VOA常速英语2008年-France to Send Several Hundred Troops to Afghan

By Lisa Bryant
Paris
01 April 2008

The day before a key NATO summit in Bucharest, the French government announced Tuesday it would send several hundred troops to reinforce the alliance's operation in Afghanistan. Lisa Bryant reports for VOA from Paris.

The decision by center-right government to send more soldiers to Afghanistan is highly controversial in France - with the opposition¹ Socialist² party strongly criticizing it during a parliamentary debate Tuesday. A recent poll also showed 68 percent of French opposed sending any new troops to Afghanistan.

But French Prime Minister Francois Fillon told lawmakers the troops were vital in a country where NATO soldiers are fighting a fierce Taliban insurgency³. He said if France withdraws its troops from Afghanistan, it would mean Paris no longer assumes its responsibilities and breaks with its allies. It would mean France is indifferent to Afghanistan's fate.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced last week that Paris would reinforce its 1,600 troops on the ground in Afghanistan - but the several hundred troops suggested by his prime minister appears considerably⁴ lower than 1,000 French troops speculated in the media.

But Frederic Bozo, a NATO specialist and professor at Sorbonne University in Paris, said the troop reinforcement would be welcome by NATO leaders who meet in Bucharest Wednesday.

"I think France's gesture will be much appreciated by the U.S. and by the allies who are doing a vast [amount of work] in Afghanistan," he said. "The bottom line is France is going to make a difference by sending those troops.

Canada, for one, has made its own continuing presence in Afghanistan partly contingent⁵ on other countries supplying 1,000 more troops.

In another NATO-related development, Prime Minister Fillon said Paris would not support bids by Georgia and Ukraine to join that Atlantic alliance. Washington has been pushing their membership, but several European countries, including

France and Germany, have expressed reservations, in part because of Russia's opposition.

President Sarkozy has also suggested France may ultimately rejoin NATO military wing, but professor Bozo, for one, believes no movement in that direction will be made during this week's NATO summit. He says Paris is unlikely to make a firm decision on rejoining until early next year.

1 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。

2 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

3 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

4 considerably   

adv.极大地；相当大地；在很大程度上

参考例句：

• The economic situation has changed considerably.经济形势已发生了相当大的变化。
• The gap has narrowed considerably.分歧大大缩小了。

5 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。