VOA标准英语2009年-British Leader Vows Afghan Mission Unchang

By Tom Rivers
London
04 November 2009

 
Video grab made 04 Nov 2009 of a casualty being taken to a base hospital after 5 British soldiers were shot dead in Helmand Province, Afghanistan
While calling the deaths of five British soldiers gunned down in Afghanistan a tragic¹ loss, Prime Minister Gordon Brown underlined Wednesday that British forces remain committed to their difficult mission there. The British leader was speaking during his weekly parliamentary question session.
 
The killing² of the British personnel by a lone³ Afghan policeman at a military compound in Helmand province has raised more questions in Britain about the deployment⁴. It is the latest bad news for the Brown government that already has faced strong criticism here about the war.

Addressing fellow politicians in the House of Commons Wednesday, a somber⁵ Prime Minister Gordon Brown paid tribute to the fallen. 

 
Britain's PM Gordon Brown in London (File)
 
"I'm sure the whole House will wish to join me in sending our condolences to the families and friends of the five soldiers who have died in Afghanistan yesterday," he said. [edit] "The death of five brave soldiers in a single incident is a terrible and tragic loss and I want to pay tribute, as the whole House will, to their professionalism and to their courage and service," he said.

While he says the deadly incident is being thoroughly⁶ investigated, Mr. Brown said the so-called partnering program of training Afghan police and soldiers will go on.

"As we train Afghan security forces to get them to take over the tasks and the responsibilities of Afghanistan, and I am saying what President Obama and the other leaders have said, then we will be able gradually to bring out forces home," said Brown. "The measure of success in Afghanistan will be that British forces can come home because Afghan forces are able to deal with the security problems of their country themselves," he said.

But central to the debate going on in Britain is the very credibility of the Afghan government as more and more question whether British lives should be put at risk in support of what is seen as a less than clean Hamid Karzai government.

Mr. Brown reiterated⁷ in the commons that Mr. Karzai must now root out corruption⁸.

But the level of criticism is growing here. The latest person to ask how much longer will British forces be deployed⁹ in Afghanistan is former Foreign Office Minister Kim Howells.

He says President Karzai must produce sweeping¹⁰ changes, quickly.

"Either this regime gets serious about reforming itself and about playing its part in taking on violent jihadists and extremists or else it seems to me we have got to consider pulling our troops out and fighting the threat of terrorism in a different way," said Howells.

Britain is the second highest contributor to the NATO force in Afghanistan. Some 9,000 are deployed there, training Afghan security personnel and fighting the Taliban.

229 British soldiers have died in the country since they first arrived in 2001, and 2009 has proven to be the deadliest yet in terms of losses.

1 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

2 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 lone   

adj.孤寂的，单独的；唯一的

参考例句：

• A lone sea gull flew across the sky.一只孤独的海鸥在空中飞过。
• She could see a lone figure on the deserted beach.她在空旷的海滩上能看到一个孤独的身影。

4 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。

5 somber   

adj.昏暗的，阴天的，阴森的，忧郁的

参考例句：

• He had a somber expression on his face.他面容忧郁。
• His coat was a somber brown.他的衣服是暗棕色的。

6 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

7 reiterated   

反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• "Well, I want to know about it,'she reiterated. “嗯，我一定要知道你的休假日期，"她重复说。 来自英汉文学 - 嘉莉妹妹
• Some twenty-two years later President Polk reiterated and elaborated upon these principles. 大约二十二年之后，波尔克总统重申这些原则并且刻意阐释一番。

8 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

9 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

10 sweeping   

adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的

参考例句：

• The citizens voted for sweeping reforms.公民投票支持全面的改革。
• Can you hear the wind sweeping through the branches?你能听到风掠过树枝的声音吗？