VOA标准英语2009年-US Under Political, Military Pressure to A

By Ravi Khanna
Washington
12 October 2009

Pressure is building on the Afghanistan battleground and in Washington as President Obama considers whether to meet a request for tens of thousands more troops to fight the Taliban insurgency¹ and convince Afghans militants² are not winning.

 
US Soldiers in Afghanistan
U.S. Marines in Afghanistan are focusing on the strongholds of the Taliban in the southern part of the country.

Monday, they worked with local Afghan villagers to gain ground in the Helmand province.

It took 200 Marines two days to advance just 4 kilometers to Barcha in the face of insurgent³ attacks and a string of roadside explosive traps.

Sergeant⁴ Thomas Whorl described part of the mission, saying "Search the area, make sure there are no [weapons] caches, and look for any bad guys."
 
Pressure is also mounting in Washington, where President Obama has been consulting with security advisers⁵ about a request by the U.S. Afghan commander, General Stanley McChrystal, for 40,000 additional troops.

The general has told President Obama he needs the troops to push back a resurgent Taliban and convince the population that insurgents⁶ will not win.
      
President Obama is under pressure from some Democrats⁷ to pull back from the war, and from some prominent Republicans to meet military requests.

"I'm very convinced that General McChrystal's analysis is not only correct but should be employed as quickly as possible," said Republican Senator John McCain.

Troops are also needed to secure areas and allow for the work of American civilians⁹ sent to Afghanistan by the State Department, to help develop poor regions and gain the confidence of the Afghan people.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton explained the mission on Sunday in London. "So our challenge has been to take what we inherited, including an immediate¹⁰ request for troops that the president had to act on shortly after taking office, understanding that we wanted to integrate our civilian⁸ and our military approaches," said Clinton.

Allegations of fraud in the August 20 presidential election in Afghanistan, and the delay in declaring the final result, have added to the complexity¹¹ of the situation.

President Hamid Karzai expressed his concern Monday, saying that "as a result of the delay, Afghanistan is facing security challenges day by day."

Preliminary results released last month showed President Karzai winning the polls with about 54 percent of the vote. But a recount, expected to be completed this month, could force a runoff with the second-place finisher Abdullah Abdullah, if Karzai's total falls short of 50 percent.

1 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

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

4 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

5 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。

6 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

7 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

10 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

11 complexity   

n.复杂(性)，复杂的事物

参考例句：

• Only now did he understand the full complexity of the problem.直到现在他才明白这一问题的全部复杂性。
• The complexity of the road map puzzled me.错综复杂的公路图把我搞糊涂了。