2006年VOA标准英语-Bush Prepares for NATO Summit

By Scott Stearns
White House
24 November 2006

U.S. President George Bush visits Europe in the coming week for a summit with leaders of the NATO alliance. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns will travel with the president and reports on what is expected from the meeting in Latvia.

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US President George W. Bush
Afghanistan tops the agenda at the NATO summit as the Cold War alliance now leads the international force that's backing the government of Hamid Karzai.

Since U.S. troops toppled the former Taleban government in Afghanistan four years ago, Islamic militants¹ there have regrouped, engaging in sometimes heavy fighting with NATO forces, especially in the south.

Judy Ansley, the senior director for European Affairs at the White House National Security Council, says the mission in Afghanistan is going "fine," and the NATO summit is a chance for President Bush to meet with other leaders to ensure that it continues moving forward.

"Clearly, there have been some challenges with the expansion in the south during the summer, where NATO has been challenged by the Taleban,” she said.  “But NATO has performed very well. And the main thing now is to make sure that the alliance remains² committed to this mission, which is important not only to Afghanistan but to our security in the West, and sees it through to completion."

Ansley says President Bush sees Afghanistan as part of a broader role for NATO in addressing security concerns outside its traditional European focus.

"If you look to the threats of the 21st century, most of them are not right on the borders of Europe as they used to be during the Cold War,” she added.  “They are coming from farther away. I think Afghanistan is a perfect example. You have a terrorist threat that has already hit our shores, obviously will threaten NATO and NATO member nations again if we don't deal with it there."

 
Canadian soldiers of ISAF watch as Afghan National Army (ANA) soldiers participate in a joint³ military exercise, October 31, 2006
With 11 countries outside the NATO alliance joining member troops in Afghanistan, Ansley says President Bush believes there should be a longer-term commitment to better integrate some non-NATO members into alliance planning.

At the Latvian summit, NATO leaders are expected to invite Japan, Australia, South Korea, Sweden, and Finland to cooperate more closely on training, including special operations forces.

There is also expected to be a deal through which 14 NATO members plus Sweden will buy U.S. C-17 aircraft to better transport troops and material as part of a coordinated⁴ initiative on strategic airlift.

Macedonia, Croatia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, and Georgia are hoping to join the alliance. Ansley says there is no expectation that the Riga summit will announce any new members.

Following that meeting, President Bush will fly to Jordan for talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. U.S. National Security Advisor⁵ Steve Hadley says the Bush administration is not looking for what he calls a "big, bold announcement" from those talks.

Instead, the two men will discuss a joint commission established to speed the transfer of more responsibility to the Iraqi government and how regional states can better support it.

1 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。

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 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。

4 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。