2007年VOA标准英语-British Troops in Iraq Pull Out of Basra Palace

By Tom Rivers
London
03 September 2007

British military vehicles is seen on their way from the city of Basra, Iraq, 03 Sep 2007

The highly symbolic¹ pull out of British forces from Basra Palace to a nearby airbase is widely seen as the beginning of the end to British involvement in Iraq. For VOA, Tom Rivers reports from London.

After four years, Britain's presence in Iraq's second-largest city is no more. Just more than 500 soldiers were stationed at the complex that used to be a one of Saddam's palaces in the center of Basra.

Mortar² attacks against the palace had become commonplace.

As the British troops packed up, responsibility for the base was handed over to Iraqi security forces.

British spokesman in Basra, Major Mike Shearer³ says the departure went off smoothly⁴.

"There were no major incidents during the operation and all troops are now safely back at the contingency⁵ operating base and have been since mid-day today," said Shearer.

The departure of the troops was greeted with cheers by many locals who lined the streets. This man says he hopes the scene will be repeated elsewhere.

"My happiness would be full if they were to withdraw from all [of] Iraq, not only from Basra," said an Iraqi.

Here in London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the withdrawal⁶ was not a defeat, but rather another milestone⁷ signaling more responsibility being handed back to the Iraqis.

"This is a pre-planned, and this is an organized move from Basra palace to Basra Air Station," said Mr. Brown. "This is essentially⁸ a move from a position where we were in a combat role in four provinces and now we are moving over time to being in an over-watch role."

Former NATO Commander, Colonel Bob Stewart says the British departure cannot really be seen in terms of defeat or victory.

"In military terms, yes we took the country and in political terms we might have lost it. So, it is sort of 50-50," said Stewart. "The fact of the matter is that we are withdrawing and Basra is still in a huge mess.

About 5,500 British troops are now stationed at Basra Air Base on the outskirts⁹ of the city, but 500 of those are expected to head home soon.

Prime Minister Brown has promised to update his parliamentary colleagues on current British thinking on Iraq next month. It is widely believed that more British forces will be pulled out in the coming months with some of them being redeployed to southern Afghanistan.

1 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

2 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

3 shearer   

n.剪羊毛的人；剪切机

参考例句：

• A bad shearer never had a good sickle. 拙匠无利器。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Eventually, Shearer lost faith, dropping him to the bench. 最终，希勒不再信任他，把他换下场。 来自互联网

4 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

5 contingency   

n.意外事件，可能性

参考例句：

• We should be prepared for any contingency.我们应该对任何应急情况有所准备。
• A fire in our warehouse was a contingency that we had not expected.库房的一场大火是我们始料未及的。

6 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。

7 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。