VOA标准英语2009年-Afghanistan-Iraq Balance to Be High on Obama Ag

President-elect Barack Obama has said that very soon after his inauguration¹ on Tuesday he will meet with top U.S. military leaders to discuss priorities. During the election campaign he said he would give the military a new mission in Iraq. But priorities have changed since then and now the meeting may focus more on Afghanistan, where Mr. Obama is expected to implement² a troop increase that President Bush promised.
　
President-elect Barack Obama at Philadelphia's 30th Street Station, 17 Jan 2009

The president-elect had said he wanted most U.S. combat troops out of Iraq within 16 months of his inauguration. But late last year, the Bush administration signed an agreement with Iraq that takes a different approach, requiring the removal of U.S. combat troops from Iraqi cities by June, and the withdrawal³ of all U.S. troops from the entire country by the end of 2011.

It is not clear exactly what orders Obama will give, but he has said he will listen to the concerns of top military officers before making any final decisions.

One of the main concerns he will hear relates to Afghanistan, where the U.S. commander has asked for 14,000 more combat troops and several thousand more support troops. The new president's appointee for Undersecretary of Defense⁴ for Policy, Michele Flournoy, was asked about that at her Senate confirmation⁵ hearing on Thursday. "I actually think the intent of both President-elect Obama and (Defense) Secretary (Robert) Gates is to move as quickly as possible. I have not yet been briefed on the details in terms of what would be required to do that. But I do believe that in principle we should be moving as quickly as possible," she said.

But Pentagon officials say moving quickly to add troops in Afghanistan means reducing troop numbers in Iraq. General David Petraeus, the former U.S. commander in Iraq who now has responsibility for the entire Middle East and Central Asia region, says he, U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker and the new U.S. Iraq commander, General Ray Odierno, believe the United States needs to be careful about removing troops from Iraq too quickly. "The ambassador and General Odierno and I have reminded everyone, it is our view that the progress does remain fragile. It does remain reversible," he said.

And some experts warn against adding too many foreign troops to Afghanistan. Among them is Zbigniew Brzezinski, a professor at Johns Hopkins University who was President Jimmy Carter's national security adviser⁶ in the 1970s when the Soviet⁷ Union invaded and occupied Afghanistan. "This runs the risk of gradually turning the Afghan population against our efforts. The enterprise thus, paradoxically, is turning in the direction painfully reminiscent of what the Soviets⁸ experienced," he said.

Brzezinski says any troop increases should be relatively⁹ small, and focused on particular problem areas in Afghanistan, where Taliban insurgents¹⁰ who support the country's former government have been particularly active in recent months.

Michele Flournoy says the Obama Administration will be careful in implementing¹¹ the expected troop increase. "The key principle is to shift the emphasis, but to do so in a very responsible manner," she said.

Aside from troop numbers, civilian¹² and military officials agree there needs to be a strong parallel effort to improve Afghanistan's economy and the quality of its government, and to end corruption¹³ and fight the narcotics¹⁴ trade. And many experts, including Zbigniew Brzezinski and General Petraeus have called for local political accommodation, perhaps even with reconcilable elements of the Taliban.

That kind of strategy worked in Iraq, where General Petraeus engineered a series of agreements with previously¹⁵ hostile tribal¹⁶ leaders. Petraeus is quick to point out that Iraq and Afghanistan are very different, but he also says many of the approaches he used successfully in Iraq will likely work in Afghanistan. Among them are the needs to establish better security, provide government services, put military and police posts out among the people and to get local residents involved in providing for their own security. "The lines of operation exist. The question is how to achieve greater unity¹⁷ of effort among all of the different partners in this effort, and with our Afghan partners as well," he said.

That concept of "unity of effort" is frequently mentioned but difficult to implement, particularly in Afghanistan, where more than 40 nations provide troops and assistance.

The White House and the Pentagon recently completed reviews of the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, and delivered them to the Obama Transition Team. The top U.S. military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, said in December he did not expect any major strategy change. "At this point, anyway, I don't expect any radical¹⁸ changes. I think emphasis is going to be important. Clearly, we'll see where we go with a new administration with respect to that, and clearly part of the discussion will be how the strategy gets resourced," he said.

Like other military officers and civilian officials, Admiral Mullen says the Afghanistan war will not be won by military power alone, adding that Afghanistan also needs a variety of civilian aid and advice. And the admiral also says the United States and NATO need a regional approach, taking into account the situation in Pakistan, where Afghan insurgents take refuge, and the role of other nearby countries, including Iran.

That kind of regional approach is what General Petraeus is working on in his own Afghanistan strategy review, and he has a 200-member team working on it. His report is expected in February.

1 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

2 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

3 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。

4 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。

5 confirmation   

n.证实，确认，批准

参考例句：

• We are waiting for confirmation of the news.我们正在等待证实那个消息。
• We need confirmation in writing before we can send your order out.给你们发送订购的货物之前，我们需要书面确认。

6 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

7 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

8 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

9 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。

10 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

11 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

12 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。

13 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

14 narcotics   

n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒

参考例句：

• The use of narcotics by teenagers is a problem in many countries. 青少年服用麻醉药在许多国家中都是一个问题。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Police shook down the club, looking for narcotics. 警方彻底搜查了这个俱乐部，寻找麻醉品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

16 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

17 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

18 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。