VOA标准英语2013--Afghan, US Tensions Threaten Orderly Withdrawal

Afghan, US Tensions Threaten Orderly Withdrawal¹

Shouting “death to America,” hundreds of protestors recently traveled from Wardak province to the Afghan capital Kabul demanding the withdrawal of U.S. troops.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai ordered U.S. Special Forces out of Wardak after accusations² that Afghans working for them tortured residents.

“We have gathered here to protest against the Special Forces in Wardak, because they enter people’s houses and torture innocent people,” said Khalilullah Ibrahimkhail, a Wardak resident

While U.S. military leaders denied the allegations, Special Forces remained in Wardak.

The province is close to Kabul, and its security is considered important in keeping insurgents³ from infiltrating⁴ the capital.

An agreement was announced Wednesday to gradually pull U.S. soldiers out of Wardak.

Earlier, another controversy⁵ erupted as President Karzai accused the U.S. of being in collusion with the Taliban.

“There are ongoing⁶ daily talks between the Taliban, Americans and foreigners in Europe and in the Gulf⁷ states,” Karzai said.

The accusations complicated U.S. Defense⁸ Secretary Chuck Hagel’s recent trip to Afghanistan.

A joint⁹ news conference with Karzai was abruptly¹⁰ cancelled as was the planned handover of Bagram Prison.

“I told the [Afghan] president it was not true that the United States was unilaterally working with the Taliban in trying to negotiate anything," Hagel said.

Talks between the U.S. and the Taliban designed to start an Afghan peace process were suspended a year ago.

Analysts¹¹ who have recently traveled to Afghanistan say there is little faith such negotiations¹² would produce a meaningful reconciliation¹³.

“[There is] Great concern that the peace negotiations might turn out to be hollow and little more than an extension of war by other means,” said Anthony Cordesman, of the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

There are now more than 350,000 Afghan troops nationwide, but doubt remains¹⁴ about whether they can protect the country.

Elections are scheduled for next year, but security and transparency are concerns.

“It is already clear that this is going to be a time of very deep tension. It is something where everyone we talked to was concerned, sometimes frightened of what might happen,” Cordesman said.

There are currently about 66,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. The total is expected to drop to about half that number by early next year.

No final decisions have been made about the size of a residual¹⁵ force after most of the soldiers have left at the end of 2014. 

1 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。

2 accusations   

n.指责( accusation的名词复数 )；指控；控告；（被告发、控告的）罪名

参考例句：

• There were accusations of plagiarism. 曾有过关于剽窃的指控。
• He remained unruffled by their accusations. 对于他们的指控他处之泰然。

3 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

4 infiltrating   

v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Be vigilant against the danger of enemy agents infiltrating the government and boring from within. 要警惕敌特渗入政府内部进行暗中破坏。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The metastatic melanoma is seen here to be infiltrating into the myocardium. 图示转移性黑色素瘤浸润到心肌。 来自互联网

5 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

6 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

7 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

8 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。

9 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

10 abruptly   

adv.突然地，出其不意地

参考例句：

• He gestured abruptly for Virginia to get in the car.他粗鲁地示意弗吉尼亚上车。
• I was abruptly notified that a half-hour speech was expected of me.我突然被通知要讲半个小时的话。

11 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。

12 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

13 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

14 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。

15 residual   

adj.复播复映追加时间；存留下来的，剩余的

参考例句：

• There are still a few residual problems with the computer program.电脑程序还有一些残留问题。
• The resulting residual chromatism is known as secondary spectrum.所得到的剩余色差叫做二次光谱。