VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Faces Momentous Decision on Afghanis

By Al Pessin
Washington
09 October 2009

 
President Obama (file photo)
President Barack Obama is grappling with the difficult decision of whether to send even more U.S. troops to Afghanistan to reverse recent gains by the Taliban and help establish a stable democracy. Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates has called it one of the most important decisions President Obama is likely to make as president. It is the kind of wrenchingly difficult decision faced by American presidents, and other leaders, throughout history.

There is no shortage of advice for President Obama. His generals have made clear they want more troops, including his Afghanistan commander Army General Stanley McChrystal. "The situation is serious and I choose that word very, very carefully," McChrystal said.

McChrystal's dire³ assessment⁴ prompted President Obama to review the strategy he announced just six months ago.

In the review, Mr. Obama is getting advice from all sides, including his 2008 rival for the presidency⁵, Republican Senator John McCain. "There are a number of options, but the option that's presented by our military commanders in the field, endorsed⁶ by the Chairman of the Joint⁷ Chiefs of Staff, should be given, obviously, additional weight because they were correct in employing the strategy that succeeded in Iraq," McCain said.

Senator McCain urged the president to move quickly and avoid "half-measures."

Conflicting Pressures

But there are also many people urging caution, including Vice² president Joe Biden and other senior members of the president's own party, such as the Democratic Party's 2004 presidential candidate, Senator John Kerry. He has questions about the strength and intentions of the Taliban, and also about Pakistan's role in the region. "Until those questions are satisfactorily answered, I think it would be irresponsible to make a choice to commit people to harm's way," Kerry said.

The conflicting pressures add to what is inevitably⁸ a difficult decision for any president, whether to put the lives of tens of thousands more Americans at risk for an uncertain outcome in a far-away land.

"His presidency in some ways could very well be on the line as a consequence of this," said historian Robert Dallek, author of a dozen books on 20th century U.S. presidents and the decisions they have faced. "Decisions about war and peace are always dilemmas⁹ for a president. These decisions really become sort of life and death decisions, not only for the troops that are sent into battle, but a kind of political life-and-death decision for a presidential administration," he said.

Dallek points out that past presidents who started or deepened U.S. involvement in wars often saw their domestic programs suffer. And President Obama has an extensive and expensive domestic agenda he wants to get through the Congress. "The pressures on presidents to do this are just palpable. And Harry¹⁰ Truman pays a huge political price for that. Lyndon Johnson pays a huge political price. And who knows what will happen now with President Obama," he said.

Dallek notes that one president who did not follow military advice to escalate¹¹ a conflict was John F. Kennedy. He rejected calls for an invasion of Cuba at the time of the missile crisis in 1962. Kennedy chose tough diplomacy¹² and the threat of force instead, and it worked. "Any president with the knowledge of history and intelligence of a Barack Obama, I think, is going to be skeptical¹³ of what the military tells him, and is not going to reject their advice, not going to say, 'I don't listen to my commanders.' He will listen to them. But it doesn't mean he's going to give them Carte Blanche [i.e., total freedom]. I think he will be cautious as to what he does with the advice he gets," he said.

The advice President Obama is getting from top military officers is to send more troops and re-commit to the goals and strategy he himself announced just six months ago. "We have a clear and focused goal - to disrupt, dismantle¹⁴ and defeat al-Qaida in Pakistan and Afghanistan, and to prevent their return to either country in the future," the president said.

President Weighs Options

The question is how to do that.

One approach is to send more troops and pursue a broad counterinsurgency strategy to stabilize¹⁵ Afghanistan, as the president originally announced. He has already added 21,000 troops to the U.S. contingent¹⁶ in the country to help achieve that.

The other option being promoted by some officials and analysts¹⁷ is to limit the number of U.S. ground forces, focusing instead on air strikes and raids on terrorist cells, and not worry about Afghanistan's overall stability. 

General McChrystal warns that the limited approach would be "shortsighted". "I think the first thing we are doing is preventing the return of al-Qaida to a very vulnerable area, or rather transnational terrorists. I also think we are helping¹⁸ Afghanistan become a stable state. That is not just in their interests, I think it's in our interests as well," the general said

Advocates of the troop-intensive approach warn that militant¹⁹ Islam would be strengthened worldwide, if the U.S. and NATO effort in Afghanistan fails, and the danger of terrorism from that region and elsewhere would increase. 

In March, President Obama indicated he has some sympathy for that view. "If the Afghan government falls to the Taliban or allows al-Qaida to go unchallenged, that country will again be a base for terrorists who want to kill as many of our people as they possibly can," the president said.

But historian Dallek has heard such dire predictions before. "With Vietnam, we were so concerned that our credibility would be so undermined if we didn't stand and fight, the other countries of Southeast Asia would fall - the Chinese, the Soviets²⁰ would be emboldened²¹, it might lead to World War III. It all proved to be nonsense," he said.

Still, Dallek says, like any president, Barack Obama can not simply ignore his military commanders because they just might be right.

Officials say that aside from the strategic issues, President Obama is deeply concerned about the recent sharp increase in U.S. casualties in Afghanistan, and the expectation that sending more troops and further expanding operations will likely result in even more casualties. But they also say the best thing the president can do for the troops is come up with the right strategy. They say President Obama will announce his decision soon.

 

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 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 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。

4 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？

5 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。

6 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》

7 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。

8 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

9 dilemmas   

n.左右为难( dilemma的名词复数 )；窘境，困境

参考例句：

• They dealt with their dilemmas by mixing perhaps unintentionally an explosive brew. 他们――也许是无意地――把爆炸性的佐料混合在一起，以此来应付困难处境。 来自辞典例句
• Ten years later we encountered the same dilemmas in Vietnam. 十年后，我们又在越南遇到了同样进退两难的局面。 来自辞典例句

10 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

11 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

12 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

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 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。

15 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

16 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。

17 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。

18 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

19 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

20 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。

21 emboldened   

v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Emboldened by the wine, he went over to introduce himself to her. 他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
• His success emboldened him to expand his business. 他有了成就因而激发他进一步扩展业务。 来自《简明英汉词典》