VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Afghan Decision Has Far-Reaching

President Barack Obama's decision to deploy¹ another 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan - and to also ask for more troops from coalition² partners - has far-reaching strategic implications for the global effort to defeat violent extremists like the Taliban and al-Qaida. Our Pentagon correspondent reports on this important turning point in the war in Afghanistan and the Obama presidency³.

Al Pessin | Washington 01 December 2009

U.S. Army soldiers from the South Carolina National Guard and the Alpha troop 3-71 Cavalry⁴ Squadron patrol near the town of Baraki Barak, Logar province, Afghanistan, 23 Nov 2009

President Barack Obama's decision to deploy another 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan - and to also ask for more troops from coalition partners - has far-reaching strategic implications for the global effort to defeat violent extremists like the Taliban and al-Qaida.  Our Pentagon correspondent reports on this important turning point in the war in Afghanistan and the Obama presidency.

President Obama put it starkly⁵ in his long-awaited Afghan strategy speech Tuesday night.

"What's at stake is not simply a test of NATO's credibility - what's at stake is the security of our Allies, and the common security of the world," said President Obama.

The president said it is "vital" to send the additional troops, and to get them there by the middle of next year, a faster-than-expected deployment⁶ plan. 

"The president, in sending more troops to Afghanistan, is accepting responsibility for leadership of the war in Afghanistan," said Kim Kagan.

That is Kim Kagan, a military historian and president of the Institute for the Study of War.  She also served in a civilian⁷ advisory⁸ group assembled by General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, who made the troop request that resulted in the president's deployment decision.
 
"The truth of the matter is that we do not now have enough forces in Afghanistan to conduct a counterinsurgency campaign against the Taliban," he said.

Counterinsurgency involves securing the people, building the local government and security forces and fighting the militant⁹ forces, all at the same time.

Michael O'Hanlon of the Brookings Institution, just back from his latest visit to Afghanistan, endorses¹⁰ the decision to send more U.S. troops.  He says a counterinsurgency approach and General McChrystal's specific plan offer what he calls "a decent chance of success." 
 
"I think that there's a very strong case for a large number of additional troops," said Michael O'Hanlon. "The only detailed¹¹ military analysis that's been done is McChrystal's."

General McChrystal said earlier this year that without more troops, the U.S. and allied¹² effort in Afghanistan could fail.  But not everyone is convinced that sending more troops will result in success.  Among the skeptics is retired¹³ U.S. Army Colonel Andrew Bacevich, now a professor at Boston University.
  
"Counterinsurgency campaigns are long, drawn¹⁴ out, costly¹⁵ and tend to produce ambiguous outcomes," said Andrew Bacevich.

Bacevich expects no better outcome for the U.S. and allied effort in Afghanistan, particularly if the goal is, as President Obama reaffirmed Tuesday, to defeat al-Qaida and associated terrorist groups.
 
"I see no evidence that even if we succeed in Afghanistan, and I doubt we will, but even if we succeed in Afghanistan, we're not going to drive a stake through the heart of Jihadism," he said. "Again, more than likely, we'll probably simply exacerbate¹⁶ the problem."

Bacevich says the long-term presence of western troops in Islamic countries creates more terrorists than it kills or disarms¹⁷.

Kim Kagan at the Institute for the Study of War acknowledges that even with more troops, expanded military training, a greater effort to strengthen the Afghan government and extensive operations against insurgent¹⁸ strongholds, success is not guaranteed.
 
"We do have to remember that war is a risky¹⁹ business and there is no assurance any particular force level will guarantee success," he said.

Kagan says success will depend on whether commanders use the troops effectively, and how the enemy responds, as well as how willing and able Afghan leaders are to fight corruption²⁰ and build a more effective and popular government. 

And Afghanistan will have limited time to do that.  President Obama says he wants to begin transferring security responsibility to the country's government and military by July of 2011.  And although the president and other officials will not say how long the process will take after that, there is a timeframe many experts talk about.  Among them is Michael O'Hanlon

"A rough approximation is about three years at the higher [troop] level, because that's about how long it will take to train, outfit²¹, deploy and mentor²² these new Afghan security forces," he said.

But O'Hanlon says initial signs of success or failure should come much sooner, probably within a year.  Indeed, he says the counterinsurgency approach is already showing signs of success in areas where more U.S. troops have been sent this year.

Still, Andrew Bacevich thinks any expectation of a significant allied withdrawal²³ in three years is overly optimistic.
 
"I'm very skeptical²⁴ that we can achieve that kind of success in three years," said Bacevich. "I think it's far more likely that three years from now we'll have a very ambiguous situation, and the president is going to face a decision even more difficult than the one he is facing at the present moment."

Three years is a long time in American politics.  Kim Kagan says the president must make clear that the fight against the Taliban and associated groups has very high stakes not only for the Afghan people, but also for the region, and the world. 

"Defeating these extremist networks in series is of critical importance to the security of the United States and the security of Pakistan," said Kagan. "And is an essential prerequisite²⁵ for success against Al-Qaida itself." 

And Kagan says it is up to other American leaders to help provide the time for the president's strategy to take hold.

"What I certainly would hope is that all of the leadership of the Democratic and Republican Parties would recognize that the war in Afghanistan is actually necessary for the defeat of al-Qaida, which poses a threat to the United States of America, and would give the president the leeway that he needs to actually fulfill²⁶ his responsibilities as commander in chief," he said.

The analysts²⁷ say it will certainly take the rest of President Obama's term in office - and perhaps all of a second term if he is re-elected - to even have a chance to fully²⁸, as he pledged earlier this month, "finish the job in Afghanistan."

 

1 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 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。

4 cavalry   

n.骑兵；轻装甲部队

参考例句：

• We were taken in flank by a troop of cavalry. 我们翼侧受到一队骑兵的袭击。
• The enemy cavalry rode our men down. 敌人的骑兵撞倒了我们的人。

5 starkly   

adj. 变硬了的,完全的 adv. 完全,实在,简直

参考例句：

• The city of Befast remains starkly divided between Catholics and Protestants. 贝尔法斯特市完全被处在天主教徒和新教徒的纷争之中。
• The black rocks stood out starkly against the sky. 那些黑色的岩石在天空衬托下十分显眼。

6 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

7 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

8 advisory   

adj.劝告的，忠告的，顾问的，提供咨询

参考例句：

• I have worked in an advisory capacity with many hospitals.我曾在多家医院做过顾问工作。
• He was appointed to the advisory committee last month.他上个月获任命为顾问委员会委员。

9 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

10 endorses   

v.赞同( endorse的第三人称单数 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• There isn't one country in the Middle East that now endorses the Eisenhower Doctrine. 但至今没有一个中东国家认可它。 来自辞典例句
• Whether any of this truly endorses Dr Patel's hypothesis is moot. 这些视频能否真正证明帕特的假设成立还是个未知数。 来自互联网

11 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

12 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

13 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

14 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

15 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

16 exacerbate   

v.恶化，增剧，激怒，使加剧

参考例句：

• WMO says a warming climate can exacerbate air pollution.世界气象组织说，气候变暖可能会加剧空气污染。
• In fact efforts will merely exacerbate the current problem.实际上努力只会加剧当前的问题。

17 disarms   

v.裁军( disarm的第三人称单数 )；使息怒

参考例句：

• He was that rarest of statesmen, one whose integrity disarms even his critics. 他为人正直，连批评他的人也佩服他三分，在当代政治家中实属罕见。 来自辞典例句
• Disarm: This ability now disarms ranged weapons as well. 缴械：这个技能现在同时可以缴械对方的远程武器。 来自互联网

18 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

19 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

20 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。

21 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。

22 mentor   

n.指导者，良师益友；v.指导

参考例句：

• He fed on the great ideas of his mentor.他以他导师的伟大思想为支撑。
• He had mentored scores of younger doctors.他指导过许多更年轻的医生。

23 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。

24 skeptical   

adj.怀疑的，多疑的

参考例句：

• Others here are more skeptical about the chances for justice being done.这里的其他人更为怀疑正义能否得到伸张。
• Her look was skeptical and resigned.她的表情是将信将疑而又无可奈何。

25 prerequisite   

n.先决条件；adj.作为前提的，必备的

参考例句：

• Stability and unity are a prerequisite to the four modernizations.安定团结是实现四个现代化的前提。
• It is a prerequisite of entry to the profession that you pass the exams.做这一行的先决条件是要通过了有关的考试。

26 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

27 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

28 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。