VOA标准英语2009-Reports: US Ambassador to Kabul Expresses Ca

By Sean Maroney
Islamabad
12 November 2009

The U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan has reportedly expressed in writing his concerns about deploying¹ additional American troops to the country. Media reports quote U.S. officials as saying the ambassador is deeply concerned about Afghan government corruption² and mismanagement that has fueled the Taliban's rise.

 
US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry (Oct 2009 file photo)
U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry has previously³ expressed his reservations regarding corruption in Afghan President Hamid Karzai's government.

But speaking to VOA by phone a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, John Groch, refused to comment on media reports regarding Ambassador Eikenberry's feelings on sending additional U.S. troops to Afghanistan. Groch says the ambassador is committed to supporting the new Afghan government.

"It is his anticipation⁴ that the Afghans are going to come to expect more from their government, expect clean and competent leadership from their government," the ambassador said. "And we want to support the Afghan government for the end of meeting those commitments and delivering those things to the Afghan people."

A spokesman for President Karzai also refused to comment on the media reports.

Eikenberry was the commander of U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2006 and 2007. He became the ambassador to the country earlier this year, after retiring from the military.

His reported position on additional troops puts him at odds⁵ with the top NATO and U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal., who has recommended 40,000 more troops, which would boost the U.S. commitment in the country to more than 100,000.

The White House says President Barack Obama is considering four options, which range from following General McChrystal's advice to sending as few as 10,000 to 15,000 troops.

1 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

2 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

3 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

4 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

5 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？