VOA标准英语2009年-US Military Cancels Deployment of Army Bri

By Edward Yeranian
Cairo
17 October 2009
The U.S. Defense¹ Department says that it's cancelling the deployment² of a 3,500-member Army brigade to Iraq in January, amid "improving security." Some violence continues, however, such as the explosion Saturday on a key highway bridge linking Iraq to Jordan and Syria. 

The U.S. Army brigade, based at Fort Drum, New York, had been scheduled to replace another unit, due to leave Iraq at the start of next year. 

Defense Department officials stressed that the decision was based on security improvements and the increasing capabilities³ of Iraq's own security forces.

Iraq is due to hold parliamentary elections in January, 2010 but ongoing⁴ friction⁵ between the country's different ethnic⁶ and religious communities is a threat to security and political stability in the country.

Sporadic⁷ violence, including a suicide bombing attack Saturday on a key bridge linking Iraq with Syria and Jordan, continues to hamper⁸ both security and the political process. It was the second time that the same bridge, located near the western city of Ramadi, had been targeted in the past two years.

A businessman in Ramadi complained that the early-morning explosion, which severely⁹ damaged the bridge, was intended to cause chaos¹⁰ by disrupting travel, commerce and trade:

He says that the highway, where the bridge was blown up, links Iraq with the outside world, and it has repercussions¹¹ on transport, stability and the security situation. He said it also means that goods imported from outside the country will be affected¹².

There were also attacks on Saturday west of Baghdad, just outside of Fallujah,  and in the northern city of Mosul.

Professor Khattar Abou Diab, who teaches political science at the University of Paris, says that while the security situation in Iraq has improved, in general, it remains¹³ fragile and subject to periodic violence:

He says that the situation in Iraq at the moment is ambiguous with signs of overall improvement but a definite fragility of security in places, as witnessed by recent explosions, including the destruction of the highway bridge (Saturday) and the August 19th explosions in Baghdad. He points out that while Iraq's security no longer requires a massive presence of U.S. and Western troops, much depends on the outcome of elections in January, and the easing of tensions between Kurds and Arabs, Sunnis and Shi'ites, and even within the Shi'ite community itself. U.S. achievements in Iraq, he argues, are fragile and depend on harmony between Iraqis and a halt to infiltration¹⁴ along Iraq's borders.

There are currently 119,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. Under a US-Iraq security pact¹⁵, signed last November, all U.S. combat troops are due to leave the country by August of 2010. Advisors¹⁶ and training forces are scheduled to leave in 2011.

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 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

3 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

4 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

5 friction   

n.摩擦，摩擦力

参考例句：

• When Joan returned to work,the friction between them increased.琼回来工作后，他们之间的摩擦加剧了。
• Friction acts on moving bodies and brings them to a stop.摩擦力作用于运动着的物体，并使其停止。

6 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

7 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

8 hamper   

vt.妨碍，束缚，限制；n.(有盖的)大篮子

参考例句：

• There are some apples in a picnic hamper.在野餐用的大篮子里有许多苹果。
• The emergence of such problems seriously hamper the development of enterprises.这些问题的出现严重阻碍了企业的发展。

9 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

10 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

11 repercussions   

n.后果，反响( repercussion的名词复数 )；余波

参考例句：

• The collapse of the company will have repercussions for the whole industry. 这家公司的垮台将会给整个行业造成间接的负面影响。
• Human acts have repercussions far beyond the frontiers of the human world. 人类行为所产生的影响远远超出人类世界的范围。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 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。

14 infiltration   

n.渗透；下渗；渗滤；入渗

参考例句：

• The police tried to prevent infiltration by drug traffickers. 警方尽力阻止毒品走私分子的潜入。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A loss in volume will occur if infiltration takes place. 如果发生了渗润作用，水量就会减少。 来自辞典例句

15 pact   

n.合同，条约，公约，协定

参考例句：

• The two opposition parties made an electoral pact.那两个反对党订了一个有关选举的协定。
• The trade pact between those two countries came to an end.那两国的通商协定宣告结束。

16 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor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：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网