VOA慢速英语2010年-US Demands More Progress by Pakistan i

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

This week, President Obama released a progress report on the Afghan war, now in its tenth year. The five-page summary of the Afghanistan and Pakistan Annual Review says "there are notable operational gains."

For example, the president welcomed major Pakistani offensives in the tribal¹ areas. But he said progress has not come fast enough.

BARACK OBAMA: "So we will continue to insist to Pakistani leaders that terrorist safe havens² within their borders must be dealt with."

Afghan Interior Minister Rehman Malik dismissed criticism of his country.

REHMAN MALIK: "If you see the statistics in terms of the casualties and injuries, it is Pakistan which has suffered the most in the world. We have done a lot. We are suffering in terms of our economy and obviously it is affecting our common man in the country."

Most suspected American missile strikes in Pakistan have taken place in North Waziristan. The United States believes the Haqqani network of the Afghan Taliban has established bases there.

President Obama discusses the yearly report on progress in Afghanistan. He was joined by Vice³ President Joe Biden, left, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Joint⁴ Chiefs Vice Chairman Marine⁵ General James Cartwright

The American ambassador in Islamabad said Friday that the United States has been talking closely with Pakistan about launching an offensive in North Waziristan. But Ambassador Cameron Munter says Pakistani forces are stretched too thin to launch it now.

President Obama said the review shows that the United States and its partners are "on track" to reach their goals. He said the goal is not to defeat every single threat to Afghan security.

BARACK OBAMA: "We are focused on disrupting, dismantling⁶ and defeating al-Qaida in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and preventing its capacity to threaten America and our allies in the future."

The Taliban said the review was propaganda designed to create "baseless hope."

The United States currently has about one hundred thousand troops in Afghanistan. The plan is for American troops to begin leaving in July and for Afghans to control their own security by the end of twenty-fourteen.

Mr. Obama said for "security gains to be sustained over time, there is an urgent need for political and economic progress in Afghanistan."

A new survey by the Washington Post and ABC News found that sixty percent of Americans now think the war is not worth fighting.

On Monday, the president lost his special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, appointed in January of last year. Richard Holbrooke died at the age of sixty-nine. Last Friday he suffered a torn aorta⁷, a large artery⁸ that carries blood from the heart to the body.

President Obama called Richard Holbrooke "one of the giants of American foreign policy."

Anthony Dworkin is an analyst⁹ for the European Council on Foreign Relations.

Richard Holbrooke, left, with General Wesley Clark in Sarajevo for peace talks in Bosnia in 1995. Mr. Holbrooke negotiated a peace deal for the former Yugoslavia that year. He died this week at age 69

ANTHONY DWORKIN: "He made enemies but he also got things done and in that sense he was a very effective negotiator."

Mr. Holbrooke began as a foreign service officer in Vietnam in nineteen sixty-two. He may be remembered most for negotiating the peace deals that ended the wars in the former Yugoslavia.

Those deals included the nineteen ninety-five peace agreement for Bosnia. The talks took place at an Air Force base near the American city of Dayton, Ohio.

Haris Silajdzic, a member of Bosnia's three-member presidency¹⁰, took part in those talks and praised Richard Holbrooke's diplomatic skill.

HARIS SILAJDZIC: "The world has lost a very able diplomat¹¹. We need good people all over the world to prevent wars and to make peace. He was one of the best."

Mr. Holbrooke's deputy, Frank Ruggiero, is now acting¹² in his place.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.
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Contributing: Lisa Bryant, Ayaz Gul, Marcus Harton, Ravi Khanna, Kent Klein, Dan Robinson and Mike O’Sullivan

1 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

2 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

3 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。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

6 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

7 aorta   

n.主动脉

参考例句：

• The abdominal aorta is normally smaller than the thoracic aorta.腹主动脉一般比胸主动脉小。
• Put down that jelly doughnut and look carefully at this aorta.放下手头上的东西，认真观察这张大动脉图片。

8 artery   

n.干线，要道；动脉

参考例句：

• We couldn't feel the changes in the blood pressure within the artery.我们无法感觉到动脉血管内血压的变化。
• The aorta is the largest artery in the body.主动脉是人体中的最大动脉。

9 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。

10 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

11 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

12 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。