VOA慢速英语2014 奥巴马面临避免在伊拉克采取军事行动的考验

 

AS IT IS 2014-06-26 Obama Tested to Avoid U.S. Military Action in Iraq 奥巴马面临避免在伊拉克采取军事行动的考验

President Barack Obama is sending hundreds of troops to Iraq to help the country’s armed forces stop unrest.  The Obama administration now faces questions on whether the troop deployment¹ will lead to a full-fledged, or expanded, involvement in Iraq.  VOA White House correspondent Luis Ramirez is following the president.  Here is his report. 

Sunni Muslim rebels in Iraq are tightening² their control of more towns.  Some observers question whether the deployment of up to 300 military advisers³ may be too little, too late.  The advisers are meant to give the Iraqi government the support it needs to end the rebellion. 

President Obama sent Secretary of State John Kerry to Iraq earlier this week.  He told Mr. Kerry to push for unity⁴ against the Islamist rebels and for an Iraqi solution. 

Josh Earnest is the president’s spokesman.  “This administration does believe that there is time for Iraq’s political leaders to make the necessary decisions that will unify⁵ the country to confront the terrorist threat, the extremist threat that they’re facing in Iraq right now.”

The job of the United States advisers is to study the abilities of the Iraqi military.  Many Iraqi soldiers reportedly have left the military.  And the remaining soldiers are said to hold a low opinion of the force.

In addition to the U.S. advisers, the president has approved other orders.  He told up to 275 troops to protect the United States embassy and other American interests in Iraq.

Julian Zelizer teaches political history at Princeton University in New Jersey⁶.  He told VOA on Skype that it may be difficult for the Obama Administration to keep the number of U.S. troops in Iraq low.

“Once you send 300 people there at a minimum, if they recommend the need for more, it’s hard for the president to then ignore the very people he sent to find out what should be done.”

Professor Zelizer says past conflicts have shown how small deployments can lead to much bigger operations.  He notes what happened to the United States in Vietnam and Korea.

“Each time the mission gets bigger, the involvement gets bigger.  It’s very difficult to contain these situations.”

The situation in Iraq has worsened in recent weeks.  The United States has already made a big investment in the country.  The challenge to limit U.S. involvement is perhaps even greater.  I’m Jonathan Evans.

1 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。

2 tightening   

上紧，固定，紧密

参考例句：

• Make sure the washer is firmly seated before tightening the pipe. 旋紧水管之前，检查一下洗衣机是否已牢牢地固定在底座上了。
• It needs tightening up a little. 它还需要再收紧些。

3 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser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：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

4 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

5 unify   

vt.使联合，统一；使相同，使一致

参考例句：

• How can we unify such scattered islands into a nation?我们怎么才能把如此分散的岛屿统一成一个国家呢？
• It is difficult to imagine how the North and South could ever agree on a formula to unify the divided peninsula.很难想象南北双方在统一半岛的方案上究竟怎样才能达成一致。

6 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。