2007年VOA标准英语-Bush Meets With Top Advisors to Discuss Iraq, M

By Scott Stearns
White House
20 January 2007

U.S. President George Bush is meeting with his top diplomatic and military advisors¹ about the war in Iraq and efforts to bring peace to the Middle East. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, opposition² Democrats³ say the president sending more troops to Iraq is a mistake.

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President Bush waves as he boards Marine One to travel to Camp David

Mr. Bush begins the seventh year of his presidency⁵ meeting with Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Defense⁶ Secretary Robert Gates about their trips to the Middle East last week.

Rice visited Israel, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Britain, and Germany, saying she expects the pace of contacts on Middle East peace efforts to accelerate in the next few weeks leading up to a three-way meeting with Israeli and Palestinian leaders next month.

Gates met with U.S. commanders in Iraq and Afghanistan during a trip that also included stops in Britain, Belgium, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Qatar. He told reporters that it is a pivotal moment in Iraq and failing to improve security there would be a calamity⁷ for U.S. interests.

The president is hoping to build support for what he says is a new way forward in the war, a plan that includes greater responsibilities for the Iraqi government and an additional 20,000 U.S. troops to help with security.

Public opinion polls show a majority of Americans oppose sending more troops to Iraq. A Los Angeles Times survey this past week said 70 percent of Americans disapprove⁸ of the way President Bush is handling the war.

White House officials say the president is not pursuing this course because he believes it is popular, but because he believes it is right.

Opposition Democrats say the president's plan is more of the same. In the Democratic radio address, Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer said Mr. Bush must recognize the need for broader political solutions to Iraqi violence.

"Mr. President, there are animosities between Sunni and Shia people in the Middle East that have developed over centuries," he noted⁹.  "Outsiders cannot resolve this conflict unless the Iraqi people want security and freedom at least as much as us."

Schweitzer, who learned Arabic while living in the Middle East for six years, said the president should not embed¹⁰ U.S. troops with the Iraqi army, because there are what he called "untested and potentially corrupt¹¹" members of the Iraqi military.

President Bush says critics of his plan have the burden to come up with a better alternative. He will use this Tuesday's State of the Union address to stress the need to back moderates in the Middle East in what he says is a decisive ideological¹² struggle against radical¹³ Islam.

Mr. Bush will again explain his reasons for sending more troops to Iraq, but will also seek to focus on more popular issues, presenting what White House officials say will be a positive agenda to improve the daily lives of Americans.

He is expected to discuss improvements in energy, health care, immigration, and education.

In his weekly radio address, the president called for changes in federal health subsidizes known as Medicare.

1 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

2 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。

3 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

5 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。

6 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。

7 calamity   

n.灾害，祸患，不幸事件

参考例句：

• Even a greater natural calamity cannot daunt us. 再大的自然灾害也压不垮我们。
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity.偷袭珍珠港(对美军来说)是一场毁灭性的灾难。

8 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 embed   

vt.把…嵌(埋、插)入，扎牢；使深留脑中

参考例句：

• The harpoon struck but did not embed.鱼叉击中了但并没有插入。
• This photo showed us how did the root of plant embed the soil deeply.这张照片显示植物的根是如何深入到土壤里去的。

11 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

12 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

13 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。