VOA常速英语2007-Gates to Press Allies on Afghanistan During NATO

By Al Pessin
Amsterdam
24 October 2007

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates is in the Netherlands for a NATO defense ministers' meeting, where he says he will press member countries to live up to the commitments their leaders made last year to increase their troop levels in Afghanistan. VOA's Al Pessin reports from Amsterdam.

Secretary Gates has been growing increasingly impatient with NATO allies, as they have failed to live up to commitments made at the NATO summit 11 months ago. He expressed that impatience² at a meeting in Kiev Monday of defense ministers from southeastern European nations, including some NATO members and others that want to join the alliance.

"I am not satisfied that an alliance whose members have over two million soldiers, sailors, marines and airmen can not find the modest additional resources that have been committed for Afghanistan," he said.

 

The two million figure does not include U.S. military forces, which already make up the vast majority of foreign troops in Afghanistan.

Secretary Gates said several countries have indicated their intent to increase their troop presence in Afghanistan. But he said he can not name them because they have not yet completed their domestic consultations³.

Secretary Gates says the most urgent needs in Afghanistan are for troops to train the Afghan Army and for personnel to staff provincial⁴ reconstruction⁵ teams, which are crucial to the effort to deliver development to the Afghan people. U.S. officials say the NATO force in Afghanistan also needs more airlift and more flexibility⁶ in how it uses the forces from the various contributing nations.

Under NATO rules, countries can place restrictions⁷ on how their forces are used, so even though it may appear that NATO forces are fully⁸, or nearly fully, staffed, they may not be able to do all the things a commander might want. Officials say NATO is able to carry out all its military missions in Afghanistan, but the operational burden falls unfairly on a limited number of nations.

The NATO defense ministers may also discuss policy regarding Afghanistan's increasing poppy crop. Poppy eradication⁹ is not part of NATO's mandate¹⁰. But U.S. officials say the drug trade that feeds on the poppy crop is financing a large part of Afghanistan's insurgency¹¹.

There appears to be growing interest in having NATO do more to help the Afghan government do something about it. Still, officials point out that eradication is a last resort because it hurts farmers, who depend on the crop for their income. They say a more complex approach is needed that provides training and perhaps subsidies¹² to farmers so they can grow other crops, and also targets the networks that process the poppies into illegal drugs and distribute them around the world.

1 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。

2 impatience   

n.不耐烦，急躁

参考例句：

• He expressed impatience at the slow rate of progress.进展缓慢，他显得不耐烦。
• He gave a stamp of impatience.他不耐烦地跺脚。

3 consultations   

n.磋商（会议）( consultation的名词复数 )；商讨会；协商会；查找

参考例句：

• Consultations can be arranged at other times by appointment. 磋商可以通过预约安排在其他时间。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Consultations are under way. 正在进行磋商。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

4 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

5 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

6 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

7 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

8 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

9 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

10 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。

11 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

12 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》