VOA常速英语2008年-US Defense Secretary Faces Allies After Controv

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
06 February 2008

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates faces his NATO counterparts at a meeting starting Thursday in Lithuania, just days after comments he made and letters he wrote generated angry responses from some allies.  VOA Pentagon Correspondent Al Pessin reports that is the backdrop for important meetings focused on NATO's mission in Afghanistan.

Secretary Gates has been a popular figure in the NATO alliance, a Bush administration official who is personable, inclusive, not burdened by the baggage of past decisions that were unpopular in Europe, particularly the decision to invade Iraq. 

But in January he told the Los Angeles Times he is "worried" that NATO is deploying² some military advisers³ and combat forces to Afghanistan that, in his words, "are not properly trained and ... do not know how to do counterinsurgency operations." 

Then, last week, German officials leaked information from a letter he had written calling for Germany to send more troops to Afghanistan, and move its current contingent⁴ from the relatively⁵ peaceful north to the war-torn south.

Germany rejected the proposal.

"The tide is turning a little bit.  Right now, Europeans are somewhat worried because Secretary Gates has been quite aggressive in his requests for more troops or more assistance on the ground in Afghanistan," said Julianne Smith, director of the Europe Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.  "Tensions are flaring⁷ over this question in Afghanistan.  And I would expect over the next couple of days, in fact the next couple of weeks, we are going to see a little bit of sparing between Secretary Gates and other countries in Europe, not just Germany but possibly a couple of others, who have opted⁸ not to do more as he has requested in Afghanistan."

That sparing began Tuesday, when Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell had tough words for NATO nations that are not doing what the United States believes they should in Afghanistan.

"I think there is an understanding among many of the troop-contributing nations that there is a real danger of becoming a two-tiered alliance, nations who fight and those who do not," he said.  "And so you will hear the secretary talk about this, probably in Vilnius and certainly in Munich, about the need for the alliance collectively to confront what is a threat not just to the United States, but to Europe as well."

In Munich, Secretary Gates will make a major address to an annual European Security Conference on Sunday.

But Geoff Morrell disputes the contention⁹ that Secretary Gates will face a hostile reception at the NATO defense ministers' meeting in Lithuania.

"The secretary has an excellent working relationship with, I believe, every defense minister in the alliance," he added.  "He looks forward to arriving in Vilnius Thursday morning and getting down to business."

Secretary Gates has tried to ease the sting of his comments to the Los Angeles Times, praising some NATO allies.  And he continued to do that at a Senate hearing on Wednesday.  But the secretary also continued to criticize other alliance members, and said he will continue his campaign for more forces at the Vilnius meeting.

"I leave here this afternoon to go to a NATO defense ministers' meeting in Vilnius and once again will become a nag¹⁰ on the issue [of troops]," he said.  "But I think it is important.  And there are allies that are doing their part and are doing well.  The Canadians, the British, the Australians, the Dutch, the Danes are really out there on the line and fighting, but there are a number of others that are not."

Secretary Gates has also said the Taliban has suffered what he calls "consistent and repeated" defeats, but analysts¹¹ say that is not enough.  They note that, as in Iraq, Afghanistan needs not only sufficient forces to maintain order once insurgents¹² are cleared from an area, but also enough civilian¹³ help with governance, reconstruction¹⁴ and economic development to foster long-term stability.

The top NATO commander in Afghanistan, General Dan McNeill, says he expects some further troop commitments to be made in Vilnius, but not as much as he needs. 

Julianne Smith of the Center for Strategic and International Studies warns that if the European allies do not provide enough there could be dire⁶ consequences.

"If no one does anything else and we do not see any additional commitments on the military side or the civilian side, I think that this mission is susceptible¹⁵ to failure, and I think it will have major ramifications¹⁶ for not only the people of Afghanistan, but the people of Europe and the United States as well," she added.

Smith says Secretary Gates is right that European militaries are not designed for counterinsurgency, and she says a lack of interest and a lack of money have made the transformation¹⁷ of European forces a slow process. 

In addition, she notes that the Bush administration and the war in Afghanistan are generally not popular among Europeans, and most governments in the alliance are coalitions¹⁸ that are particularly susceptible to public pressure.  Finally, she notes, many Europeans believe that when they signed on to the idea of NATO taking over most of the Afghanistan mission they believed the effort would involve minimal¹⁹ security operations and mainly reconstruction efforts, whereas now they are being asked to do more and more on the security front.

Last week, two independent analyses published in the United States criticized the allied²⁰ effort in Afghanistan.  One report, written by the former NATO commander retired²¹ General James Jones, said NATO is "not winning" in Afghanistan and is in a "strategic stalemate." 

Whatever the personal and policy issues may be, the challenge in Vilnius, and at the NATO summit in Bucharest in April, will be to change that.

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 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

3 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

4 contingent   

adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队

参考例句：

• The contingent marched in the direction of the Western Hills.队伍朝西山的方向前进。
• Whether or not we arrive on time is contingent on the weather.我们是否按时到达要视天气情况而定。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

7 flaring   

a.火焰摇曳的，过份艳丽的

参考例句：

• A vulgar flaring paper adorned the walls. 墙壁上装饰着廉价的花纸。
• Goebbels was flaring up at me. 戈塔尔当时已对我面呈愠色。

8 opted   

v.选择，挑选( opt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• She was co-opted onto the board. 她获增选为董事会成员。
• After graduating she opted for a career in music. 毕业后她选择了从事音乐工作。

9 contention   

n.争论，争辩，论战；论点，主张

参考例句：

• The pay increase is the key point of contention. 加薪是争论的焦点。
• The real bone of contention,as you know,is money.你知道，争论的真正焦点是钱的问题。

10 nag   

v.(对…)不停地唠叨；n.爱唠叨的人

参考例句：

• Nobody likes to work with a nag.谁也不愿与好唠叨的人一起共事。
• Don't nag me like an old woman.别像个老太婆似的唠唠叨叨烦我。

11 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

12 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

13 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

14 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。

15 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

16 ramifications   

n.结果，后果( ramification的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• These changes are bound to have widespread social ramifications. 这些变化注定会造成许多难以预料的社会后果。
• What are the ramifications of our decision to join the union? 我们决定加入工会会引起哪些后果呢？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 transformation   

n.变化；改造；转变

参考例句：

• Going to college brought about a dramatic transformation in her outlook.上大学使她的观念发生了巨大的变化。
• He was struggling to make the transformation from single man to responsible husband.他正在努力使自己由单身汉变为可靠的丈夫。

18 coalitions   

结合体，同盟( coalition的名词复数 )； （两党或多党）联合政府

参考例句：

• History testifies to the ineptitude of coalitions in waging war. 历史昭示我们，多数国家联合作战，其进行甚为困难。
• All the coalitions in history have disintegrated sooner or later. 历史上任何联盟迟早都垮台了。

19 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

20 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

21 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。