2006年VOA标准英语-Rumsfeld Cautions Against Rapid Iraq Withdrawal

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
08 December 2006

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has cautioned against moving too fast to remove U.S. troops from Iraq, responding to the Iraq Study Group report this week that recommends removing most U.S. combat forces from the country by early 2008. Secretary Rumsfeld, who has made few public comments since his departure from office was announced a month ago, spoke² at a Town Hall meeting with several hundred Pentagon staff members. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

Outgoing Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld shakes hands with well wishers following town hall meeting at the Pentagon

Answering a question from a civilian³ staff member, Secretary Rumsfeld indicated he did not find anything particularly new in the report that senior commanders have not already considered.

He said, "I can't think of a thing that anyone's thought of that General Pace and General Abizaid and those folks have not been working on and analyzing⁴ and studying and adjusting to over time."

The secretary said it is understandable that Americans would want to do something quickly to end the loss of life in Iraq, but he cautioned against moving too fast to withdraw U.S. troops.

He said, "The other thing we have to think about, though, is the dire⁵ consequences were we to fail there. It is not just an Iraq problem. It is a regional problem."

"There is a major divide between the Shia and the Sunni community in that part of the world, and the risks to its stability are significant," he added.

Rumsfeld said the military has done all it can in Iraq, but that the conflict there cannot be won militarily.

He said it is up to Iraqi officials to move toward national reconciliation⁶ and economic development. But he said the United States must continue to help both there and in Afghanistan.

"We have every chance in the world of succeeding in both those countries but only if we have the patience and only if we have the staying powe," the secretary said.

In what was one of his last public appearances as secretary of defense, Rumsfeld also reflected on the last often tumultuous six years, his second time as defense secretary.

Rumsfeld said, "I wish I could say that everything we've done here has gone perfectly⁷. But that's not how life works, regrettably."

"The hope has to be not perfection but that most decisions, with the perspective of time, will turn out to be the right ones, and that the perspective of history will judge the overwhelmingly majority of those decisions favorably," he continued.

One soldier asked the secretary what his worst day in office had been, and to the surprise of some, he did not refer to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the Pentagon and the World Trade Center in New York.

He said, "Clearly, the worst day was Abu Ghraib, and seeing what went on there and feeling so deeply sorry that that happened."

The secretary was referring to the day the abuses at the prison in Baghdad became public. He has previously⁸ said he offered to resign at that time, but President Bush asked him to stay on.

The same soldier asked what the secretary's best day has been.

"I guess my best day, I don't know, maybe a week from Monday," he said.

A week from Monday will be Secretary Rumsfeld's last day in office. He will fall just 11 days short of becoming the longest-serving defense secretary in U.S. history.

The longest-serving secretary was Robert McNamara, who served in the 1960s during the Vietnam War.

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 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。

3 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。

4 analyzing   

v.分析；分析( analyze的现在分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析n.分析

参考例句：

• Analyzing the date of some socialist countries presents even greater problem s. 分析某些社会主义国家的统计数据，暴露出的问题甚至更大。 来自辞典例句
• He undoubtedly was not far off the mark in analyzing its predictions. 当然，他对其预测所作的分析倒也八九不离十。 来自辞典例句

5 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

6 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。

7 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。

8 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。