VOA标准英语2010-NATO Probes Remote Afghan Valley

Tribal¹ elders meet with U.S. troops in Afghanistan's Chowkay Valley

"One of the biggest challenges we have has to do with the cultural differences. The Pashtun population is challenging by nature in the way they look at life."

Nearly nine years into the Afghan war, many small valleys in mountainous eastern Afghanistan remain mostly off limits to NATO and Afghan troops. In their absence, smugglers, isolationists and religious extremists dominate. The U.S. Army recently launched a mission to re-establish a presence in one dangerous valley.

These soldiers with the 503rd Infantry² Regiment³ face a risky⁴ mission. They intend to drive deep into the Chowkay Valley in eastern Kunar province, along Afghanistan's border with Pakistan. NATO and Afghan government forces have avoided the region for years.

The Chowkay lies beyond the so-called "red line," that marks the allies' area of control. Here, the Taliban and other armed groups are the real powers. Farmers grow poppies, for the heroin⁵ that funds the Taliban insurgency⁶.

When NATO troops cross the red line, the fighting is often fierce.

Captain Joe Snowden leads today's patrol. While his soldiers focus on defending against attack, he channels his energies towards a more complex challenge: bridging the cultural gap between NATO and the valley's Pashtun residents. "One of the biggest challenges we have has to do with the cultural differences. The Pashtun population is challenging by nature in the way they look at life. Corruption⁷ is a daily affair, one of the things that doesn't strike them as odd," he said.

The soldiers infiltrate⁸ the valley under the cover of gunship helicopters.

They keep watch while Snowden's team of agricultural experts meets with village elders, trying to convince them to stop growing poppies.

Enemy fighters soon surround the Americans, forcing them to withdraw. The helicopters fire white-phosphorous rockets as the soldiers retreat.

At a second meeting in a safer part of the valley, Snowden repeats his message. "We know for a fact those poppies, and where those poppies go when they leave this valley, gets a lot of money for foreign fighters and it funds their bullets, funds their guns. ... If an alternative to poppies were available, would you be interested in growing it?"

The elders only laugh. The soldiers leave without making any clear progress.

In the absence of a larger NATO or Afghan government presence, Snowden says the only option is to keep trying to work through the elders. "These folks are still in a tribal system. We have to work with that system.  ... If I lose the tribes, I lose that as base of power," he said.
 

1 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

2 infantry   

n.[总称]步兵(部队)

参考例句：

• The infantry were equipped with flame throwers.步兵都装备有喷火器。
• We have less infantry than the enemy.我们的步兵比敌人少。

3 regiment   

n.团，多数，管理；v.组织，编成团，统制

参考例句：

• As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活，所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
• They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。

4 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

5 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

6 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

7 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。

8 infiltrate   

vt./vi.渗入，透过；浸润

参考例句：

• The teacher tried to infiltrate her ideas into the children's minds.老师设法把她的思想渗透到孩子们的心中。
• It can infiltrate as much as 100 kilometers into enemy territory at night.可以在夜间深入敌领土100千米。