2007年VOA标准英语-US Congressional Hearing Paints Mixed Picture o

By Dan Robinson
Washington
29 March 2007

As the Democratic-controlled Congress and President Bush head for a possible collision on legislation to fund U.S. military operations in Iraq, expert testimony² before a congressional committee painted a mixed picture of progress on training for Iraqi military and police forces. VOA's Dan Robinson reports from Capitol Hill.

President Bush and congressional Republicans continue to say that progress is being made in Iraq, citing what the defense³ department and military leaders say has been the increasing effectiveness of trained Iraqi forces.

Wednesday, the president cited a range of what he considers to be early signs of success, from the arrival of the last of nine Iraqi surge battalions⁴ and close cooperation between Iraqi and American commanders, to the uncovering of weapons caches and capture of extremist leaders.

All of this, the president asserts, provides hope that Iraqis will eventually be able to assume the security burden from U.S. forces. "Ultimately it is there responsibility, that is what the 12 million people [Iraqis] who voted want. We just need to give them some breathing space so they can regain⁵ their confidence and have the capabilities⁶ necessary to protect this country," he said.

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U.S. and Iraqi army soldiers patrol an area in Baghdad's al-Karrada neighborhood, 24 Mar 2007

But in the latest of a series of hearings focusing on the capabilities of Iraq's military and security forces, lawmakers on the House Armed Services Oversight⁷ Subcommittee asked this question, voiced by the Democratic panel chairman Martin Meehan. "Whether it is realistic to expect the Iraqi security forces to take the lead in providing security by January 2008."

Experts told the subcommittee there is likely less progress in training capable Iraqi forces than the Bush administration and U.S. military officials have portrayed⁸.

Anthony Cordesman, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, believes Iraqi forces, military and police, are years away from being able to take over primary security responsibilities, much less by 2008 when Congress, the president and military officials would like to see a transition. "I have seen us rush under-trained, under-equipped, and inexperienced [Iraqi] units into combat and missions for which they were not ready. I have seen us basically create a force that can sometimes win, but is not ready to hold, and is certainly not ready to build," he said.

Cordesman delivered this harsh assessment⁹ statistics on Iraqi forces. "Much of the official reporting on Iraqi force readiness and progress in Iraqi force development is the same tissue of lies, spin, distortion and omission¹⁰ I saw in Vietnam. There is no integrity in the reporting on manpower and in the number of [Iraqi] units in the lead," he said.

Despite this, he says some real progress has been made and could continue with what he calls a meaningful and honest long-term force development program over three to five years.

However, Cordesman adds this would require bipartisan support from Congress, and movement toward political reconciliation¹¹ by Iraqis.

Robert Perito of the U.S. Institute of Peace agrees that U.S. statistics have been deceiving, and provides this picture regarding Iraqi police forces. "These statistics are impressive but they mask a troubled reality. In truth U.S. military authorities did not know how many police there were in Iraq or how many police stations, they did not how many people that had passed through our training programs were actually serving in the police, nor could they account for the weapons or the equipment that had been issued. The Iraqi police were unable or incapable¹² of controlling crime or protecting Iraqi citizens. The Iraqi police could not control the country's borders, [and] some Iraqi police commando units were operating as sectarian death squads," he said.

Olga Oliker of RAND Corporation also questions the way U.S. officials have handled statistics about Iraqi force progress. "It's not just a matter of getting reporting, you know as we have learned it is not how many forces are trained it is what training have the people who are fighting gotten and how well are they doing? It's not how many tips are coming in from Iraqis, it's who is getting the tips, the Iraqis or the coalition¹³? How good are the tips? Are they coming when the violence is worse or when the violence is better?," she said.

Fred Kagan of the American Enterprise Institute describes as exaggerated and unrealistic expectations he says the Bush administration and others tried to promote that Iraqi forces could quickly assume responsibility for security.

But he says the U.S. succeeded in building an Iraqi all-volunteer army in four years. "We have fundamentally revolutionized the way that the Iraqis think about their army and what it is. We have done that in four years, that is quite a remarkable¹⁴ accomplishment¹⁵, and I think we should keep that in mind," he said.

Kagan says there is no way to predict when the U.S. will be able to fully¹⁶ transition lead security responsibilities to Iraqis, but adds the problems involved in creating peace amid a large-scale insurgency¹⁷ and sectarian conflict are likely to be beyond the capabilities of a new Iraqi force.

The experts agreed that the most significant obstacle to security remains¹⁸ the lack of meaningful political reconciliation, a key benchmark President Bush and members of Congress of both parties are pushing.

1 mar   

vt.破坏，毁坏，弄糟

参考例句：

• It was not the custom for elderly people to mar the picnics with their presence.大人们照例不参加这样的野餐以免扫兴。
• Such a marriage might mar your career.这样的婚姻说不定会毁了你的一生。

2 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

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 battalions   

n.（陆军的）一营（大约有一千兵士）( battalion的名词复数 )；协同作战的部队；军队；（组织在一起工作的）队伍

参考例句：

• God is always on the side of the strongest battalions. 上帝总是帮助强者。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Two battalions were disposed for an attack on the air base. 配置两个营的兵力进攻空军基地。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

6 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

7 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

8 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

10 omission   

n.省略，删节；遗漏或省略的事物，冗长

参考例句：

• The omission of the girls was unfair.把女孩排除在外是不公平的。
• The omission of this chapter from the third edition was a gross oversight.第三版漏印这一章是个大疏忽。

11 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

12 incapable   

adj.无能力的，不能做某事的

参考例句：

• He would be incapable of committing such a cruel deed.他不会做出这么残忍的事。
• Computers are incapable of creative thought.计算机不会创造性地思维。

13 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。

14 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

15 accomplishment   

n.完成，成就，（pl.）造诣，技能

参考例句：

• The series of paintings is quite an accomplishment.这一系列的绘画真是了不起的成就。
• Money will be crucial to the accomplishment of our objectives.要实现我们的目标，钱是至关重要的。

16 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。

17 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

18 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。