VOA标准英语2009年-President Obama Still to Decide Whether to

By Ravi Khanna
Washington
03 November 2009

President Barack Obama met last October 30 with his top military commanders to discuss U.S. strategy in Afghanistan as he considers whether to send thousands of more troops to the war torn country. Some analysts² in Washington say the primary question is whether the Afghan war is still a war of necessity as Mr. Obama has maintained, and if it serves U.S. national interests.

 
President Barack Obama salutes³ as a carry team carries the transfer case containing the remains⁴ of Army Sgt. Dale R. Griffin at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware, 29 Oct 2009
President Obama saw the war's impact first hand when he visited a U.S. military base in Dover, Delaware to witness the return of 18 Americans killed in Afghanistan.

"Obviously it was a sobering reminder⁵ of the extraordinary sacrifices that our young men and women in uniform are engaging in every single day. Not only our troops, but their families as well," Mr. Obama said.

The war weighs heavily on the president's administration as he considers whether to follow the advice of his top commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, for 40,000 additional U.S. troops.

Journalist Bob Woodward says President Obama must weigh U.S. national interests, and the first interest is preventing another al-Qaida attack. He says because of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, the terrorist group can not use it as a base to attack the U.S.

The second is regional stability.

"The question then becomes what are you willing to pay and expend⁶ for that regional stability or stability specifically in Afghanistan," Woodward stated, "If you look at it from that end it tends to take you away from giant troop commitments."

Some say the U.S. needs more troops in Afghanistan in order to avoid mission failure. Tony Cordesman is an analyst¹ at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington:

"If you lose the country you have a power vacuum on the border of a nuclear-armed Pakistan, a state which in many ways has extraordinary internal divisions and weaknesses and problems of its own. You have the similar problems in Central Asian countries," Cordesman said.

Journalist Mariam Wahabi also fears a power vacuum. She says the West should not forget the sacrifices of U.S.-backed Afghan fighters when they fought against the Soviet⁷ invasion in the 1980s.

"I think as Americans we sometimes forget the cost that the Afghans paid for the freedom of Eastern Europe, that after the Afghans defeated the Soviet Union that people around the world including Americans had more freedom and America's position in the world rose too, becoming the only super power," Wahabi said.

Cordesman says President Obama also needs to send more troops to Afghanistan to safeguard U.S. backed development projects, and to make sure that international aid reaches Afghans who need it. He says the UN aid effort there so far is a mess.  "Eight years on, UNAMA has never issued a report that shows how aid money is being spent, where it is going and what the project structure is intended to be," he said, "That is an incredible indictment⁸ of the level of management and capability⁹ there."

Mr. Obama has spent weeks considering General McChrystal's warning that the war could be lost without more troops. But so far he has not said whether he will grant that request.

1 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

2 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。

3 salutes   

n.致敬，欢迎，敬礼( salute的名词复数 )v.欢迎，致敬( salute的第三人称单数 )；赞扬，赞颂

参考例句：

• Poulengey salutes, and stands at the door awaiting orders. 波仑日行礼，站在门口听侯命令。 来自辞典例句
• A giant of the world salutes you. 一位世界的伟人向你敬礼呢。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

6 expend   

vt.花费，消费，消耗

参考例句：

• Don't expend all your time on such a useless job.不要把时间消耗在这种无用的工作上。
• They expend all their strength in trying to climb out.他们费尽全力想爬出来。

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 indictment   

n.起诉；诉状

参考例句：

• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。
• They issued an indictment against them.他们起诉了他们。

9 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。