VOA慢速英语 2007 0224

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair announced this week that one thousand six hundred British troops will leave Iraq in the coming months.

Britain has more than seven thousand troops in Iraq. The forces to be withdrawn¹ are in the Basra area in the south. Most of those remaining will be located at Basra air base. Their tasks will include training and supporting Iraqi forces and securing the border with Iran.

Mister Blair said the withdrawal² was possible because of the increased readiness of Iraqi forces to take control. He said he hopes to reduce British troops levels to below five thousand later this year. He says British forces will stay in Iraq into two thousand eight as long as they are wanted and have a job to do.

Tony Blair has said he will leave office by September after ten years as prime minister. The Labor³ Party leader has lost popularity and has decided⁴ not to seek a fourth term.

Britain has been the biggest ally of the United States in Iraq. Britain deployed⁵ forty thousand troops for the invasion in two thousand three. That number fell to about nine thousand two years ago.

A spokesman for the National Security Council at the White House had this reaction to the announcement:

President Bush sees this as a sign of success and what is possible for us once we help the Iraqis deal with the sectarian violence in Baghdad.

The British announcement came as the Bush administration is increasing American troop strength in the Baghdad area. The president recently announced an increase of more than twenty thousand troops in Iraq, raising the number above one hundred fifty thousand.

Baghdad remains⁶ the center of violence between Shiite and Sunni Muslims. Mister Blair said the situation in the capital cannot be compared to Basra, a Shiite city where attacks are aimed largely at coalition⁷ forces.

In addition to the British, about four hundred sixty Danish soldiers under British command in southern Iraq will be withdrawn by August. And Lithuania says it is considering withdrawing its fifty-three troops in southern Iraq.

Britain will remain the second largest foreign military presence in Iraq. South Korea is third. South Korea has deployed more than two thousand troops in the Kurdish-controlled north. But it plans to withdraw half of them soon.

Others with hundreds of troops in Iraq include Georgia, Poland, Romania, Australia and El Salvador. Countries that have already withdrawn include Italy, Spain, Ukraine, Japan and New Zealand.

Vice⁸ President Dick Cheney said this week in Japan that terrorists would see it as weakness if American troops left Iraq too soon. Sixty-three percent of Americans in a recent opinion study said they support a withdrawal by two thousand nine.

On Friday, British media reported that Britain is about to announce an additional one thousand troops for Afghanistan. Taleban forces are expected to launch a spring offensive.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

1 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

2 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。

3 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

4 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

5 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

6 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。

7 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。

8 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。