2006年VOA标准英语-US Military Plans Joint Exercise in West A

By Gilbert da Costa
Abuja
13 May 2006

Senior military officers from the United States and officials of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have been meeting in Abuja, Nigeria to draw up details for a joint¹ military exercise, called a multilateral command post exercise.

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The goal of the command post exercise is to enhance the peacekeeping and intervention² capacity of the standby military force in West Africa, one of the world's poorest and most unstable³ regions.
 
The United States is hoping to improve the operational efficiency and competence⁴ of the nations in West Africa so they can respond more quickly to situations that require military intervention.
 
One of the U.S. officials at the Abuja meeting, Scott Fisher, who is a political-military adviser⁵ at the State Department, provides an insight into the training program, scheduled for Accra, Ghana.

"It will involve a subordinate battalion⁶ responding to a force commander and his staff and they will be in receipt of a mandate⁷, in this case from ECOWAS, that would say we have this sort of issue here and that will be the scenario⁸ and we provide you the military, the mandate from the political masters in West Africa to take this course of action," he said.

The U.S. military curently enjoys cooperation with a number of countries in West Africa, and Africa's growing oil industry, concentrated in West Africa's Gulf⁹ of Guinea, has also led to an increased U.S. military presence in the region.

Fisher says the U.S. intentions go beyond safeguarding its energy interests in the region.

"We understand in the United States, and I think everybody in Africa understands, that in the absence of security, you cannot get the other benefits that you seek: economic development, good governance and better health situation," he added.  "All of that is dependent upon the security situation.  So there is really a longer term issue that is not only focused on the Gulf of Guinea and energy. This is focused on how does West Africa become a partner in a different number of ways with the world community."

The Economic Community of West African States created a standby military force in 2004 to intervene in any situation that could threaten the security of the region.  However, because of a lack of resources, the force is yet to become operational.

1 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。

2 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

3 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

4 competence   

n.能力，胜任，称职

参考例句：

• This mess is a poor reflection on his competence.这种混乱情况说明他难当此任。
• These are matters within the competence of the court.这些是法院权限以内的事。

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 battalion   

n.营；部队；大队(的人)

参考例句：

• The town was garrisoned by a battalion.该镇由一营士兵驻守。
• At the end of the drill parade,the battalion fell out.操练之后，队伍解散了。

7 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

8 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

9 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。