美国准备打击伊斯兰国

 　　PENTAGON—Teams of U.S. special operators could be in place within weeks, aiming to strike at the brain trust and nervous system of the Islamic State terror group, in an intensified¹ effort to destroy what many see as a growing global threat.

　　The “specialized² expeditionary targeting force" will consist of approximately 200 special forces personnel and could be in place in Iraq within weeks, according to officials familiar with the plans.

　　The goal will be to take advantage of intelligence on short notice in order to “degrade key leadership and command-and-control elements of ISIL” in both Iraq and Syria, a U.S. official told VOA on condition of anonymity³, using an acronym⁴ for the terror group.

　　US Prepares to Strike at Heart of Islamic State

　　U.S. Defense⁵ Secretary Ash Carter first announced the deployment⁶ of the new force Tuesday during testimony⁷ before the House Armed Services Committee, promising⁸ to strike fear across Islamic State’s ranks.

　　"You don't know at night who's going to be coming through the window, and that’s the sensation we want all of ISIL's leadership and followers⁹ to have," he told lawmakers.

　　"These special operators will over time be able to conduct raids, free hostages, gather intelligence and capture ISIL leaders," he said. “That creates a virtuous¹⁰ cycle of better intelligence, which generates more targets, more raids and more momentum¹¹."

　　Carter said the specialized force would work with both Iraqi and Kurdish peshmerga forces in Iraq and be capable of unilateral action in Syria.

　　Earlier step

　　The move builds on plans announced in October to send fewer than 50 special operations forces to assist opposition¹² groups battling IS. Those forces are still preparing to begin operations, but U.S. officials said the time was right to take the next step.

　　The use of a targeting force is not without precedence in the U.S. effort against IS. Carter said the new force would be capable of actions like the raid earlier this year in Syria that killed top Islamic State finance official Abu Sayyaf, led to the capture of his wife and allowed U.S. forces to recover what was described as "a substantial amount of intelligence."

　　There also was a joint¹³ raid raid carried out by U.S. forces and Iraqi peshmerga in October that resulted in the death of a U.S. service member.

　　“ISIL has been cut off strategically in a number of key areas,” a senior administration official told VOA. “This is a good point in the campaign to bring in American special operators, who really are force multipliers.”

　　The official said progress on the ground by Iraqi and Kurdish forces, as well as by U.S.-backed opposition fighters in Syria, had also given intelligence officials a chance to learn more about the terror group and its vulnerabilities.

　　Still, U.S. officials cautioned that the move to insert more special operators was not an indication that Islamic State is at any sort of tipping point, ready to fall.

　　Despite the success of local forces on the ground in Iraq and Syria, and a U.S.-led air campaign that has killed an estimated 23,000 Islamic State militants¹⁴, the terror group has been resilient.

　　"We have not contained ISIL,” U.S. Joint Chiefs Chairman General Joseph Dunford told the Armed Services Committee on Tuesday. “Strategically, they have spread since 2010." He called Islamic State the “ultimate opportunists.”

　　Will it work?

　　The ability of IS to survive concerns critics and analysts¹⁵, who wonder whether the additional U.S. special forces will do much to further the terror group’s demise¹⁶.

　　“It’s a capability¹⁷ we should have had in place a year and a half ago,” said Michael Pregent, a former intelligence officer who was embedded¹⁸ with peshmerga forces in Mosul, Iraq, from 2005 to 2006.

　　Now an adjunct fellow at the Hudson Institute, a Washington policy and research group, he said that even if the new U.S. force was successful in eliminating high-value targets, it might not be enough.

　　“It took 10 to 15 raids a night for five years with 130,000 troops on the ground and 90,000 Sunnis in a U.S.-led security force to decimate al-Qaida [in Iraq],” he said. “This is one-twentieth of that.”

　　Others see the potential for at least a “marginal” increase in the effectiveness of U.S. operations, pointing to the capability for better intelligence and more precise targeting.  But Christopher Harmer of the Institute for the study of War in Washington said that to truly put a dent¹⁹ in Islamic State operations, more special forces and resources would have to be sent to the region.

　　“You need several thousand people,” said Harmer, a former U.S. Navy commander. “You’ve got to have the special operators at the tip of the spear. You’ve got to have the intel resources to guide them to the target You’ve got to have a significant quick strike reaction capability.”

　　The U.S. has about 3,500 troops at six locations in Iraq to support Iraqi forces, with tens of thousands of troops stationed across the Middle East.

1 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

3 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

4 acronym   

n.首字母简略词，简称

参考例句：

• That's a mouthful of an acronym for a very simple technology.对于一项非常简单的技术来说，这是一个很绕口的缩写词。
• TSDF is an acronym for Treatment, Storage and Disposal Facilities.TSDF是处理，储存和处置设施的一个缩写。

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 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。

7 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

8 promising   

adj.有希望的，有前途的

参考例句：

• The results of the experiments are very promising.实验的结果充满了希望。
• We're trying to bring along one or two promising young swimmers.我们正设法培养出一两名有前途的年轻游泳选手。

9 followers   

追随者( follower的名词复数 )； 用户； 契据的附面； 从动件

参考例句：

• the followers of Mahatma Gandhi 圣雄甘地的拥护者
• The reformer soon gathered a band of followers round him. 改革者很快就获得一群追随者支持他。

10 virtuous   

adj.有品德的，善良的，贞洁的，有效力的

参考例句：

• She was such a virtuous woman that everybody respected her.她是个有道德的女性，人人都尊敬她。
• My uncle is always proud of having a virtuous wife.叔叔一直为娶到一位贤德的妻子而骄傲。

11 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。

12 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。

13 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。

14 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。

15 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。

16 demise   

n.死亡；v.让渡，遗赠，转让

参考例句：

• He praised the union's aims but predicted its early demise.他赞扬协会的目标，但预期这一协会很快会消亡。
• The war brought about the industry's sudden demise.战争道致这个行业就这么突然垮了。

17 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

18 embedded   

a.扎牢的

参考例句：

• an operation to remove glass that was embedded in his leg 取出扎入他腿部玻璃的手术
• He has embedded his name in the minds of millions of people. 他的名字铭刻在数百万人民心中。

19 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。