VOA标准英语2014--五角大楼称不急于在伊拉克发挥作用

 

Pentagon: No Rush to Boost Role in Iraq 五角大楼称不急于在伊拉克发挥作用

PENTAGON —

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Chuck Hagel is taking a hard look at assessments² by special forces teams in Iraq, focusing on the state of the Iraqi security forces and the threat posed by Sunni militants³. Defense officials say despite a complex and fluid situation on the ground, there will be no rush to move forward with additional help.

In Baghdad, there are fears that scenes of violence, like the aftermath of a recent deadly car bombing, are about to become the new normal.

In the north, attacks by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant have Shi’ites running for their lives.

"Some of the people were buried under the rubble⁴ of their houses, while others were shot dead in the street," said Abbas Ali, a Shi’ite Turkmen.

But for all the tales of horror, Pentagon officials say they are seeing some progress - Iraqi forces moving to retake the city of Tikrit and recapturing and holding the country's largest oil refinery⁵.

“I don’t know that I’m prepared here to qualify and say absolutely the momentum’s been broken, but certainly the Iraqis are fighting back and ultimately, and we said this at the very outset, this has got to be their fight,” said Pentagon Spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby.

How much the U.S. will help in that fight remains⁶ a question.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and other senior leaders are just now looking over the initial reports by U.S. teams sent to Iraq to assess the situation. There also is no timeline for how long the review will take and no guarantee they will recommend anything more than the surveillance flights, guns and ammunition⁷ already being provided.

“The long term solution for Iraq security is a stable inclusive political process,” said Kirby.

In the meantime, Iraq has been turning to Russia and Iran for help, like fighter jets.

Experts testifying before Congress Wednesday, like retired⁸ Army General Jack⁹ Keane, see that as a problem.

“The fact of the matter is Iran has an influence here.  And I think as we sit here and not do much of anything, that influence will grow in stature,” said Keane.

Former U.S. Ambassador to Iraq James Jeffrey told lawmakers Washington needs to flex¹⁰ its military muscle.

“Limited military force would be a leverage¹¹ factor, a multiplier of our influence because right now it will make all the difference and people are wondering whether we’re going to do it,” said Jeffrey.

In addition to teams on the ground, the U.S. has an aircraft carrier and destroyers in the Persian Gulf¹². But for now they are just watching carefully while Shi’ite militias¹³ take up arms to defend shrines¹⁴ and towns from a possible ISIL advance.

1 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。

2 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

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 rubble   

n.（一堆）碎石，瓦砾

参考例句：

• After the earthquake,it took months to clean up the rubble.地震后，花了数月才清理完瓦砾。
• After the war many cities were full of rubble.战后许多城市到处可见颓垣残壁。

5 refinery   

n.精炼厂，提炼厂

参考例句：

• They built a sugar refinery.他们建起了一座榨糖厂。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

6 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。

7 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。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

10 flex   

n.皮线，花线；vt.弯曲或伸展

参考例句：

• We wound off a couple of yards of wire for a new lamp flex.我们解开几码电线作为新的电灯花线。
• He gave his biceps a flex to impress the ladies.他收缩他的肱二头肌以吸引那些女士们的目光。

11 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

12 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。

13 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

14 shrines   

圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
• Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。