2006年VOA标准英语-US Commander: Iran Increasing Its Support for I

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
22 June 2006

The top U.S. commander in Iraq has accused Iran of increasing its involvement in the Shiite insurgency¹ in Iraq, and using its allies to launch attacks on U.S. forces. At a news conference at the Pentagon, General George Casey also said Sunni insurgents² have been increasing their efforts to make peace with the new government. But he indicated that he will not be able to recommend further reductions in U.S. forces in Iraq until he has had a chance to work more with Iraq's new leaders.

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General George Casey (l) and Defense³ Secretary Donald Rumsfeld   
  
General Casey says Iran has become one of the major factors in the security situation in Iraq.

"They are using surrogates to conduct terrorist operations in Iraq, both against us and against the Iraqi people," said General Casey.

U.S. officials have complained in the past about Iran providing technology, equipment, training and radical⁴ ideology⁵ to Iraqi Shiite groups. But General Casey indicated the activity has reached a new level in recent months.

"Since January, we have seen an upsurge in their support, particularly to the Shia' extremist groups," he said. "Their Quds force, their covert⁶ special operations forces, are the ones that are directing this. Now, you would assume that they're not doing that independently, that there is some central direction from somebody in Tehran."

General Casey says there has been an increase lately in the use by Iraqi insurgents of sophisticated bombs with projectiles⁷, technology he says comes primarily from Iran. But he says there is no evidence of Iranian operatives actually working inside Iraq to direct the insurgency.

While the general says Iran is fueling Iraq's Shiite insurgency, he also says members of the Sunni insurgency - made up largely of former members of the Saddam Hussein regime - are increasing efforts to make peace with the new Iraqi government.

"The Sunni insurgency has been, since the elections, reaching out and looking for ways to reevaluate their options and to come out of the resistance against occupation with honor," noted⁸ General Casey. "And we and the Iraqi government have several different strands⁹ of contact going on. And there are opportunities in that regard that we just haven't had before."

General Casey said last year that he hoped to be able to recommend what he called "fairly substantial reductions" in U.S. troops in Iraq by about now. On Thursday, he said he can not yet do that because he has not had enough time to work with the new Iraqi government, particularly the ministers of Defense and Interior, who were named only two weeks ago. But he said the baseline number of U.S. troops in Iraq has gone down from 138,000 to 126,000.

But the general also warned that the number of U.S. troops in Iraq could also go up, either as part of normal rotations¹⁰ or if the security situation deteriorates¹¹.

"I am confident that we will be able to continue to take reductions over the course of this year," he said. "It's both the security situation and the progress of the Iraqi security forces. What we've always said was there would be a gradual reduction, over time, as the Iraqi security forces assumed a larger and larger role."

General Casey also disputed an article published in the Washington Post newspaper this week by Iraq's national security advise. The article said there is an agreement to reduce the U.S. troop level to fewer than 100,000 by the end of the year. The general says there is a process for moving individual provinces to full Iraqi control, but that is not linked to any specific numbers of U.S. troops.

He also indicated he is pleased that shortly before he spoke¹² the U.S. congress rejected an attempt to set a timeline for U.S. troop withdrawals¹³. He says such a move would limit his flexibility, help the insurgents and send the wrong signal to the new Iraqi government

1 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

2 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

3 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。

4 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

5 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

6 covert   

adj.隐藏的；暗地里的

参考例句：

• We should learn to fight with enemy in an overt and covert way.我们应学会同敌人做公开和隐蔽的斗争。
• The army carried out covert surveillance of the building for several months.军队对这座建筑物进行了数月的秘密监视。

7 projectiles   

n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器

参考例句：

• These differences are connected with the strong absorption of the composite projectiles. 这些差别与复杂的入射粒子的强烈吸收有关。 来自辞典例句
• Projectiles became more important because cannons could now fire balls over hundreds or yards. 抛射体变得更加重要，因为人们已能用大炮把炮弹射到几百码的距离之外。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 strands   

n.（线、绳、金属线、毛发等的）股( strand的名词复数 )；缕；海洋、湖或河的)岸；（观点、计划、故事等的）部份v.使滞留，使搁浅( strand的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Twist a length of rope from strands of hemp. 用几股麻搓成了一段绳子。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• She laced strands into a braid. 她把几股线编织成一根穗带。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 rotations   

旋转( rotation的名词复数 )； 转动； 轮流； 轮换

参考例句：

• Farmers traditionally used long-term rotations of hay, pasture, and corn. 农民以往长期实行干草、牧草和玉米轮作。
• The crankshaft makes three rotations for each rotation of the rotor. 转子每转一周，曲轴转3周。

11 deteriorates   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• After a few years' planting, the quality of the potato crop deteriorates. 土豆种了几年之后就会退化。
• Virus activity deteriorates in plasma stored at room temperature. 在室温下储藏的血浆中病毒活动逐渐衰退。

12 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。

13 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句