　　What do you see, and what are people telling you?

　　Well, Iraqi officials and coalition officials will say that these bombings in Baghdad, at the same time that I.S. is losing ground on the front lines in places like Mosul,

　　are an effort to distract from those territorial¹³ defeats, that it's actually a sign of weakness.

　　But the fact that the group is still able to plan and carry out these rather complex attacks inside a very secure part of the Iraqi capital

　　shows that the group maintains significant insurgent capabilities¹⁴, despite the fact that they have lost significant territory.

　　All right, Susannah George of the AP in Baghdad, thank you very much. Thank you. undefined

1 parlor   

n.店铺，营业室；会客室，客厅

参考例句：

• She was lying on a small settee in the parlor.她躺在客厅的一张小长椅上。
• Is there a pizza parlor in the neighborhood?附近有没有比萨店？

2 bomber   

n.轰炸机，投弹手，投掷炸弹者

参考例句：

• He flew a bomber during the war.他在战时驾驶轰炸机。
• Detectives hunting the London bombers will be keen to interview him.追查伦敦爆炸案凶犯的侦探们急于对他进行讯问。

3 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。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

6 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

7 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。

8 partially   

adv.部分地，从某些方面讲

参考例句：

• The door was partially concealed by the drapes.门有一部分被门帘遮住了。
• The police managed to restore calm and the curfew was partially lifted.警方设法恢复了平静，宵禁部分解除。

9 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

10 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。

11 densely   

ad.密集地；浓厚地

参考例句：

• A grove of trees shadowed the house densely. 树丛把这幢房子遮蔽得很密实。
• We passed through miles of densely wooded country. 我们穿过好几英里茂密的林地。

12 alluded   

提及，暗指( allude的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• In your remarks you alluded to a certain sinister design. 在你的谈话中，你提到了某个阴谋。
• She also alluded to her rival's past marital troubles. 她还影射了对手过去的婚姻问题。

13 territorial   

adj.领土的，领地的

参考例句：

• The country is fighting to preserve its territorial integrity.该国在为保持领土的完整而进行斗争。
• They were not allowed to fish in our territorial waters.不允许他们在我国领海捕鱼。

14 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓