VOA标准英语2010年-Dutch Government Collapses Over Afghan

The Dutch coalition¹ government has collapsed³ amid a political row over whether to extend the country's military mission in Afghanistan. Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende was due to submit his government's resignation to Queen Beatrix later Saturday, leaving the future of its 1,600 soldiers stationed there uncertain.

After marathon talks that lasted till dawn Saturday, a visibly upset Dutch Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende announced there was in his words not enough trust to continue his three-party alliance, amid a row over the future of his country's military mission in southern Afghanistan.

The left-leaning Labor⁴ Party leaves the government because it wants the Netherlands to adhere to a scheduled military withdrawal⁵ of the bulk of its 1,600 troops from the Afghan province of Uruzgan by the end of August, 2010 despite a request from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to stay longer.

Mr. Balkenende told reporters he would offer the resignation of the current cabinet to the Dutch ceremonial head of state, Queen Beatrix. He says that he will offer the resignation of the ministers because there is "unfortunately no way forwards" for the coalition between his Christian⁶ Democrats⁷ and junior partners, the Labor Party and the Christian Union. He makes clear that Labor Party statements about Afghanistan have not only put the coalition under pressure but also what he calls "the care due" to Dutch men and women in Afghanistan and "the relationship with NATO partners."

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen had asked the Netherlands to maintain a smaller presence, including a provincial⁸ reconstruction⁹ team in Uruzgan, to build on the perceived success Dutch troops had there and help guarantee a smooth transition to an eventual¹⁰ Afghan-led operation.

The Christian Democrats and Christian Union made clear they wanted to consider the request and at least come up with a carefully formulated¹¹ government statement.

But Labor leader, and current Finance Minister, Wouter Bos, said this was unacceptable, as in his words, voters were promised that the last Dutch soldier would be home at the end of the current troop commitment. His party wants other NATO soldiers to replace the Dutch mission in Uruzgan, where 21 soldiers have been killed since the deployment¹² began in 2006.
 
The withdrawal of the Labor Party leaves the largest party, the Christian Democrats, and its junior partner Christian Union with just 47 seats in the 150-member parliament. With no viable¹³ prospects¹⁴ for other coalitions¹⁵, an early election is expected within three months, most likely in May.
Analysts¹⁶ say that could see a further rise in power of the far-right party of anti-immigrant politician  Geert Wilders, whose ranking in the polls rivals that of Mr. Balkenende's.

Dutch residents, who woke up with news of their government's collapse², have expressed different opinions about the crisis. Edo van Boer, for instance, said the break up of the coalition was expected. "It was unavoidable, those two parties, those big parties can't work together they have separate opinions about things. So it was unavoidable," he said.

Yet another Dutch person, who only identified herself as Lydia, believes the government crisis over Afghanistan comes at the wrong time. "They (Dutch soldiers) were building hospitals, schools etc. It was not a military mission. So I think it is very good for the peace in Afghanistan that they should stay but now I think they don't stay," she said.

The Dutch debate comes ahead of municipal elections in the Netherlands and at a time when opinion polls in many troop-providing European countries indicate growing public discontent with NATO operations in Afghanistan, amid a global financial crisis and shrinking defense¹⁷ budgets.

A possible Dutch withdrawal from Afghanistan is seen as another challenge for NATO. The Western defense alliance is already struggling to assemble 10,000 additional troops that its top commander in Afghanistan, General  Stanley McChrystal, demands to accompany the 30,000 extra American troops being deployed¹⁸ there.
 

1 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

2 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

3 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

4 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

5 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

6 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

7 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

9 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

10 eventual   

adj.最后的，结局的，最终的

参考例句：

• Several schools face eventual closure.几所学校面临最终关闭。
• Both parties expressed optimism about an eventual solution.双方对问题的最终解决都表示乐观。

11 formulated   

v.构想出( formulate的过去式和过去分词 )；规划；确切地阐述；用公式表示

参考例句：

• He claims that the writer never consciously formulated his own theoretical position. 他声称该作家从未有意识地阐明他自己的理论见解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This idea can be formulated in two different ways. 这个意思可以有两种说法。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

12 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。

13 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

14 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

15 coalitions   

结合体，同盟( coalition的名词复数 )； （两党或多党）联合政府

参考例句：

• History testifies to the ineptitude of coalitions in waging war. 历史昭示我们，多数国家联合作战，其进行甚为困难。
• All the coalitions in history have disintegrated sooner or later. 历史上任何联盟迟早都垮台了。

16 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。

17 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。

18 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。