2006年VOA标准英语-The Spiraling Cost of the Iraq War

By Peter Fedynsky
Washington, DC
02 May 2006
 
watch Iraq Funding report
 
  
  
The U.S. Senate is considering additional emergency funding for the war in Iraq.  According to the U.S. Congressional Research Service, a non-partisan research arm of Congress, that cost will soon reach $320 billion and could eventually exceed expenditures¹ for the war in Vietnam.  VOA's Peter Fedynsky examines the relationship between the price of war and the ability to fight.

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Congressional researchers say the cost of the war is spiraling upward, from $51 billion in 2003 to nearly $102 billion this year, or $2 billion each week.  This contradicts optimistic pre-war estimates, when Defense² Secretary Donald Rumsfeld testified in Congress that the effort would not be a burden.

"Before we turn to the American Taxpayer³, we will turn first to the resources of the Iraqi government and the international community,” the secretary said.

The resources, however, have not materialized, and oil production -- which was to have been Iraq's major contribution -- has been severely⁴ cut by war.

Adding to the cost is maintenance of equipment, which was not expected to be in combat for so many years, not to mention the continued price of ammunition⁵ and injuries.

Steven Kosiak   
  
Independent defense analyst⁶ Steven Kosiak says the war is being paid with money America does not have.  "Currently we're paying for this war essentially⁷ on our credit card. We're not raising taxes, we're not cutting other programs to pay for it and that adds to the federal debt."

"We are able to finance the war on credit flows from abroad," adds Jeremy Shapiro, a military researcher at the Brookings Institution think tank in Washington, D.C.  He says the United States has a good credit rating with international investors⁸.  But, he cautions that this cannot continue indefinitely and predicts that President Bush will need to make some hard choices.

"It makes it difficult for him to accomplish his domestic priorities,” says Shapiro. “This is a classic dilemma⁹ that wartime presidents get themselves into."

Jeremy Shapiro  
  
Shapiro cites President Lyndon Johnson, who failed to reconcile the political priorities of his ambitious domestic social agenda known as "The Great Society” and those of the Vietnam War. That war cost 541 billion in today's dollars.

The Brookings researcher notes, however, that America today is spending only four percent of its gross domestic product on defense, compared to six percent during the Reagan presidency¹⁰ and 10 percent in the 1950's.  Shapiro, therefore, concludes that the funding issue today is not so much a question of economic ability, but political will on the part of the American people.

"From a political perspective, the notion that you might say to people, 'OK, we are fighting this war, that means here is how much you have to pay for it, and here its coming out of your pocket’ would be something, which would bring home the costs and would encourage a more practical, less abstract debate about what the war really is and what the war really means," Shapiro said.

In the meantime, U.S. soldiers are deeply engaged in Iraq.  And President Bush repeats the position he laid out at the start of the war.

"My attitude is, anytime we put one of our soldiers in harms’ way, we're going to spend whatever is necessary to make sure they have the best training, the best support, and the best possible equipment," said the president.

Mr. Bush made the statement in 2003 when the annual cost of the Iraq war was 51 billion dollars.  The Senate is likely to approve a supplemental request for the current year of nearly twice that amount.

1 expenditures   

n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 )；使用；（尤指金钱的）支出额；（精力、时间、材料等的）耗费

参考例句：

• We have overspent.We'll have to let up our expenditures next month. 我们已经超支了，下个月一定得节约开支。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pension includes an allowance of fifty pounds for traffic expenditures. 年金中包括50镑交通费补贴。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

4 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

5 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。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

8 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

9 dilemma   

n.困境，进退两难的局面

参考例句：

• I am on the horns of a dilemma about the matter.这件事使我进退两难。
• He was thrown into a dilemma.他陷入困境。

10 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。