VOA标准英语2010-NATO to Transfer Security Tasks to Afghan

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (C) during a group photo at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Tallinn, Estonia, 22 Apr 2010

NATO officials say Afghanistan will likely face security threats for years to come, but say alliance forces are making enough progress to begin transferring security responsibilities to the Afghan government this year.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen describes Afghanistan's security situation as challenging, but says the alliance has momentum¹ and is holding increasingly more territory.  He says NATO's pullout from that country will be a gradual process.

"It will not be a run for the exit," he said.  "What will happen is that we hand over lead responsibility to the Afghans, and our soldiers will then move into a more supportive role.  But I foresee that the Afghan security forces will need our supportive assistance for quite some time," he added.

Rasmussen expects transfer of responsibility to the Afghan government to begin this year. 

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said much of the NATO ministerial discussion  focused on training Afghan security forces.   She too, however, cautioned that Afghanistan will face security threats for years to come if insurgents² do not give up their commitment to terror.

"I don't think we should expect the Afghans to meet an impossible standard, but what we can expect and what we are working toward achieving is an Afghan national security force, military and police that is able to protect the people and create a sense of confidence in their capacity," said Clinton.

NATO has had difficulty finding 450 more people for its training force.  Secretary Clinton expressed confidence they will be found among the allies.

Clinton and Rasmussen say the alliance also seeks greater cooperation with Russia.  They include  terrorism, illegal drugs and piracy³.  He also urges Russia to join NATO in deployment⁴ of a common and more efficient missile defense⁵ shield that would protect the Euro-Atlantic region from Vancouver, British Colombia  to Vladivostok, Russia.  He  said Russia can provide facilities for such a project.

"We should initiate⁶ a transparent⁷ process, a process in which we consult with Russia," he said.  "Obviously, at the end of the day, it's for NATO to take decisions on a NATO missile defense system, but what ministers agreed at this meeting was to initiate a dialogue with Russia."

The alliance Thursday granted its Membership Action Plan to Bosnia Herzegovina, a move that could lead to full membership.  But the Balkan country must fulfill⁸ certain conditions for safeguarding its ammunition⁹ and arms.  Also Thursday, Secretary Clinton ruled out early withdrawal¹⁰ of U.S. tactical nuclear weapons from Europe, a decision supported by NATO's newest members - former Soviet¹¹ satellite countries.

NATO will continue its search for a 21st century strategy during its Lisbon summit in November.

 

1 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

2 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

3 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

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 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。

6 initiate   

vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入

参考例句：

• A language teacher should initiate pupils into the elements of grammar.语言老师应该把基本语法教给学生。
• They wanted to initiate a discussion on economics.他们想启动一次经济学讨论。

7 transparent   

adj.明显的，无疑的；透明的

参考例句：

• The water is so transparent that we can see the fishes swimming.水清澈透明，可以看到鱼儿游来游去。
• The window glass is transparent.窗玻璃是透明的。

8 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

9 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

10 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。

11 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。