VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Orders More US Troops to Afghanistan

In his first major military move as Commander-in-Chief, President Barack Obama has approved a nearly 50 percent increase in the number of U.S. troops in Afghanistan, on top of a smaller increase ordered by former-President Bush and already implemented¹.
　
A US soldier in Afghanistan (file)

The long-awaited announcement came in a written statement from the president. The statement says "the situation in Afghanistan and Pakistan demands urgent attention and swift action." President Obama says the Taliban has been "resurgent" in Afghanistan and that the al-Qaida terrorist network is supporting it from safe havens³ in Pakistan. The president says the troop increase is needed "to stabilize⁴ a deteriorating⁵ situation," which he says "has not received the strategic attention, direction and resources it urgently requires."

After reviewing a several-months-old request from the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General David McKiernan, endorsed⁶ by other senior officers and Defense⁷ Secretary Robert Gates, President Obama approved the deployment⁸ of two large combat units, one from the marines scheduled to arrive with a couple of months, and one from the army, expected to arrive several months later, along with thousands of support troops.

Pentagon officials say the total will come to 17,000, in addition to the 38,000 U.S. troops already in Afghanistan. And they say all the new troops will go to Afghanistan's troubled southern region, near the border with Pakistan.

General McKiernan has asked for one more combat brigade, which would bring the total to about 60,000, but President Obama has not made a decision on that.

The president's announcement Tuesday says the troop deployments do not pre-determine the outcome of the senior-level Afghanistan strategy review he has ordered. But he hinted at his thinking, saying he wants an approach with what he called "achievable goals" that utilizes⁹ "all elements" of U.S. national power.

He spoke¹⁰ about what he called "a comprehensive strategy" Tuesday in an interview with the Canadian Broadcasting Company. "I am absolutely convinced that we can not solve the problem of Afghanistan, the Taliban, the spread of extremism in that region solely¹¹ through military means. We're going to have to use diplomacy¹², we're going to have to use development," he said.

Secretary Gates has been a bit more specific, calling for limited goals, focused on preventing and eliminating terrorist safe havens, that can be achieved in three-to-five years. The president's strategy review is expected to be completed before the NATO summit at the beginning of April.

President Obama's deployment announcement came on the same day that a major independent research institute issued a report calling for urgent and significant changes in U.S. military strategy toward Afghanistan.

The report by the Rand Corporation says the United States needs a new "game-changing" strategy, emphasizing engagement with local officials, development of the Afghan security forces and fighting corruption¹³. The report also says the United States and its allies need to help the Afghan government defend its borders, improve its relations with Pakistan and use its authority to manage foreign assistance, which the report says would increase its credibility and legitimacy¹⁴ in the eyes of the Afghan people.

One of the Rand report's authors is Christine Fair. "Whether or not the Taliban remain in Afghanistan is really not our concern. What we really care about is that it doesn't become a safe haven² for international terrorists seeking to harm us, our interests, or our assets," she said.

The Rand report says the United States and its allies need to be able to provide "sustainability" when they make gains on security, economic development or other issues.

1 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

2 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

3 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

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 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。

8 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。

9 utilizes   

v.利用，使用( utilize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• One highly successful approach utilizes a triplet aspheric lens array. 一种很成功的方法是利用一个三合非球面透镜阵列。 来自辞典例句
• The first utilizes a blend of finely ground ceramic powders. 第一种用的是一种磨细的陶瓷粉末混合物。 来自辞典例句

10 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

11 solely   

adv.仅仅，唯一地

参考例句：

• Success should not be measured solely by educational achievement.成功与否不应只用学业成绩来衡量。
• The town depends almost solely on the tourist trade.这座城市几乎完全靠旅游业维持。

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 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。

14 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。