2007年VOA标准英语-Senior US Military Officials Present Different

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
17 July 2007

A report in Tuesday's Washington Post newspaper indicates that at least some military planners believe a U.S. troop withdrawal¹ from Iraq would not cause a disaster. But the Bush administration says that is only one view, and it is not shared by many senior U.S. military commanders. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

The Washington Post quotes the conclusions of a war game exercise recently conducted for the U.S. military by a retired² Marine³ colonel. The study concluded that if U.S. combat troops withdrew from Iraq in the near future, Shiite militias⁴ would force many Iraqi Sunnis to move to al-Anbar Province in western Iraq, that there would be a civil war among Shiite groups in southern Iraq, and that mainly Kurdish northern Iraq would become even more autonomous⁵ than it is now.

The Post quotes the report's author, retired Colonel Gary Anderson, as saying the consequences of a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq would be "ugly," but not "apocalyptic⁶."

On Tuesday, Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman took issue with that conclusion.

"The people that are closest to it, the commanders that are out there, have all articulated what they believe would be the fairly significant negative consequences of leaving before they were able to achieve what they are out there to do," he said.

US Major Gen. Rick Lynch briefs the media during a press conference in the heavily-fortified Green Zone in Baghdad

In recent weeks, several senior U.S. military officers have commented on the dangers of a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq. One of them was Major General Rick Lynch, commander of coalition⁷ forces south of Baghdad.

"It'd be a mess. Those surge forces are giving us the capability⁸ we have now to take the fight to the enemy. If those surge forces go away, that capability goes away, and the Iraqi security forces aren't ready yet to do that," he said. "So now what you're going to find if you did that, is you'd find the enemy regaining⁹ ground, re-establishing a sanctuary¹⁰, building more IEDs, carrying those IEDs in Baghdad, and the violence would escalate¹¹. It would be a mess."

In addition to the impact inside Iraq, officials warn that other countries in the region could be drawn¹² into an Iraqi civil war. And last week President Bush again warned of direct consequences for the United States if Iraq descends¹³ into chaos¹⁴ after a U.S. troop withdrawal.

"What's realistic as well is to understand the consequences of what will happen if we fail in Iraq," he said. "In other words, people aren't going to be content with just driving America out of Iraq. Al-Qaida wants to hurt us here. That's their objective."

Regarding the war game conclusions quoted by the Washington Post Tuesday, the Pentagon spokesman, Bryan Whitman, noted¹⁵ that the defense¹⁶ department looks at all kinds of potential scenarios¹⁷ all the time.

"The United States military studies any number of scenarios quite frequently," said Whitman. "And it's important to conduct those exercises to inform yourselves of the potential consequences of operations, as well as the potential consequences of doing nothing."

Administration officials have repeatedly urged the public, the media and members of Congress to wait until September before trying to judge the president's new Iraq strategy and the relative consequences of a withdrawal or continuing the surge of U.S. forces. That is when the top U.S. military officer in Iraq and the U.S. ambassador are to issue a formal progress report.

1 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

2 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

3 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。

4 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

5 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。

6 apocalyptic   

adj.预示灾祸的，启示的

参考例句：

• The air is chill and stagnant,the language apocalyptic.空气寒冷而污浊，语言则是《启示录》式的。
• Parts of the ocean there look just absolutely apocalyptic.海洋的很多区域看上去完全像是世界末日。

7 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。

8 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

9 regaining   

复得( regain的现在分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• She was regaining consciousness now, but the fear was coming with her. 现在她正在恢发她的知觉，但是恐怖也就伴随着来了。
• She said briefly, regaining her will with a click. 她干脆地答道，又马上重新振作起精神来。

10 sanctuary   

n.圣所，圣堂，寺庙；禁猎区，保护区

参考例句：

• There was a sanctuary of political refugees behind the hospital.医院后面有一个政治难民的避难所。
• Most countries refuse to give sanctuary to people who hijack aeroplanes.大多数国家拒绝对劫机者提供庇护。

11 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

12 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

13 descends   

v.下来( descend的第三人称单数 )；下去；下降；下斜

参考例句：

• This festival descends from a religious rite. 这个节日起源于宗教仪式。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The path descends steeply to the village. 小路陡直而下直到村子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

15 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。

16 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。

17 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓