2006年VOA标准英语-Poll Indicates US Troops in Iraq Favor Wit

By Al Pessin
Washington
01 March 2006

US armed forces in Iraq  
  
A poll of U.S. troops in Iraq indicates that many of them believe the force should be withdrawn¹ within a year, and some say sooner. A Defense² Department spokesman says there are other indications that many of the troops understand the importance of their mission and want to see it through to a successful conclusion.

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Senior U.S. officials, including Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, are fond of citing support among the troops as evidence that their policy in Iraq is a good one. But the survey by the well-known Zogby International polling company says 72 percent of the U.S. troops in Iraq believe all U.S. forces should be withdrawn within 12 months. Among them, 29 percent called for an immediate³ withdrawal⁴ and 22 percent said the force should leave within six months. According to the survey, only 23 percent say U.S. troops should stay in Iraq "as long as they are needed," which is President Bush's policy.

"One in four agree that they need to stay there until the mission is done. But the fact of the matter is that the overwhelming majority, meaning the rest, three out of four, say that they don't think the mission can be accomplished," said polling agency head John Zogby.

And the rare independent poll of deployed⁵ U.S. troops indicates that that mission is not entirely⁶ clear to the troops, even though most of those surveyed are on their second or third tour in Iraq.

Fifty-eight percent say they understand the mission, but their understanding does not reflect what senior officials say. Officials say the mission is to nurture⁷ democracy, train Iraqi forces and help the Iraqi government gain the capability⁸ to take full control of the country in a reasonably peaceful environment. The survey says the troops believe the mission is to retaliate⁹ for what they say was Saddam Hussein's role in the September 11 attacks, and to prevent him from allowing Iraq to become a safe haven¹⁰ for the al-Qaida terrorist network.

Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman says the survey is not a definitive¹¹ account of the views of U.S. troops in Iraq. He says there are other reliable indicators¹³ of the soldiers' views, including what they tell their commanders, who report that morale¹⁴ and commitment to the mission are high. And Whitman cites what he sees as a strong indicator¹² of that.

"If you look at the retention¹⁵ statistics, some of our highest retention rates units that are deployed and are on the front lines in the global war on terror - on the front lines in Iraq, on the front lines in Afghanistan - people that perhaps are able to observe first-hand the importance of the work that they're doing and want to be a part of the history of this country, and are proud of their service and want to continue their service," he said.

The Pentagon spokesman says no one in the Defense Department is alarmed by this survey, which he called only "one piece of data" in the "totality" of the Iraq situation.

And he says it will not affect the next review of U.S. troop strength in Iraq, which is expected in the next few months. He says any decision on possible future reductions will be based on an assessment¹⁶ by senior commanders of the readiness of Iraqi forces, the strength of the insurgency¹⁷, the stability and capability of the new Iraqi government and related factors.

The Center for Peace and Global Studies at small LeMoyne College in New York State was also involved in the survey. The Center's director, Professor Barron Boyd, notes that sentiment in favor of a rapid withdrawal was particularly strong among U.S. reserve and National Guard troops in Iraq. They are part-time soldiers who have been called to more than a year of dangerous duty.

"I find it hard to imagine that there's not something of a correlation¹⁸ between the situation that the Guard and the reserves find themselves in and their desire to get home quickly. Now, it's not the only factor, but it's not an inconsiderable part of the policy analysis question as well, in my opinion," he said.

Still, the survey says 58 percent of U.S. marines in Iraq believe U.S. troops should be withdrawn within a year. Marines are traditionally among the most committed of all U.S. forces.

The survey also indicates that 80 percent of U.S. troops say the thousands of attacks against them by Iraqi insurgents¹⁹ have not given them a negative view of the Iraqi people.

The Zogby organization says the interviews of 944 U.S. troops were conducted at four undisclosed locations in Iraq during January and February. The group says the poll has a margin²⁰ of error of 3.3 percent. Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman says as far as he knows, the pollsters were not given permission to enter military bases in Iraq, but he says it is not against the rules for troops to talk to pollsters. The Zogby group says the pollsters had verbal permission from commanding officers at the four facilities.

The company also acknowledges that the survey was funded by a wealthy anti-war activist²¹, but it says he had nothing to do with the way the questions were formulated²² or how the answers were analyzed²³.

1 withdrawn   

vt.收回；使退出；vi.撤退，退出

参考例句：

• Our force has been withdrawn from the danger area.我们的军队已从危险地区撤出。
• All foreign troops should be withdrawn to their own countries.一切外国军队都应撤回本国去。

2 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。

3 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

4 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。

5 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

6 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。

7 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。

8 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

9 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

10 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

11 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

12 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

13 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

14 morale   

n.道德准则，士气，斗志

参考例句：

• The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

15 retention   

n.保留，保持，保持力，记忆力

参考例句：

• They advocate the retention of our nuclear power plants.他们主张保留我们的核电厂。
• His retention of energy at this hour is really surprising.人们惊叹他在这个时候还能保持如此旺盛的精力。

16 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

17 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

18 correlation   

n.相互关系，相关，关连

参考例句：

• The second group of measurements had a high correlation with the first.第二组测量数据与第一组高度相关。
• A high correlation exists in America between education and economic position.教育和经济地位在美国有极密切的关系。

19 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

20 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。

21 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

22 formulated   

v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示

参考例句：

• He claims that the writer never consciously formulated his own theoretical position. 他声称该作家从未有意识地阐明他自己的理论见解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This idea can be formulated in two different ways. 这个意思可以有两种说法。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

23 analyzed   

v.分析( analyze的过去式和过去分词 )；分解；解释；对…进行心理分析

参考例句：

• The doctors analyzed the blood sample for anemia. 医生们分析了贫血的血样。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The young man did not analyze the process of his captivation and enrapturement, for love to him was a mystery and could not be analyzed. 这年轻人没有分析自己蛊惑著迷的过程，因为对他来说，爱是个不可分析的迷。 来自《简明英汉词典》