美俄就叙利亚问题加紧磋商

 　　PENTAGON—Russia and the United States are set to resume talks aimed at avoiding accidents in Syrian air space as the two countries conduct separate bombing campaigns.

　　U.S. Defense¹ Department press secretary Peter Cook said Friday that a second round of talks could take place within the next few days.

　　The United States, which opposes Moscow's support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has ruled out cooperation with Russia, but has agreed to work on air safety procedures.

　　Russian planes crossed into Turkish airspace several days ago, triggering an immediate² protest from Turkey and a vow³ from NATO that it will defend its member nation. A Russian aircraft also came within a few kilometers of an American drone.

　　US, Russia to Hold Talks on Air Safety Over Syria

　　This past week, Moscow fired cruise missiles into Syria from ships in the Caspian Sea, and the U.S. says four of them went awry⁴ and crashed in Iran. Moscow denies any of its missiles went awry.

　　Talks are likely to deal with how much separation there should be between U.S. and Russian aircraft and which language crews should use for communications.

　　The news of the talks came as the U.S. announced earlier Friday a change in a $500 million Pentagon-led program to train and equip Syrian rebels fighting Islamic State militants⁵.

　　The operation will shift away from vetting⁶ moderate Syrian rebels and training them in Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

　　"We are going to pause that for now," Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Christine Wormuth told reporters Friday on a White House conference call, "but there may be an opportunity in the future where the situation on the ground is more fruitful."

　　Instead, the program will provide air support and basic equipment and training to vetted⁷ opposition⁸ group leaders, White House officials said.

　　"We're going to be vetting leaders as opposed to each individual fighter," Wormuth said.

　　The Pentagon will use a small training center in Turkey to teach these leaders skills, including how to call in airstrikes. It will also better equip trusted units on the ground fighting against the Islamic State.

　　"Is it best to take those guys out and put them through training programs for many weeks, or to keep them on the line fighting and to give them additional enablers and support?" said Brett McGurk, the White House deputy envoy⁹ to the Global Coalition¹⁰ to Counter Islamic State. "I think the latter is the right answer, and that's what we're going to be doing."

　　Early efforts unsucessful

　　The Pentagon-led train-and-equip program had trained only a few dozen fighters, much fewer than the original goal of thousands.

　　"The way the program was proceeding¹¹ was extremely ill-conceived, and it didn't match the reality of Syrian battlefields," Jeffrey White of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy told VOA. "It had virtually no chance of success the way they were going about it."

　　Officials have acknowledged significant challenges. Deputy national security adviser¹² Ben Rhodes said the administration had been willing to make "corrections" when it saw things "not working."

　　"I wasn't happy with the early efforts of the program," Defense Secretary Ash Carter said Friday in London. "So we have devised a number of different approaches."

　　Carter said the work the United States has done with Kurdish forces in northern Syria has proved effective, calling it "exactly the kind of example" that should be pursued with other groups in Syria going forward.

　　"I remain convinced that a lasting¹³ defeat of ISIL in Syria will depend in part on the success of local, motivated and capable ground forces," Carter said in a statement issued by the Pentagon, using an acronym¹⁴ for Islamic State.

　　"I believe the changes we are instituting today will, over time, increase the combat power of counter-ISIL forces in Syria and ultimately help our campaign achieve a lasting defeat of ISIL," he said.

　　U.S. Senator John McCain, a frequent critic of the Obama administration's approach to the conflict in Syria, said the Pentagon's revised train and equip program involving Syrian rebels suffers the same primary flaw that harmed the program from the start.

　　"As President Obama conceded last week, the administration's insistence¹⁵ that U.S.-trained Syrian forces only fight [Islamic State militants] — even as the Assad regime has slaughtered¹⁶ over 200,000 Syrians — has made it impossible to generate a viable¹⁷ indigenous¹⁸ ground force in Syria that can produce significant effects on the battlefield," McCain said in a statement. "It is inexplicable¹⁹ that the administration acknowledges this problem yet refuses to fix it."

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 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

3 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

4 awry   

adj.扭曲的，错的

参考例句：

• She was in a fury over a plan that had gone awry. 计划出了问题，她很愤怒。
• Something has gone awry in our plans.我们的计划出差错了。

5 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。

6 vetting   

n.数据检查[核对，核实]v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的现在分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• Scripts had to be submitted to Ministry of Information officials for vetting. 必须把脚本提交给信息部官员审查。 来自互联网
• Their purpose in clicking deeper into a site is one of vetting. 他们深入点击网站的目的是一种诊疗。 来自互联网

7 vetted   

v.审查（某人过去的记录、资格等）( vet的过去式和过去分词 )；调查；检查；诊疗

参考例句：

• The recruits were thoroughly vetted before they were allowed into the secret service. 情报机关招募的新成员要经过严格的审查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All staff are vetted for links with extremist groups before being employed. 所有职员录用前均须审查是否与极端分子团体有关。 来自辞典例句

8 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。

9 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

10 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。

11 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

12 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

13 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

14 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。

15 insistence   

n.坚持；强调；坚决主张

参考例句：

• They were united in their insistence that she should go to college.他们一致坚持她应上大学。
• His insistence upon strict obedience is correct.他坚持绝对服从是对的。

16 slaughtered   

v.屠杀，杀戮，屠宰( slaughter的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The invading army slaughtered a lot of people. 侵略军杀了许多人。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Hundreds of innocent civilians were cruelly slaughtered. 数百名无辜平民遭残杀。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 viable   

adj.可行的，切实可行的，能活下去的

参考例句：

• The scheme is economically viable.这个计划从经济效益来看是可行的。
• The economy of the country is not viable.这个国家经济是难以维持的。

18 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

19 inexplicable   

adj.无法解释的，难理解的

参考例句：

• It is now inexplicable how that development was misinterpreted.当时对这一事态发展的错误理解究竟是怎么产生的，现在已经无法说清楚了。
• There are many things which are inexplicable by science.有很多事科学还无法解释。