2006年VOA标准英语-Rumsfeld: Iraq Benchmarks Reasonable, Timetable

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
26 October 2006

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Donald Rumsfeld says it is entirely² reasonable for U.S. and Iraqi officials to discuss setting benchmarks and target dates for achieving their goals during the coming year.  He says some of that has been done, but he says he is not aware of any agreement by Iraqi officials to develop a comprehensive plan, or to make any such plan public.  Secretary Rumsfeld spoke³ at the Pentagon on Thursday as controversy⁴ continues to swirl⁵ about recent statements by U.S. and Iraqi officials.

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Donald H. Rumsfeld 
  
Secretary Rumsfeld says U.S. and Iraqi officials have been meeting for months to discuss the way forward.  And he says it is reasonable for those discussions to include the issue of approximately when the various steps in the security, political and economic plans might be achieved, without necessarily setting firm dates.

"It is a sovereign country, working with the coalition⁶, to see how we get from where we are through this year and through next year and accomplish the things that are in our mutual⁷ interest," he said.  "That is what that is.  It is a perfectly⁸ normal, rational thing."

The secretary described the process this way.

"The idea [is] of saying, 'We're here, we want to get there, here are some steps to get there, let's go ahead and tell the world these are the steps, we want to get there, we've kind of agreed on them.  And then see if we can't do it," he added.

Pressed on whether Iraqi leaders have agreed to establishing such a series of steps and making the plan public, Secretary Rumsfeld said he believes some benchmarks have been set in meetings between U.S. and Iraqi officials, but he is not aware of any comprehensive plan. 

"Are they meeting and having discussions on these things?  Yes.  Have they been meeting for some weeks and months?  Yes.  Does that imply a certain amount of understanding that that process might be useful?  Yes.  But can I say that they, that is to say the prime minister and his government, have come down and said, 'yes we'll do this, we won't do that, or yes we will do this and we won't do that, and we'll do it by this time.'  No, one would have thought they might have announced that if they'd decided⁹ all of that," he said.

Secretary Rumsfeld also said Iraqi leaders have not agreed develop a comprehensive plan by the end of this year.  And he said critics who are pressing for a specific timetable with consequences imposed on the Iraqi government for not meeting it should 'just back off.'  
 

AmbassadorZalmay Khalilzad  
  
At a news conference in Baghdad on Tuesday, the U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, said 'Iraqi leaders have agreed to a timeline' for making what he called 'the hard decisions needed to resolve' a long list of political issues.  And he said some more specific plans should be ready by the end of the year.

On Wednesday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki rejected the idea of a timetable, but a transcript¹⁰ of his remarks indicates he was referring to a timetable for the withdrawal¹¹ of U.S. troops, not for solving the country's political and economic problems.

Later that same day, President Bush said U.S. patience is not unlimited¹² and that he will push Prime Minister al-Maliki to achieve agreed objectives, but he said he will not push so hard that he makes it impossible to achieve those objectives.

At Thursday's news conference, Secretary Rumsfeld said he believes it is valuable to set goals and identify the steps that need to be taken to achieve those goals.  But he says specifying¹³ the timing¹⁴ in Iraq's complex political environment is difficult.

"The reconciliation¹⁵ process is going to have three or four major milestones," he explained.  "You can't know when you're going to find agreement with the Sunnis and the Kurds and the Shia on some of these complicated things.  You can say, 'Well, we'd like to try to do it in the first quarter, or the second quarter.'  And then you can, you know, work hard to try to achieve that.  But you may or may not achieve that."

Secretary Rumsfeld says U.S. officials in Baghdad are in continuous discussions with Iraqi officials at all levels to try to work out a plan for the coming year, including at least some indication of when the various steps might be taken.  But he said no one should expect firm dates and that the plan will not include any punishments for the Iraqi government if the targets are not met.

1 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。

2 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

5 swirl   

v.(使)打漩，(使)涡卷；n.漩涡，螺旋形

参考例句：

• The car raced roughly along in a swirl of pink dust.汽车在一股粉红色尘土的漩涡中颠簸着快速前进。
• You could lie up there,watching the flakes swirl past.你可以躺在那儿，看着雪花飘飘。

6 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。

7 mutual   

adj.相互的，彼此的；共同的，共有的

参考例句：

• We must pull together for mutual interest.我们必须为相互的利益而通力合作。
• Mutual interests tied us together.相互的利害关系把我们联系在一起。

8 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

9 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。

10 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

11 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。

12 unlimited   

adj.无限的，不受控制的，无条件的

参考例句：

• They flew over the unlimited reaches of the Arctic.他们飞过了茫茫无边的北极上空。
• There is no safety in unlimited technological hubris.在技术方面自以为是会很危险。

13 specifying   

v.指定( specify的现在分词 )；详述；提出…的条件；使具有特性

参考例句：

• When we describe what the action will affect, we are specifying the noun of the sentence. 当描述动作会影响到什么时，我们指定组成句子的名词。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Procurement section only lists opportunistic infection drugs without specifying which drugs. 采购部分只说明有治疗机会性感染的药物，但并没有说明是什么药物。 来自互联网

14 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

15 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。