VOA标准英语2012--Kremlin’s Syria Policy Hurts Russia’s Position in Arab World
时间：2018-12-08 作者：英语课 分类：VOA标准英语2012年(十二月)
Kremlin’s Syria Policy Hurts Russia’s Position in Arab World
In Syria, President Bashar al-Assad is using Russian-made rockets, rifles and tanks to battle rebels.
But in Moscow, Russian officials are trying to put daylight between the Kremlin and the Assad government. Russian President Vladimir Putin says the Kremlin is not concerned about the fate of the Assad regime, which has ruled Syria for four decades, and that changes are needed. But Russia is worried about what will come next.
How does Russia’s position play in Anjar, a Lebanese border town clogged 1 with Syrian refugees?
Deeb Abdel Khalik runs charity groups helping 2 refugees from the same Syrian Muslim branch that is rebelling against President Assad.
He says Arabs now face two Israels -- Israel and its sister, Russia.
Inside Syria, Sunni rebels are threatening to kill Russian speakers, starting with Anhar Kochneva, a Ukrainian journalist kidnapped last month. In two weeks, a Russian naval 3 task force is to reach Syrian waters to be ready to help in the possible evacuation of Russians.
In Tripoli, a northern Lebanese city, Sunni Sheikh Walid Taboush says Russia has lost support throughout the Arab world.
He says Russia does not care about the Syrian people, or the whole of the Arab world.
Only one kilometer away, but on the far side of the Muslim world’s deep sectarian divide, Abo Ali Zoumar leads a Lebanese militia 5 of the same Alawite Shia sect 4 as Syria’s ruling clan 6. He praises Russia’s position.
He says Russia’s position is honorable. He praises President Putin for remaining loyal to a friend, in good times and bad.
But in the mathematics of Islam, about 80 percent of Muslims in the world are Sunni, including almost all of Russia’s Muslims. The only two major Shia-controlled nations are Syria and Iran.
In Beirut, Paul Salem is a policy analyst 7 directing the Carnegie Middle East Center. He says President Putin has made a losing bet on Syria’s president.
"The reading from here is a kind of incomprehension that the Russians would take such a strong position on an apparently 8 losing bet, and continue to insist on going down with the ship as it were,“ Salen said.
Salem says this is undermining Russia’s influence in the Arab world.
“This has certainly damaged Russia’s image, Russia’s profile, in the Middle East, in the Arab world, in the Muslim world in general. It comes at a pretty high price, with almost no gain," Salem said.
After backing the losing sides in Arab Spring revolutions in Tunisia, in Egypt and in Libya, is Russia doing it again -- in Syria?
- The narrow streets were clogged with traffic. 狭窄的街道上交通堵塞。
- The intake of gasoline was stopped by a clogged fuel line. 汽油的注入由于管道阻塞而停止了。
- The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
- By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。
- He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
- The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。
- When he was sixteen he joined a religious sect.他16岁的时候加入了一个宗教教派。
- Each religious sect in the town had its own church.该城每一个宗教教派都有自己的教堂。
- 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。
- She ranks as my junior in the clan.她的辈分比我小。
- The Chinese Christians,therefore,practically excommunicate themselves from their own clan.所以，中国的基督徒简直是被逐出了自己的家族了。
- 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。
- An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
- He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。