VOA慢速英语2010年-IN THE NEWS - A Change in Generals, bu

This week, President Obama replaced his top commander in Afghanistan. General Stanley McChrystal resigned after a year in command of United States and NATO forces. To replace him, the president chose the general to whom General McChrystal reported. The Senate is expected to quickly confirm General David Petraeus to lead the nearly nine-year-old war.

The last president to remove a war commander was Harry¹ Truman. In nineteen fifty-one he dismissed General Douglas MacArthur during the Korean War. But that was a dispute over policy.

General McChrystal lost his job over comments made to and in the presence of a reporter from Rolling Stone magazine. The general and his aides spoke² disrespectfully about several administration officials. The general was quickly ordered to the White House to meet Wednesday with President Obama.

General Stanley McChrystal with Ambassador Karl Eikenberry at a memorial ceremony in Kabul last fall

BARACK OBAMA: "I welcome debate among my team, but I will not tolerate division."

The president said he had considerable regret in accepting the resignation of "one of our nation’s finest soldiers." But he said his responsibilities as commander-in-chief led him to his decision.

BARACK OBAMA: "The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general. It undermines the civilian³ control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system."

President Obama announcing the replacement⁴ of General McChrystal with General David Petraeus

The president says the change is not a change in policy. He says General Petraeus understands that strategy because he helped shape it.

General Petraeus is known for his political as well as military skills. Experts credit him with a successful counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq in two thousand seven and two thousand eight. Counterinsurgency involves military action but also depends on civilian relationships to succeed.

The Afghanistan policy calls for establishing security in cities and towns, protecting civilians⁵ even if it means more danger for coalition⁶ troops. It also involves training local security forces and strengthening the government.

Last month, General Petraeus talked about the situation.

DAVID PETRAEUS: "As was the case in Iraq, the reality is that everything in Afghanistan is hard. It's hard all the time, and it typically gets harder before it gets easier."

General McChrystal was one of the relatively⁷ few American officials to develop a good relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. But he never did the same with the American ambassador, Karl Eikenberry, a former commander in Afghanistan.

On Wednesday, President Obama repeated the policy agreed to last fall.

BARACK OBAMA: "We are going to break the Taliban's momentum⁸. We are going to build Afghan capacity. We are going to relentlessly⁹ apply pressure on al-Qaida and its leadership, strengthening the ability of both Afghanistan and Pakistan to do the same."

Admiral Mike Mullen, the Joint¹⁰ Chiefs chairman, says the United States should know by the end of this year whether the strategy is working.

If all goes as planned, withdrawals¹¹ could begin by next July. But insurgent¹² attacks have increased and progress has been slower than expected in the south.

Thirty thousand more American troops are joining the war. But public support is down and concerns in Congress are up.

June is the deadliest month yet for international forces in Afghanistan. And problems continue with the development of the Afghan security forces and with corruption¹³ among Afghan officials.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.
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Based on reporting by VOA's Meredith Buel, Kent Klein, Jim Malone, Al Pessin, Carolyn Presutti, Robert Raffaele, Jerome Socolovsky and Gary Thomas.

 

1 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 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。

4 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

5 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

6 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。

7 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

8 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。

9 relentlessly   

adv.不屈不挠地；残酷地；不间断

参考例句：

• The African sun beat relentlessly down on his aching head. 非洲的太阳无情地照射在他那发痛的头上。
• He pursued her relentlessly, refusing to take 'no' for an answer. 他锲而不舍地追求她，拒不接受“不”的回答。

10 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。

11 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

12 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

13 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。