2006年VOA标准英语-US Acknowledges Baghdad Security Plan in Troubl

By Al Pessin
Washington
19 October 2006

The senior U.S. military spokesman in Baghdad acknowledged Thursday that the U.S. and Iraqi effort to reduce sectarian violence in Baghdad is not working very well. That statement comes as many analysts² are reaching the same conclusion. The question U.S. officials are dealing³ with now is what to do about the situation.

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Major General William Caldwell

Speaking in Baghdad, Major General William Caldwell called the high number of U.S. military deaths in Iraq this month 'disheartening,' and he made this frank admission.

"In Baghdad, Operation Together Forward has made a difference in the focus areas but has not met our overall expectations of sustaining a reduction in the levels of violence," said General Caldwell. "We are working very closely with the Government of Iraq to determine how best to refocus our efforts."

General Caldwell said security in most of Iraq is relatively⁴ good, but the effort to expand that into the capital has not gone well.

"We're obviously very concerned about what we're seeing in the city," he said. "We're taking a lot of time to go back and look at the whole Baghdad Security Plan. We're asking ourselves if the conditions under which it was first devised and planned still exist today. Or have the conditions changed and therefore a modification⁵ of that plan needs to be made?"

General Caldwell went on to answer his own question later in the briefing.

"It's clear that the conditions under which we started are probably not the same today," admitted General Caldwell. "And so that does require some modifications⁶ of the plan. And there is an intense amount of ongoing⁷ discussion and briefings that are being held at both the Government of Iraq level and at our level to specifically address these facets⁸."

The general also noted⁹ that the trend toward sectarian violence targeting Iraqi civilians¹¹ and away from insurgent¹² attacks on U.S. and Iraqi troops has been reversed in recent weeks.

"There has been a much more concerted effort to specifically target coalition¹³ and Iraqi security forces," he said. "We do normally track the number of attacks per day and there has been a steady increase in the number of attacks specifically against security forces, and away from civilian¹⁰ targets."

General Caldwell attributed the change to intensified¹⁴ anti-American feeling during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, and to an insurgent effort to raise the U.S. casualty count in order to affect the upcoming U.S. congressional elections.

Speaking later Thursday at the Pentagon, Defense¹⁵ Secretary Donald Rumsfeld acknowledged that the Baghdad strategy may need some re-thinking, but he cast the process as routine activity in his chain of command.

"Generals on the ground, General Chiarelli and General Casey, are continually adjusting their tactics and techniques and procedures," said Donald Rumsfeld. "And I'm told that General Caldwell made a comment today about the situation in Baghdad, and indicated that the level of violence has been up. And obviously, when that's the case, General Casey and General Chiarelli will be reviewing their circumstance and then discussing it with General Pace and the chiefs and eventually with me."

Military and foreign policy expert Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution welcomes the acknowledgement that the Baghdad security plan is not going well, but he says the acknowledgement is overdue¹⁶ and that action must be taken to prevent the situation from spiraling out of control.

"Well I think anybody has to be evolving in their thinking," said Michael O'Hanlon. "The situation is changing and one has to be creative here because our ideas aren't working. I think at this point we have to accept that the current trajectory¹⁷ is a negative one, and the language about 'staying the course' or not obscures the main point, which is the diagnostic point, which is that we are not headed for victory right now. And putting this essentially¹⁸ on an intellectual auto-pilot will probably lead to disaster."

O'Hanlon says the United States is starting to lose in Iraq, but he believes there is time to salvage¹⁹ victory if some changes are made.

"I think that we're starting to see the beginning of an acknowledgement from key people in the administration, but it really is less important that they say such things," he said. "I think it's more important to see what kinds of policy proposals they would come up with."

The analyst¹ from the Brookings Institution has some of his own ideas of what needs to be done, including an Iraqi government commitment to wealth sharing among the three main sectarian groups and a jobs program to drain fighters from the insurgency²⁰. Those proposals reflect comments by many U.S. officials, including Secretary Rumsfeld, who say the ultimate solution to Iraq's problems will not be military or American, but rather will be Iraqi moves to address sectarian disputes, control the impact of private militias²¹, and deal with economic problems and a variety of other issues.

But Michael O'Hanlon says it is not surprising that the Bush administration is standing²² by its Iraq policy just two and a half weeks before the congressional elections.

O'Hanlon and other analysts believe some new directions in U.S. policy toward Iraq may come from a commission created by President Bush and chaired by former Secretary of State James Baker²³. Its recommendations are expected fairly soon after the election on November 7.

1 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。

2 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 modification   

n.修改，改进，缓和，减轻

参考例句：

• The law,in its present form,is unjust;it needs modification.现行的法律是不公正的，它需要修改。
• The design requires considerable modification.这个设计需要作大的修改。

6 modifications   

n.缓和( modification的名词复数 )；限制；更改；改变

参考例句：

• The engine was pulled apart for modifications and then reassembled. 发动机被拆开改型，然后再组装起来。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The original plan had undergone fairly extensive modifications. 原计划已经作了相当大的修改。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

8 facets   

n.（宝石或首饰的）小平面( facet的名词复数 )；（事物的）面；方面

参考例句：

• The question had many facets. 这个问题是多方面的。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A fully cut brilliant diamond has 68 facets. 经过充分切刻的光彩夺目的钻石有68个小平面。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 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。

11 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

12 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

13 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。

14 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 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。

16 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

17 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

18 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

19 salvage   

v.救助，营救，援救；n.救助，营救

参考例句：

• All attempts to salvage the wrecked ship failed.抢救失事船只的一切努力都失败了。
• The salvage was piled upon the pier.抢救出的财产被堆放在码头上。

20 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

21 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

22 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。

23 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。