2006年VOA标准英语-Iraq Study Group Ideas Spark Questions

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
07 December 2006

President Bush and members of the Senate served notice on the Iraq Study Group Thursday that its 79-recommendation report on U.S. Iraq policy is not likely to be adopted in its entirety.  But the group's co-chairs re-stated their view that the report offers a comprehensive approach that should be used in full, or as close to that as possible.  VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

 
Iraq Study Group co-chairmen, former Secretary of State James A. Baker¹ III, left, and former Indiana Rep. Lee Hamilton discuss Group's report while testifying before Senate Armed Services Committee
Thursday morning, Study Group co-chairman James Baker, a former secretary of state, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that officials should not try to use what they like from the report and ignore the rest.

"I hope we don't treat this like a fruit salad, and say, 'I like this, but I don't like that.  I like this, but I don't like that,'" he said.  "This is a comprehensive strategy, designed to deal with this problem we're facing in Iraq, but also designed to deal with other problems that we face in the region."

Co-chairman Lee Hamilton, a former senior member of the House of Representatives, offered a similar view, and stressed the urgency of setting and acting² on a new policy, designed to improve the capabilities³ of the Iraqi military and promote national reconciliation⁴ and regional cooperation.

"Nobody can assure success, even if we take the right steps, but you can certainly secure failure, if we don't take those steps," he noted⁵.

 
President Bush, (r), with British PM Tony Blair during joint⁶ press availability in Washington, 7 Dec 2006
But while Baker and Hamilton were still testifying at the Capitol, President Bush told a White House news conference he has a different view of their report.

"I'd call it a very important report and a very important part of our working to a new approach, a new way forward in Iraq," he said.

The president seemed surprised when a reporter told him what Baker and Hamilton had said at the Senate.

"I don't think Jim Baker and Lee Hamilton expect us to accept every recommendation.  I know they expect us to consider every recommendation," he said.

Officials say the Study Group report is only one of several policy reviews that will be considered.  The president's staff has been conducting its own review of Iraq policy, and the top U.S. military officer has been doing the same. 

And at his confirmation⁷ hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, the day before the Iraq Study Group's report was published, the incoming Defense⁸ Secretary Robert Gates indicated he, too, does not expect to automatically implement⁹ all its recommendations.

 
Robert Gates
"The report of the Iraq Study Group is very important, and we all need to pay a great deal of attention to it," he said.  "And these are very serious people that are putting it together.  By the same token, I don't think it's the last word."

Although the Iraq Study Group's report has been widely praised, at Thursday's hearing, several members of the powerful Senate committee indicated that they disagree with some of its main recommendations.  Republican Senator John McCain, who is expected to seek his party's nomination¹⁰ for president in 2008, objected to several parts of the report, including the proposals for diplomatic engagement with Iran and Syria and the idea of withdrawing most U.S. combat troops from Iraq within about 16 months.

"I don't believe a peace conference with people who are dedicated¹¹ to your extinction¹² has much short term gain," he said.  "But most of all, to say that we don't have enough troops, but we'll threaten to have less, is a degree of impracticality¹³.  It's dis-spiriting.  I think there's a disconnect between what you're recommending and the situation on the ground."

McCain and other senators also expressed concern about the Study Group's proposal to sharply increase the number of U.S. trainers working directly with Iraqi military units.  The senators said those troops would be exposed to significant dangers, from which the U.S. military would not be able to protect them.

But other senators were more supportive, and Democratic Party Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is expected to seek her party's presidential nomination, challenged President Bush to act on what she called the Study Group's "comprehensive and challenging" recommendations.

"We've now heard from the Iraq Study Group, but we need the White House to become the Iraq Results Group," she said.

The president's National Security Advisor¹⁴ has said the plan is to have a new Iraq policy in place within "weeks, not months."

1 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。

2 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。

3 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 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。

5 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。

6 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。

7 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

8 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。

9 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

10 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

11 dedicated   

adj.一心一意的；献身的；热诚的

参考例句：

• He dedicated his life to the cause of education.他献身于教育事业。
• His whole energies are dedicated to improve the design.他的全部精力都放在改进这项设计上了。

12 extinction   

n.熄灭，消亡，消灭，灭绝，绝种

参考例句：

• The plant is now in danger of extinction.这种植物现在有绝种的危险。
• The island's way of life is doomed to extinction.这个岛上的生活方式注定要消失。

13 impracticality   

n.不切实际, 办不到

参考例句：

• I resent comments on the impracticality of small cars. 我反对说小骄车不实用的说法。

14 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。