2007年VOA标准英语-Afghan Ambassador Calls for More Efforts to Pro

By Al Pessin
Washington
02 July 2007

The Afghan ambassador to the United States says U.S. and NATO forces in his country need to do more to avoid killing¹ civilians³ as they battle Taleban insurgents⁴. The ambassador spoke⁵ an interview with VOA Pentagon Correspondent Al Pessin.

 

Ambassador Said Tayeb Jawad spoke before the latest air strike killed civilians in Helmand Province Friday, but after other attacks had caused highly-publicized civilian² casualties elsewhere in Afghanistan."Of course, we have asked both NATO and U.S. forces to change their procedures, but the fact is that this is a problem and an issue that both the Afghan government and the international forces are facing in Afghanistan," he said.

Ambassador Jawad says the problem is that Taleban fighters hide among civilians, something he says is not likely to change. Therefore, the ambassador says, the United States and NATO need to change the things they can change, particularly, he says, they need to address what he sees as some critical shortages. "When NATO is short of helicopters and soldiers and other (things), they have to rely on high altitude bombing, which is inaccurate⁶ and causes actually a high degree of civilian deaths," he said.

Ambassador Jawad says in addition to more helicopters to make more precise air strikes and deliver troops, he believes NATO and the United States need to send more special operations troops that can operate in the villages, do a better job of gathering⁷ intelligence in remote areas and coordinate⁸ better with Afghan forces.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called U.S. and NATO forces "careless" in their approach to the safety of Afghan civilians.

In the most recent incident, Afghan officials say a U.S. air strike killed 45 civilians in southern Helmand Province. The officials say 62 Taleban fighters who had taken refuge in a village were also killed. A U.S. military official said he believes the civilian death toll⁹ is much lower, and expressed regret for the casualties.

Last week, before the latest incident, the chief of operations for U.S. and NATO forces in eastern Afghanistan said allied¹⁰ procedures for avoiding civilian casualties are adequate. The officer, Brigadier General Joseph Votel, said allied forces are doing their best to avoid civilian casualties, and succeed in hundreds of operations. "With every operation we do, we always do a very good look at the area in which we're going to operate and identify those areas where a civilian population might be affected¹¹. We hold our commanders to a high level of responsibility out on the battlefield," he said.

General Votel says civilian casualties are "never acceptable," but he blames the Taleban for putting the civilians in danger.

Ambassador Jawad agrees with that, but he says because the Taleban is not likely to change its tactics, U.S. and NATO forces need to make extra efforts to protect civilians "The most important asset we have in Afghanistan is the support and the good will of the Afghan people for the military mission. And if you are not careful we risk the danger of losing that support," he said.

The ambassador says he does not doubt the sincerity¹² of U.S. and NATO officers, but he says they need to take practical steps to do a better job of protecting Afghan civilians.

1 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

4 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

7 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

8 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

9 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

10 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

11 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

12 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。