VOA标准英语2009年-Obama's Afghan Exit Strategy Raises Qu

Analysts¹ also say economic leverage² should be used to help end corruption³ in the Afghan government

Meredith Buel | Washington, DC 04 December 2009

In his speech at the U.S. Military Academy, President Obama was specific in setting a benchmark for a more effective civilian⁴ strategy in Afghanistan.

President Barack Obama's decision to send 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan, while at the same time announcing that the withdrawal⁵ of American soldiers will begin in mid-2011 raises questions, analysts say, about the U.S. commitment to the region.  Analysts also say the U.S. and other countries must use economic leverage in an effort to convince Afghan leaders to root out widespread corruption in the country. 

At the end of a nearly three-month review, President Obama's decision to deploy⁶ 30,000 additional troops to Afghanistan and set a firm date to begin withdrawal launches a policy that appears to identify a beginning of the end of the war. 

"Taken together, these additional American and international troops will allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces and allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011," Mr. Obama said.

In his speech, the president mapped out an exit strategy so U.S. and NATO forces can, in 18 months, begin to handover security to Afghan forces.

However, a short timetable could feed long standing⁷ concerns in Afghanistan and Pakistan that the U.S. will abandon the region as it did in 1989 when the Soviets⁸ retreated from Afghanistan.

"The announcement of a timeline unfortunately really reinforces a damaging narrative⁹ within the region about our lack of staying power," Frederick Kagan, a military historian at the American Enterprise Institute said.

Administration officials say the timeline for beginning the withdrawal is flexible, and conditions on the ground will be considered before a significant pullout.

Some analysts say it is a signal to the Afghan government that the U.S. will not be in the country for decades to come.

"He was talking about capping the effort, beginning withdrawal, putting pressure on the Afghans and Pakistanis to take over the mission, but there is no time schedule, no benchmarks, no artificial set of deadlines which are kept separate from the realities of combat," Anthony Cordesman, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies said.

Others say it will take several years for the U.S. troop surge to make a difference because it will take that long to train, outfit¹⁰, and mentor¹¹ a significant number of Afghan security forces.

"If Obama winds up a two term president, he has recently said he would like to not leave this problem to his successor," Michael O'Hanlon, Brookings Institution said. "It is going to be a close call to get all the way out (of Afghanistan) within seven more years."

In his speech at the U.S. Military Academy, President Obama was specific in setting a benchmark for a more effective civilian strategy in Afghanistan.

"This effort must be based on performance," Mr. Obama said. "The days of providing a blank check are over."

President Obama's strategy depends on cooperation from the government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Analysts say conditioning financial aid on the Afghan government's performance is the best way to convince Mr. Karzai to fight corruption and provide good governance.

"The real leverage that the international community has on Afghanistan stems from the fact that it provides almost the entire budget for the state and we have not used that leverage intelligently in the past," Kagan said.

Partnership¹² with Pakistan is the third major element of President Obama's strategy.  Al-Qaida and Taliban leaders are said to be hiding in Pakistan.   

"We will strengthen Pakistan's capacity to target those groups that threaten our countries and have made it clear that we cannot tolerate a safe-haven for terrorists whose location is known and whose intentions are clear," Mr. Obama.

Pakistani officials have reacted cautiously to the troop surge and exit strategy.

Additional U.S. soldiers will begin deploying¹³ to Afghanistan before the end of this month. Administration officials say all should be in place by the middle of next year.

 

1 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。

2 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 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。

7 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

8 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

9 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

10 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。

11 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。

12 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

13 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。