VOA标准英语2010年-NATO Prepares to Test President Obama'

U.S. and Afghan soldiers together with Afghan policemen stand near the site of a car bomb explosion in Kandahar, Afghanistan, 26 May 2010.

Thousands of U.S. troops are heading into southern Afghanistan in June to launch an offensive in Kandahar province that President Obama has ordered to help end the Taliban insurgency¹. U.S. and coalition² troops are already advancing in and around the city of Kandahar, where the Taliban are terrorizing the population with car bombings and other attacks.

A car bomb explodes (Wednesday) outside a small NATO military base in Afghanistan's southern Kandahar city, wounding two Afghans and destroying several cars.

The Taliban have launched their spring offensive in response to the U.S. push into Kandahar to flush out the militants³ and provide civilian⁴ aid to the population.

"Kandahar is the main effort. This is not only the main effort for ISAF, but also for the Afghan government and also for the entire international community," NATO's Brigadier General Josef Blotz said.

 

Afghanistan's main opposition⁵ leader, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah is optimistic. But he told VOA the military action in Kandahar must be followed by swift political and structural⁶ changes. "Under the current circumstances, the power structure in Kandahar in the eyes of the people of Kandahar is the problem number one, and the Taliban and al-Qaida number two," he explained.

The power structure in Kandahar is led by President Hamid Karzai's controversial half-brother, Ahmed Wali Karzai, with alleged⁷ links to drug trade and local militias⁸.

NATO commanders plan to reduce his influence as the chairman of the provincial⁹ council by making the local government more effective.

But, Steve Coll at the New America Foundation says the brother remains¹⁰ a problem, and Washington is just giving him more time to shape up. "The message is if you are not going to be clean and sincere, if you are going to engage in criminal activity, if you are going to cooperate with the Taliban, we will hold you accountable," he said. "We will take what steps are necessary to prevent that."

Coll says NATO plans to create an environment of security in Kandahar that would allow Afghans to create fresh political equations.  "That is to go into sub-district areas and try to build new "shuras", new town councils, new groups of businessmen and elders and other respected personalities¹¹ and to have them try to decide how this new strategy, new security should be carried out," he added.

"We are going to put a lot of aid resources, a lot of troops in there. The situation in Kandahar is going to get better, says Tony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. "People are going to see more security."

But Steve Coll says the success of the Kandahar offensive really hinges on a psychological battle that will be more difficult to win. "The question is whether they can create a change in the outlook of Afghan people -- of farmers, and shopkeepers and others who may be intimidated¹² by the Taliban," Coll said. "Who may have to choose with their lives at stake between trusting the Americans, trusting the Afghan government or trusting the Taliban."

The analysts¹³ say if the offensive can reverse the Taliban momentum¹⁴ and create trust among the people for the coalition forces, it will definitely turn the tide.  But if it fails, it will underscore the limits the international community faces in its efforts to change the future of Afghanistan.
 

1 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

2 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。

3 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

6 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

7 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

8 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

9 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。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

12 intimidated   

v.恐吓；威胁adj.害怕的；受到威胁的

参考例句：

• We try to make sure children don't feel intimidated on their first day at school. 我们努力确保孩子们在上学的第一天不胆怯。
• The thief intimidated the boy into not telling the police. 这个贼恫吓那男孩使他不敢向警察报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 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。

14 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。