VOA常速英语2008年-Iraq War is Key Issue in US Presidential Race

By Deborah Tate
Washington
17 March 2008

Five years after the start of the Iraq war, many Americans believe the invasion was a mistake and favor bringing U.S. troops home. Those attitudes are playing out daily in the U.S. presidential campaign. VOA's Deborah Tate looks at how the war is affecting the race for the White house and the U.S. economy.

The two candidates seeking the Democratic Party's nomination¹ for president, Senators Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, are pledging to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq if elected to the White House.

Senator Clinton has preferred a gradual approach.

"I have also said that I would begin to withdraw within 60 days based on a plan that I asked ... to be put together as soon as I became president. And I think we can take out one to two brigades a month," she said.

Senator Obama has said he will withdraw all combat brigades from Iraq within the first 16 months of his presidency², but he says he will first consult with U.S. commanders on the ground.

"My plan is to get our troops out of Iraq," he said.

The presumptive Republican nominee³, Senator John McCain, supports President Bush's current strategy and would keep U.S. troops in Iraq for the foreseeable future.

"We are in Iraq, and our most vital security interests are clearly involved there," he said.

His position is at odds⁴ not only with his Democratic rivals, but also with broad American public opinion. Helen Virginia Bush is from Florida.

"My thoughts about the war is that it is a complete tragedy, that it was an unnecessary war," she said.

Paula Litvak lives in Washington.

"I think it should never have happened in the first place. I think it is a totally wrong war for the wrong reasons," she said.

Andrew Kohut tracks public opinion as president of the Pew Research Center in Washington. He says unhappiness with the Iraq war is favoring one party over the other.

"We now see a strong plurality of the American public identifying with the Democratic Party. That is a consequence of the disillusionment with Bush," he said.

Kohut says only 38 percent of Americans still support the decision to invade Iraq.

Among them is Warner Ashby of Maryland.

"I think the war is necessary because I think the terrorist activities that were going on in Afghanistan almost certainly would have continued in Iraq," he said.

McCain says the U.S. was right in going to war.

"I will defend the decision to destroy Saddam Hussein's regime," he said.

Obama and Clinton say money for health care, education and other domestic needs is lacking because of the huge cost of the war.

"We are bogged⁵ down in a war that John McCain now suggests might go on for another one hundred years, spending $12 billion a month that could be invested in the kinds of programs that both Senator Clinton and I are talking about," Senator Obama said.

Economic experts agree that the war is weighing heavily on the U.S. economy. Alan Krueger is a professor at Princeton University.

"It has increased the deficit⁶,"  he said. "We are funding the war with deficit spending. As a result, that is making it harder to borrow money, so that raised interest rates."

It raises the political stakes as well, with both Clinton and Obama reminding Americans of the war's high costs, and their plans to bring American troops home.

1 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

2 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

3 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

4 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

5 bogged   

adj.陷于泥沼的v.（使）陷入泥沼， （使）陷入困境( bog的过去式和过去分词 )；妨碍，阻碍

参考例句：

• The professor bogged down in the middle of his speech. 教授的演讲只说了一半便讲不下去了。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• The tractor is bogged down in the mud. 拖拉机陷入了泥沼。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。