VOA标准英语2009年-Clinton, Gates: Goals Are Same in Afghanis

By Al Pessin
Washington
06 October 2009

 
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Secretary of Defense¹ Robert M. Gates, acknowledge crowd as they are introduced, 5 Oct 2009 
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hilary Rodham Clinton made a rare joint² public appearance Monday, telling an audience at George Washington University American goals in Afghanistan are not changing, as President Barack Obama and his top advisers³ examine how they want to pursue those goals. The two secretaries spoke⁴ for more than an hour at the event, which was recorded for broadcast on CNN.

The two cabinet secretaries say the United States still wants to deter⁵, defeat and dismantle⁶ the al-Qaida terrorist network, as President Obama said in his statement on strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan in March. But they say things have changed in Afghanistan since then and Secretary Clinton told the audience of mostly students that it makes sense to examine the strategy and tactics being used to achieve those goals.

"What we're going through in asking ourselves, 'Okay, we know what the goal is, is what we're going most likely to achieve that goal, is what a very decisive and intelligent commander-in-chief would do," Clinton said. "So we're going to come up with the best approach, but the goal remains⁷ the same."

Neither official would provide any insight into the closed-door White House deliberations on the way forward in Afghanistan, which are expected to be concluded within the next few weeks. But Secretary Gates, who has served numerous presidents in a 43-year government career, endorsed⁸ the idea of asking fundamental questions.

"The notion of being willing to pause, reassess basic assumptions, reassess the analysis and then make those decisions, seems to me, given the importance of these decisions, which I've said are probably among the most important he will make in his entire presidency⁹, seems entirely¹⁰ appropriate," Gates said.

Secretary Gates says a re-evaluation is particularly appropriate because security has deteriorated¹¹ more than expected in Afghanistan. And, the Afghan election, which he describes as "flawed," has further complicated the situation. But he echoed what the White House spokesman said Monday, that the United States is not considering withdrawing from the region, but rather how it will move ahead toward its goals. He calls U.S. determination to stay in Afghanistan and to continue building its relationship with Pakistan a "long term…strategic objective."

The defense secretary has given several hints of his views on the way forward in Afghanistan, including a speech earlier Monday in which he cautioned against an over-reliance on air power and high technology, which some officials believe should be used more in Afghanistan, instead of the additional troops the U.S. and NATO commander there wants. Secretary Gates notes that the current and former Afghanistan commanders have both limited offensive air strikes in order to reduce civilian¹² casualties.

While the top-level process is continuing, Washington is consumed with a debate about whether the president should send more troops as the commanders want or take the air power and high technology route. Secretary Gates says President Obama has pledged to give all the time necessary to allow the commanders to make their case, before he decides.

The two secretaries also welcome the recent agreements regarding Iran's nuclear program, but both also indicate they remain skeptical¹³ about Iran's intentions. Secretary Clinton says the process of getting Iran to submit to inspections¹⁴ and to get rid of its enriched uranium is not "finished until it's finished" and that it is not clear whether the Iranian government is sincere about wanting to resolve the dispute. Secretary Gates says he believes Iran wants to develop nuclear weapons and that the international community must keep it on "tight enough deadlines and specific enough requirements" to determine whether its government is seriously interested in taking a different course.

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 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

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 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

5 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

6 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

7 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。

8 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 deteriorated   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Her health deteriorated rapidly, and she died shortly afterwards. 她的健康状况急剧恶化，不久便去世了。
• His condition steadily deteriorated. 他的病情恶化，日甚一日。

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 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

14 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》