VOA常速英语2008年-US General Says No Plans for Africa Command HQ

By Alisha Ryu
Nairobi
11 April 2008

The head of the new U.S. military command for Africa says the United States has no plans to move its headquarters to an African location once it becomes a full-fledged command in October. U.S. Army General William Ward¹ made the comment at the end of a three-day visit to Uganda to review U.S.-supported assistance to the Ugandan-led African Union peacekeeping mission in Somalia. VOA Correspondent Alisha Ryu has more from our East Africa Bureau in Nairobi.

Speaking to VOA from the Ugandan capital Kampala, General Ward said the new command, known as AFRICOM, is not seeking to establish a major operational base in Africa any time soon. "That is something that may develop over time. But there has been no overtures² made. We have not asked any nation," he said.

Late last month, a Pentagon report said that the general wanted to maintain AFRICOM headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany for the foreseeable future. Stuttgart is home to the U.S. military's European Command, which for decades has had responsibility for much of the African continent.

Recent media reports suggest that informal discussions with a number of African countries about their interest in hosting AFRICOM have produced mixed results. U.S. officials say eight African nations, led by Liberia, have responded positively³. But many other countries, including Morocco, Algeria, Libya, and South Africa, are said to be hostile to the idea of basing a major American military command center on African soil.

General Ward says he is sensitive to the doubts and suspicions many Africans have about AFRICOM's role and what it represents.

According to the Pentagon, AFRICOM has been created in recognition of Africa's global importance and is intended to allow the United States to bolster⁴ African security, enhance strategic cooperation, build partnerships⁵, and support humanitarian⁶ missions.

But African newspaper editorials have openly questioned whether AFRICOM is merely a smokescreen for U.S. efforts to establish a permanent military presence in Africa to combat terrorism. Others have suggested that the United States is trying to use its military to secure access to African oil and counter China's growing political and economic influence on the continent.

General Ward says AFRICOM's goal is more modest, describing it as a restructuring of the U.S. military's approach to Africa. He says the new command will allow the Pentagon to combine the African activities currently being executed by two other military commands - the European Command and U.S. Central Command, which oversees⁷ the Middle East and Horn of Africa - and put them under one roof.

"Our military-to-military exercises, our training assistance programs, our logistical assistance programs, our humanitarian activities - those roles continue as they have been. But how we go about organizing ourselves to deliver those programs is what the command represents. So, it is a restructuring of how we do our work as opposed to the notion that the command brings huge numbers of additional forces, with presence on the continent, which is not the case at all," he said.

President Bush announced the formation of AFRICOM in February, 2007. It was officially established eight months later.

1 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

2 overtures   

n.主动的表示，提议；（向某人做出的）友好表示、姿态或提议( overture的名词复数 )；（歌剧、芭蕾舞、音乐剧等的）序曲，前奏曲

参考例句：

• Their government is making overtures for peace. 他们的政府正在提出和平建议。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He had lately begun to make clumsy yet endearing overtures of friendship. 最近他开始主动表示友好，样子笨拙却又招人喜爱。 来自辞典例句

3 positively   

adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实

参考例句：

• She was positively glowing with happiness.她满脸幸福。
• The weather was positively poisonous.这天气着实讨厌。

4 bolster   

n.枕垫；v.支持，鼓励

参考例句：

• The high interest rates helped to bolster up the economy.高利率使经济更稳健。
• He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。

5 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

6 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

7 oversees   

v.监督，监视( oversee的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• She oversees both the research and the manufacturing departments. 她既监督研究部门又监督生产部门。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Department of Education oversees the federal programs dealing with education. 教育部监管处理教育的联邦程序。 来自互联网