VOA标准英语2013--叙利亚和平谈判依旧难以捉摸

 

Syria Peace Talks Elusive¹ Despite Chemical Weapons Diplomacy² 叙利亚和平谈判依旧难以捉摸

STATE DEPARTMENT — The U.S.-Russian framework for eliminating Syrian chemical weapons does not address the political divisions that have long delayed peace talks.

国务院——美俄对叙利亚化学武器框架消除不解决政治分歧,一直推迟和平谈判。

Ending day-to-day combat is not part of the deal to dismantle³ Syria's chemical weapons program.

But the biggest international intervention⁴ so far is an opportunity to do more, says European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. 

"The latest development therefore, that we have, is an opportunity to reinvigorate, not just, not just trying to sort out the chemical weapons issue but the broader political dimension," she said.

Political talks have been repeatedly delayed by disarray⁵ within the Syrian opposition⁶ leadership and by disagreement over who else might attend. Russia wants Iran to join the talks. But Washington objects because Iranian forces are fighting alongside Syrian government troops.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said there is no backing off efforts to get to peace talks. 

"Our goal remains⁷ to convene⁸ a second Geneva conference to bring all sides together to agree on a political solution to the conflict. And we will work with Russia on bringing that about, as soon as possible," he said.

Figuring out how to round up 1,000 metric tons of poison gas in the middle of a civil war is already distracting, from getting to peace talks, says Human Rights Watch acting⁹ Washington director Sarah Margon. 

“We have been very narrowly focused on chemical weapons. And while Secretary Kerry has talked about the potential for negotiations¹⁰, a Geneva Two down the road, from what we can tell, there unfortunately isn't a lot of urgency in moving that," he said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said it may be time to "force" opposition leaders to peace talks. He blames delay on those who threaten Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.  

"If some find it more important to constantly threaten, to intimidate¹¹, to look for a reason to attack, then this is probably a way to hint to regime opponents that new provocations¹² are expected from them. It might also lead to a complete disruption of the Geneva 2 process," he said.

But it's the absence of a political alternative to President Assad that makes getting to talks so hard, says Cato Institute analyst¹³ Doug Bandow.

"The alternative is not Bashar al-Assad and so-and-so who we know and have some trust in. It's Bashar al-Assad and potentially chaos," he said.

U.S. Institute of Peace analyst Manal Omar said confusion within the opposition undermines a push toward talks.

"What would happen if Bashar were to either leave or to step down or to be removed? There hasn't been enough, I think, reassurances¹⁴ from the opposition groups that there would be ways to really control Syria in the aftermath," he said.

Kerry and Lavrov meet in New York next week to discuss a timetable for Syrian peace talks, but Kerry says that will depend heavily on progress on chemical weapons. 

1 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

2 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

3 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

4 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

5 disarray   

n.混乱，紊乱，凌乱

参考例句：

• His personal life fell into disarray when his wife left him.妻子离去后，他的个人生活一片混乱。
• Our plans were thrown into disarray by the rail strike.铁路罢工打乱了我们的计划。

6 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

7 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。

8 convene   

v.集合，召集，召唤，聚集，集合

参考例句：

• The Diet will convene at 3p.m. tomorrow.国会将于明天下午三点钟开会。
• Senior officials convened in October 1991 in London.1991年10月，高级官员在伦敦会齐。

9 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

10 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

11 intimidate   

vt.恐吓，威胁

参考例句：

• You think you can intimidate people into doing what you want?你以为你可以威胁别人做任何事？
• The first strike capacity is intended mainly to intimidate adversary.第一次攻击的武力主要是用来吓阻敌方的。

12 provocations   

n.挑衅( provocation的名词复数 )；激怒；刺激；愤怒的原因

参考例句：

• We cannot ignore such provocations. 对于这种挑衅，我们不能置之不理。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• They must immediately cease all their provocations. 他们必须停止一切挑衅。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

13 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。

14 reassurances   

n.消除恐惧或疑虑( reassurance的名词复数 )；恢复信心；使人消除恐惧或疑虑的事物；使人恢复信心的事物

参考例句：

• We have had some reassurances from the council that the building will be saved. 理事会保证会保留那座建筑，这使我们得到了些许安慰。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Everybody's reassurances have encouraged me. 大家的勉励鼓舞了我。 来自辞典例句