VOA常速英语2008年-US Defense Chief Hopes for Further Iraq Withdra

By Al Pessin
Washington
10 April 2008

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates says he no longer holds out the hope that the U.S. troop level in Iraq will be down to 100,000 by the time the Bush administration leaves office in January.  But he does hope for further withdrawals² after the end of the surge in July leaves about 140,000 U.S. troops in the country.  VOA's Al Pessin reports from Washington.

Shortly after President Bush announced he has accepted the recommendation from senior military officers for a pause in U.S. withdrawals after the surge ends, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator Carl Levin, asked Secretary Gates this question.

LEVIN:  "You said in September, 2007, you hoped that we could get down to 100,000 troops in Iraq by January of '09.  Do you still have that hope?"

GATES:  "No, sir."

Senator Levin then pressed Secretary Gates on whether there will be any further U.S. troop withdrawals after July, noting that the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General Petraeus, told the same committee on Tuesday he would not use the words "brief" or "pause" to describe the period of consolidation³ and assessment⁴ that will follow the surge.  Secretary Gates used both words.

"A brief pause for consolidation and evaluation⁵ following a return to pre-surge troop levels will allow us to analyze⁶ the process and its effects in a comprehensive way," he said.  "I do not anticipate this period of review to be an extended.  And I would emphasize that the hope, depending on conditions on the ground, is to reduce our presence further this fall."

General Petraeus had expressed no such optimism, and said he will not even begin to assess the possibility of further withdrawals until 45 days after the surge ends.  When senators pressed Secretary Gates to explain the apparent discrepancy⁷, he stood his ground, saying he believes General Petraeus will be able to make an initial recommendation right at the end of the 45 days.

"My view is that he will be, he should be, in a position at the end of that 40-day, that 45-day, period of evaluation and consolidation to make a determination whether a next further drawdown could take place," he said.

Secretary Gates said General Petraeus and other senior commanders will continue to evaluate the security situation in Iraq after that, a process he said could result in at least some further withdrawals before the end of the year if the security improvements of the last several months hold after the surge forces leave.

1 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。

2 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

3 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

4 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

5 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

6 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

7 discrepancy   

n.不同；不符；差异；矛盾

参考例句：

• The discrepancy in their ages seemed not to matter.他们之间年龄的差异似乎没有多大关系。
• There was a discrepancy in the two reports of the accident.关于那次事故的两则报道有不一致之处。