VOA标准英语2009年-Gates Says Kyrgyz Base Expulsion Not Final

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates said Thursday's vote by the Kyrgyz parliament to terminate the U.S. lease on a key air base used for supplying the Afghanistan war is not the last word on the subject, and the United States will continue to try to convince the Kyrgyz government to change its plan. Gates spoke² in Krakow, Poland, where he is attending a NATO defense ministers' meeting.
　
US Secretary of Defense Gates (L), whispers to UN Special Rep. to Afghanistan Kai Eide in Krakow, 19 Feb. 2009

The Kyrgyz parliament's vote on the expulsion of U.S. forces was decisive. But termination of the lease involves six months' notice, which has not yet been officially delivered to U.S. officials. And Secretary Gates said the United States plans to use that time to try to change minds in Bishkek.

"We are going to continue to work the problem with the Kyrgyz. We have not resigned ourselves to this being the last word. So I haven't written this off yet. And my hope is that we can 'walk this back' with the Kyrgyz and continue the arrangement," he said.
　
US military planes at Manas US military base in Bishkek airport, Kyrgyzstan, 12 Feb 2009

The Kyrgyz base at Manas has taken on added importance as the United States prepares to increase its troop presence in Afghanistan by 45 percent during the next few months. Secretary Gates said U.S. officials are talking to several countries about alternative transport routes, including Russia. The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, General David Petraeus, was in Uzbekistan this week working on the issue. The Uzbek government expelled U.S. forces from an air base there in 2006.

But Secretary Gates repeated his offer to pay more to continue using the base in Kyrgyzstan.

"I think we are prepared to look at the fees and see if there is justification³ for a somewhat larger payment, but we're not going to be ridiculous about it. It is an important base, but it's not so important that we're going to waste taxpayer⁴ dollars paying something that's exorbitant," he said.

The United States currently pays $17 million a year for use of the Kyrgyz base, in addition to $150 million in aid. The Kyrgyz president announced his intention to close the U.S. operation when he was in Moscow earlier this month, right after Russia signed a $2 billion aid deal.

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 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。

3 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

4 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。