2006年VOA标准英语-US Public Support for Iraq War Declines

By Jim Malone
Waashington
14 December 2006

 
Puerto Rican widow Digna Nieves cries over coffin¹ of her husband, Army Spc. William Lopez Feliciano during a funeral service (File)
While President Bush prepares his new strategy on Iraq, public-opinion polls indicate Americans are more pessimistic than ever about the chances for success there. VOA national correspondent Jim Malone has more from Washington.

Several recent polls paint a grim picture of how Americans view the war in Iraq.

One survey by the Washington Post and ABC News found that 52 percent of those asked believe the United States is losing the war and that 70 percent disapprove² of President Bush's handling of the conflict.

Another poll by the Wall Street Journal and NBC News found the president's own job approval rating at 34 percent, an all time low for that survey.

Other polls by Newsweek magazine, USA Today and the Gallup organization, and CBS News contain similar findings.

Sarah Dutton is deputy director of surveys for CBS News.

"One thing most Americans do expect from the new Congress is that it will try to bring U.S. troops home from Iraq, and that is something that more than half the public would like to see."

The surveys suggest most Americans want U.S. troops pulled out of Iraq within the next two years.

President Bush is busy preparing his new strategy for Iraq to be unveiled early in the new year. Mr. Bush says most Americans want to succeed in Iraq and that it is important for the United States to remain engaged there.

"We are not going to give up. The stakes are too high and the consequences too grave to turn Iraq over to extremists who want to do the American people and the Iraqi people harm," said Mr. Bush.

A recent USA Today-Gallup poll found that about eight in 10 Americans agree with the president's desire for success in Iraq. But the poll also found that by a two-to-one margin³, most people do not believe the cost of succeeding in Iraq is worth it.

A few Democrats⁴ in Congress continue to push for an immediate⁵ withdrawal⁶ of U.S. forces from Iraq. Among them is Ohio Congressman⁷ Dennis Kucinich, who has announced he is running for president in 2008.

"We are actually planning to spend twice as much on the war as we did last year," he said. "Somebody did not get the message and unfortunately it is the leadership of the Democratic Party, and the consequences may be disastrous⁸ for our party, our nation and the world."

Kucinich also ran for president in 2004, but garnered⁹ little support. 

Most Democrats oppose an immediate withdrawal from Iraq, but will be looking to President Bush to offer a new strategy on the conflict that will bring U.S. troops home sooner rather than later.

"He [Bush] understands that he has to now share power. He has lost control of Congress, which means he has lost control of the legislative¹⁰ agenda," noted¹¹ Tom DeFrank, Washington bureau chief for the New York Daily News and a guest on VOA's Issues in the News program.  "The president is not going to be able to wield¹² the power he wielded¹³ for the last six years, and he understands it, I think, finally."

Mr. Bush says he will take into account the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group as part of the administration's policy review, before deciding on a new course in Iraq.

Former Republican Senator Bob Dole¹⁴ says it is important to try to unify¹⁵ the country 
Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole (File)
around a new strategy in order to avoid a repeat of the mistakes made during the Vietnam War in the 1960s and 1970s.

"In the American experience, wars that enjoy equivocal [uncertain] support from our people usually end with equivocal outcomes," said Dole. "This is why our country must unite behind a strategy for a successful military mission, a viable¹⁶ exit plan, and a recognizable vision for Iraq's future."

That is also the view of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group led by former Secretary of State James Baker¹⁷ and former Congressman Lee Hamilton.

"We have made a terrible commitment in Iraq in terms of our blood and our treasure, and I think we owe it to them to try to take one last chance at making Iraq work. And more importantly, to take one last chance at unifying¹⁸ this country on this war," commented former Clinton White House Chief of Staff Leon Panetta, a member of the panel.

President Bush and members of Congress from both parties have raised concerns about some of the recommendations from the Iraq Study Group, especially the proposal to reach out diplomatically to Syria and Iran.

Despite those concerns, political analyst¹⁹ Stuart Rothenberg says the November election results and the report of the Iraq Study Group have given official Washington a rare chance to reassess U.S. policy toward Iraq.

"It is a defining moment," said Rothenberg. Both the elections and the issuing of the report provide political figures an opportunity to reassess. They can take a deep breath and say, what went right and what went wrong? Not a lot went right. Some things went right militarily initially²⁰, but since then a lot has gone wrong. What can we do to change things?"

Iraq is likely to be a key topic of debate in the 2008 presidential election.

Susan Rice, who served in the State Department and on the National Security Council during the Clinton administration and is now a foreign policy expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, says Republican presidential candidates should be concerned if Iraq remains²¹ the major political issue two years from now.

"I think if there is one thing that is clear out of this, it is that the Republicans do not want Iraq to be the dominant²² issue in 2008 and so they face a self-interested imperative²³ to take the issue off of the table," said Rice.

Several presidential contenders are expected to announce their White House plans early in the new year.

1 coffin   

n.棺材，灵柩

参考例句：

• When one's coffin is covered,all discussion about him can be settled.盖棺论定。
• The coffin was placed in the grave.那口棺材已安放到坟墓里去了。

2 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。

3 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

6 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

7 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

8 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

9 garnered   

v.收集并（通常）贮藏（某物），取得，获得( garner的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mr. Smith gradually garnered a national reputation as a financial expert. 史密斯先生逐渐赢得全国金融专家的声誉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He has garnered extensive support for his proposals. 他的提议得到了广泛的支持。 来自辞典例句

10 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

11 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

12 wield   

vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等)

参考例句：

• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。
• People may wield the power in a democracy.在民主国家里，人民可以行使权力。

13 wielded   

手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的过去式和过去分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响）

参考例句：

• The bad eggs wielded power, while the good people were oppressed. 坏人当道，好人受气
• He was nominally the leader, but others actually wielded the power. 名义上他是领导者，但实际上是别人掌握实权。

14 dole   

n.救济，（失业）救济金；vt.（out）发放，发给

参考例句：

• It's not easy living on the dole.靠领取失业救济金生活并不容易。
• Many families are living on the dole since the strike.罢工以来，许多家庭靠失业救济金度日。

15 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。

16 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

17 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

18 unifying   

使联合( unify的现在分词 )； 使相同； 使一致； 统一

参考例句：

• In addition, there were certain religious bonds of a unifying kind. 此外，他们还有某种具有一种统一性质的宗教上的结合。
• There is a unifying theme, and that is the theme of information flow within biological systems. 我们可以用一个总的命题，把生物学系统内的信息流来作为这一研究主题。

19 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。

20 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

21 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

22 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

23 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。