2007年VOA标准英语-US Lawmakers Paint Grim Picture of Iraq, Afghan

By Dan Robinson
Washington
31 January 2007
 
watch Ernest Leong Afghanistan report

US House lawmakers who have just returned from Iraq and Afghanistan have delivered sobering assessments¹ of the situations there. VOA's Dan Robinson reports on remarks by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others who met with U.S. troops and commanders, and government leaders.

 
Nancy Pelosi
Calling the situation in Iraq catastrophic Congresswoman Pelosi says she is even more convinced that the U.S. needs to begin a phased withdrawal², which Democrats³ describe as a redeployment, of its forces from Iraq.

On hopes for political steps by Iraq's government, or pressure by the U.S. toward that end that might provide more optimism, she followed with this. "Many of us went there opposed to the escalation⁴. All of us went there hopeful that we would see something that would say that the political and diplomatic initiatives that are necessary to help our military would be present. There was no evidence of any political and diplomatic initiative worthy⁵ of the sacrifice of our men and women in uniform," she said.

Silvestre Reyes, who chairs the House Intelligence Committee, agrees the military situation in Iraq is serious. "I am fearful that Iraq is devolving into an all-out civil war, and that the Iraqi government seems unable or unwilling⁶ to halt this slide," he said.

Lawmakers again expressed concern that Iraq has siphoned troops and funds from Afghanistan, where U.S. and NATO troops have been fighting the Taleban, al-Qaida and other insurgents⁸.

Ike Skelton, who heads the House Armed Services Committee, says he sees a flicker⁹ of light that U.S. and international efforts in Afghanistan can succeed, but criticizes what he calls an insufficient¹⁰ contribution from NATO forces on the ground. "More must be done, and I am disappointed that our NATO partners haven't done a better job in putting more folks into Afghanistan and secondly¹¹, a good number of the NATO troops are limited in their mission," he said.

House Foreign Affairs Committee chairman Tom Lantos calls NATO efforts half-hearted and shabby and aims criticism at Pakistan which he says is not doing enough to prevent cross-border infiltration¹² fueling the Afghan insurgency¹³. "There are many things the Pakistanis are doing well but it is self-evident that they have not yet succeeded in closing the frontier [with Afghanistan] to Taleban terrorist groups," he said.

The congressional delegation¹⁴ also included one Republican, Congressman¹⁵ David Hobson, who urged aggressive action to deal with the cross-border issue and Afghanistan's opium¹⁶ production.

Meanwhile, former U.S. officials testifying earlier before the House Armed Services Committee had some tough advice for the Bush administration on Afghanistan.

Ambassador James Dobbins urged more forceful U.S. efforts with Pakistan regarding cross-border support for the Taleban. "An increase in U.S. military manpower and money for Afghanistan such as the administration currently proposes, may well contain the renewed insurgency and prevent the Karzai government from being overthrown¹⁷. But U.S. and NATO troops are likely to be required there indefinitely as long as the Taleban and other insurgent⁷ groups are able to recruit, train, raise funds and organize their operations in Pakistan," he said.

Karl Inderfurth, a former Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia, says Congress must continue to support the Karzai government, but adds the U.S. must make a mid-course correction if efforts there are to succeed:

"Five years after [the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks] half measures by the United States and the international community are failing to provide security, rebuild the country, or combat the exploding drug trade. Afghanistan is still very much a nation at risk," he said.

Referring to lawmaker's recent meeting with Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai, Inderfurth says Afghanistan's future will depend on the ability of Republicans and Democrats to maintain bipartisan support for the government in Kabul.

1 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

2 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。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

5 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

6 unwilling   

adj.不情愿的

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• His tightfisted employer was unwilling to give him a raise.他那吝啬的雇主不肯给他加薪。

7 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

8 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

9 flicker   

vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现

参考例句：

• There was a flicker of lights coming from the abandoned house.这所废弃的房屋中有灯光闪烁。
• At first,the flame may be a small flicker,barely shining.开始时，光辉可能是微弱地忽隐忽现，几乎并不灿烂。

10 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

11 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

12 infiltration   

n.渗透；下渗；渗滤；入渗

参考例句：

• The police tried to prevent infiltration by drug traffickers. 警方尽力阻止毒品走私分子的潜入。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A loss in volume will occur if infiltration takes place. 如果发生了渗润作用，水量就会减少。 来自辞典例句

13 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

14 delegation   

n.代表团；派遣

参考例句：

• The statement of our delegation was singularly appropriate to the occasion.我们代表团的声明非常适合时宜。
• We shall inform you of the date of the delegation's arrival.我们将把代表团到达的日期通知你。

15 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

16 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

17 overthrown   

adj. 打翻的，推倒的，倾覆的 动词overthrow的过去分词

参考例句：

• The president was overthrown in a military coup. 总统在军事政变中被赶下台。
• He has overthrown the basic standards of morality. 他已摒弃了基本的道德标准。