2006年VOA标准英语-Harper: Canadian Troops Will Not 'Cut and

（单词翻译）

By Benjamin Sand
Kabul
14 March 2006

Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper wrapped up a two-day visit to Afghanistan Tuesday. The newly elected Canadian leader told reporters that the foreign troops deployed¹ to Afghanistan are playing a critical role in helping² win the global war against terrorism. Canada has about 2,300 troops in Afghanistan as part of the multinational³ peacekeeping force.

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The prime minister's visit comes amid twin political challenges in both countries.

In Afghanistan, the anti-government Taleban insurgency⁴ is spreading and intensifying⁵ throughout the country.

Meanwhile in Canada, opposition⁶ leaders are mounting a campaign against the country's military deployment⁷ to Afghanistan.

The Canadian debate has worried local Afghan officials who freely admit the country's security depends on foreign troops.

Stephen Harper, left, during press conference with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai in Kabul, March 14, 2006   
  
In comments apparently⁸ intended for audiences both in Afghanistan and in Canada, Prime Minister Stephen Harper told reporters Tuesday that Canadian troops would not "cut and run."

"We can ignore the dangers if we want, but the dangers will not ignore us," he said. "Unless we control the security situation in countries like Afghanistan we will see our own security diminished."

Harper spoke⁹ during a joint¹⁰ news conference with Afghan President Hamid Karzai outside the presidential palace in Kabul.

Monday the prime minister met with Canadian troops in southern Afghanistan, where they just assumed command of coalition¹¹ forces tracking Taleban and al- Qaida insurgents¹².

Canada, which did not send troops to either Iraq or Vietnam, has lost 10 soldiers and a diplomat¹³ in Afghanistan.

Tuesday, as U.S. military helicopters flew overhead, President Karzai Tuesday thanked the prime minister for Canada's sacrifice and reiterated¹⁴ the importance of their fight.

"The reason the international community is in Afghanistan, the reason the whole world is united in the fight against terror is because terrorism can affect anyone, anywhere, anytime," he said.

Mr. Karzai also called on neighboring Pakistan to improve cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

In the last few weeks the two countries, both key U.S. allies in the war against terror, have exchanged increasingly barbed accusations¹⁵ over border security.

Afghan officials claim Taleban insurgents have established training camps inside Pakistan.

And Sunday, several officials insisted Pakistan's secret security agency helped coordinate¹⁶ a botched assassination¹⁷ attempt against the head of Afghanistan's upper house of Parliament.

Pakistan has flatly rejected the accusations. Prime Minister Harper's next stop is Islamabad, and he has promised to convey Afghanistan's concerns.