2006年VOA标准英语-Britain Sending More Troops to Afghanistan

By Michael Drudge¹
London
26 January 2006

Britain will deploy² up to 5,700 troops in Afghanistan during the coming months to support an expanded NATO mission into a dangerous southern region. 

John Reid (file photo)  
  
Defense³ Secretary John Reid has announced the increase in British forces in a speech to the House of Commons.

He acknowledges the mission will be dangerous, but he says it is a risk that must be taken.

"Whatever the difficulties and the dangers, and I do not hide them from the House or from the country, those risks are as nothing compared to the dangers to our country and our people of allowing Afghanistan to fall back into the clutches of the Taleban and international terrorism," he said.

Mr. Reid says Britain will contribute most of its new troops to a 3,300-man, Canadian-led NATO mission to southwestern Helmand province, a stronghold of Afghan heroin⁴ traffickers.

He says the British contingent⁵ in Afghanistan will peak later this year at 5,700 soldiers, then drop as 1,000 military engineers withdraw after they build a base camp.

The deployment⁶ represents a sizable growth from the 1,000 British troops currently on duty in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands is considering whether to send 1,200 troops to join NATO's Afghanistan mission.  The Dutch parliament is due to take up the issue next week.

In Brussels, a NATO spokesman says the effort to expand the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan from 9,000 to 15,000 troops may be delayed by several months to the latter half of this year.

The United States intends to reduce its troop strength in Afghanistan from 19,000 to 16,500, as NATO takes on more security duties.

1 drudge   

n.劳碌的人；v.做苦工，操劳

参考例句：

• I feel like a real drudge--I've done nothing but clean all day!我觉得自己像个做苦工的--整天都在做清洁工作！
• I'm a poor,miserable,forlorn drudge;I shall only drag you down with me.我是一个贫穷，倒运，走投无路的苦力，只会拖累你。

2 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

5 contingent   

adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队

参考例句：

• The contingent marched in the direction of the Western Hills.队伍朝西山的方向前进。
• Whether or not we arrive on time is contingent on the weather.我们是否按时到达要视天气情况而定。

6 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。