VOA慢速英语2015 美国非洲司令部使非洲更稳定

AS IT IS 2015-05-08 US Africa Command Helps Continent Become More Stable 美国非洲司令部使非洲更稳定

The United States Africa Command is the newest geographically-focused organization in the U.S. military. The command was set up to follow events affecting a whole continent -- Africa. While the continent is huge, the Africa Command is small. It has only one base in Africa, while its headquarters is in Germany.

The command carries out hundreds of operations every year in an effort to make Africa more secure.

Africa Command is known as AFRICOM. It was created less than 10 years ago. Before 2007, U.S. military activities in Africa were directed by European Command, Central Command and Pacific Command. Those military groups were set up to follow developments in Europe, the Middle East and Pacific Ocean countries.

AFRICOM’s only base in Africa is in the small nation of Djibouti. The Central Command once used the base because of its closeness to Yemen. 

Pat Barnes is a spokesman for the Africa Command. He says AFRICOM decided¹ not to build a new base in Africa.

“When AFRICOM was stood up, one of the key components² of it standing³ up was we would have something called a very small footprint. Given the history and colonialism and things, you maybe wouldn’t want to have a large standing presence on the continent.”

Mr. Barnes says the command is working to help African nations improve their ability to defend against attack. He says AFRICOM takes part in hundreds of military exercises with African government forces every year. He says the U.S. military teaches things like how to load large aircraft and how to operate under the control of a civilian⁴ government.

Millions of people in Africa are on guard against violence and threats of violence by extremists. The threats come from al-Shabab militants⁵ in Somalia, Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Qaida-linked groups in northern Mali. 

Mr. Barnes says AFRICOM has just three people in Somalia and a few more in Nigeria to support intelligence-sharing and logistics. Critics say a nation as powerful as the United States should do more to help. But Mr. Barnes says it is not that simple, because AFRICOM will only send its troops to places that ask for help.

“We will only send people where they are requested, so it’s not like we can go in and make our own requests.”

Dan Hampton teaches security at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, a military research center at Fort McNair in Washington, DC. He says it is not easy for Nigerian officials to ask for foreign support against what they consider an internal or Nigerian problem. But he thinks that will soon change.

“I think there is going to be an opportunity now with the elections over. I think and I hope you’ll see more and better cooperation between Nigeria and the U.S. in tackling this problem in the near future.”

Because AFRICOM is such a small command, it recently worked with the much larger U.S. European Command to develop a plan to quickly share forces.

General Philip Breedlove leads the European Command, also known as EUCOM. He calls the plan a model for the future of the U.S. military.

“So literally⁶, just about everything in EUCOM and just about everything in AFRICOM can be shared left and right if we have to do that.”

General Breedlove says the size and structure of the force could become an issue in the future. He notes Russia’s increased aggression⁷, and a nearly 300% increase in U.S. military activities in Africa over the past eight years.

“I think it is fair to say that we probably ought to look at that force structure and see if it’s now adequate to the task that both AFRICOM and EUCOM place on it.”

U.S. officials say the partnership⁸ between AFRICOM and African nations will continue to grow. Because of these ties, they believe the continent will become more stable, secure and prosperous.

Words in This Story

stood up – idiom to organize; to create

footprint – noun/idiomatic the amount of space that is covered on a surface by something

standing presence – idiom to have a large, permanent presence in a particular place

logistics – n. the things that must be done to plan and organize a complicated activity or event that involves many people

tackle – v. to deal with (something difficult)

left and right – idiom everywhere; everything; throughout

adequate to the task – idiom resources available to successfully accomplish assigned work

1 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。

2 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

3 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

6 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

7 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

8 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。