2007年VOA标准英语-US Senate Confirms Petraeus as Top US Commander

By Deborah Tate
Capitol Hill
26 January 2007

The U.S. Senate has unanimously confirmed Army General David Petraeus to be the next coalition¹ commander in Iraq, succeeding General George Casey. VOA's Deborah Tate reports from Capitol Hill.

 
Lt. Gen. David Petraeus testifies before Senate Armed Services Committee's confirmation² hearing, 23 Jan 2007
The Democratic-led Senate confirmed General Petraeus' nomination³ after less than an hour of debate.

General Petraeus, who will be making his third tour of duty in Iraq, is the principal author of the Army's new counter-insurgency manual, and is one of the U.S. military's most experienced field commanders.

The chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan, praised the nominee⁴ ahead of the Senate vote.

"General Petraeus is professionally qualified⁵ for the command," he said. "He is widely recognized for the depth and breadth of his education, training and operational experience."

 
Carl Levin 
While praising Petraeus, Levin also took the opportunity to again criticize President Bush's decision to send an additional 21,500 troops to Iraq - a plan Petraeus will oversee⁶.

"I am very deeply concerned about this new strategy, because I believe it is based on the wrong assumption that there is a military solution to a sectarian war, when, in fact, the only solution to a sectarian conflict, is for those groups to finally share power, share resources, resolve differences over autonomy that could end the violence," he said.

The top Republican on the Armed Services Committee, Senator John Warner of Virginia, echoed the concerns.

"I am very concerned about the American GI being thrust in the middle of the violence that really has root causes that go back a thousand years between the divisions of thought between the Iraqis as to whether they are Sunnis or Shi'ia," he said.

Warner and Levin have each cosponsored separate nonbinding resolutions expressing opposition⁷ to the troop increase in Iraq, and each measure has bipartisan support. The Senate is expected to debate the resolutions as early as next week.

At the White House, President Bush met with General Petraeus as he prepares to return to Iraq, and defended his decision to increase troops.

"My instructions to you, General, is to get over to the zone as quickly as possible, and implement⁸ a plan that we believe will yield our goals," he said.

The president acknowledged the skepticism toward his plan among U.S. lawmakers. But he said some are condemning⁹ the plan before giving it a chance to work.

Petraeus told the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing this week that he believed the plan could work to restore order and to allow the Iraqi government to establish its authority. But he said the effort would not be easy.

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 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。

3 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。

4 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

5 qualified   

adj.合格的，有资格的，胜任的，有限制的

参考例句：

• He is qualified as a complete man of letters.他有资格当真正的文学家。
• We must note that we still lack qualified specialists.我们必须看到我们还缺乏有资质的专家。

6 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 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。

9 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》