VOA标准英语2009-Top US Officer Takes More Active Role on Afg

The top American military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, has taken a particularly active role in changing the U.S. approach to Afghanistan, contributing to the new strategy, choosing the new commander for U.S. and NATO forces, and deciding to replace the previous one a year ahead of schedule.

During a trip with the admiral to Europe, VOA Pentagon Correspondent Al Pessin spoke¹ to him about the new strategy and why he has taken such an active role.
　
U.S. Defense² Secretary Robert Gates (l) and Joint³ Chief's of Staff Chairman, Admiral Michael Mullen at the Pentagon, 18 Jun 2009

As chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mullen's main job is to be the top military adviser⁴ to the president and the secretary of defense. In that role, he must keep close watch on U.S. military operations, worldwide, as well as the strategic environment related to the full range of U.S. national security interests. It is a job with little direct authority but potentially huge influence, and during this, his second year on the job, Admiral Mullen has been using that influence to the fullest.

"I've got to do what I think is right," he said. "What motivates me more than anything else is I've got young people out there who are sacrificing their lives, sacrificing like I've never seen, certainly, in my time. And, I'm anxious to do as much as I possibly can to try to get it right for them."

The 62-year-old admiral's focus has been the allied⁵ effort in Afghanistan and related security issues in neighboring Pakistan.

"I have a sense of urgency about Afghanistan that, if we don't get it right within the next 12-to-18 months, we may not ever get it right," he said. "And, at the same time, I really think we can get it right. I can see the way it needs to be done. I think we've learned a lot of lessons in Iraq, from a counterinsurgency standpoint, so that we can meet the sense of urgency that's there to move rapidly."

Lessons learned
　
Afghan man shows shoe he found near debris⁶ of house destroyed in coalition⁷ airstrike in Bala Baluk district of Farah province, 08 May 2009

Those lessons include the need to focus on protecting civilians⁹, rather than necessarily killing¹⁰ insurgents¹¹, especially when the insurgents attack from civilian⁸ areas, as they often do. And, that requires more forces, a near doubling of U.S. troops, which are flowing into Afghanistan now.

"In the end, we can't win it if we don't get this right," said Admiral Mullen. "We can't keep killing Afghan civilians and hope to win. It's just not going to work.

But recent incidents in which U.S. air strikes have caused large numbers of civilian casualties have worked against that strategy. That is why the admiral's hand-picked new commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, will soon issue new orders to his forces on the use of air power.

The worst incident was in early May in Farah Province.

An official U.S. investigation¹² says 26 people were confirmed killed when an American air crew violated procedures and bombed a building where Taliban fighters had taken refuge, without knowing whether civilians were inside. The American military acknowledges the civilian death toll¹³ may be higher, but says it is not as high as the 140 dead some Afghan officials have claimed.

Admiral Mullen says General McChrystal will use the Farah incident to push for a fundamental shift in how the troops on the ground think, how they plan and when they call in air strikes.

Civilian casualties

He says even junior officers and enlisted¹⁴ troops must understand the strategic need to gain the support of the Afghan people, even as they face deadly threats in the heat of battle.

"You can have a tactical victory and a strategic defeat," he said. "We can't keep generating tactical victories which give us strategic defeats."
　
Admiral Mike Mullen, left, Rear Admiral Scott Van Buskirk talk with Pakistani Army General Ashfaq Kayani and Pakistani Army Lt. General Ahmad Shuja Pasha (US Navy Photo)

The admiral says the new directive will help, but there also needs to be training and combat planners from all allied nations need to think ahead, in detail, to try to avoid creating, or being drawn¹⁵ into, situations in which civilians will be at risk. In the Farah incident, the U.S. investigation says Afghan troops initiated¹⁶ an operation against a strong Taliban unit without sufficient planning, causing an American unit to come to their aid and later resulting in the errant air strike.

But Admiral Mullen says the troops will still be free to protect themselves. And, he acknowledges there will still, inevitably¹⁷, be some civilian casualties.

He also acknowledges that sometimes the new approach may mean more danger for U.S. and allied troops. But he says, in the long term, more support from the Afghan people will reduce the danger, overall.

"If you reduce strategically, you reduce risk to the force."

Admiral Mullen is reluctant to discuss his own activist¹⁸ role, compared to his two predecessors¹⁹ who commentators²⁰ have criticized for not doing enough to ensure victories in Iraq and Afghanistan, years ago. But with the new strategy and the new commander in Afghanistan, who he calls "the best we have," Admiral Mullen is clearly embarking²¹ on his second two-year term as a man on a mission.

"At a time when I'm losing members of our military, when they're paying the ultimate sacrifice, I think I owe them the best military leader I have and the best I can do to support him," he said.

Admiral Mullen calls the new U.S. strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan "a strategy of new leadership," and leadership, he says, is what solves the toughest problems.

1 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

2 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。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

5 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。

6 debris   

n.瓦砾堆，废墟，碎片

参考例句：

• After the bombing there was a lot of debris everywhere.轰炸之后到处瓦砾成堆。
• Bacteria sticks to food debris in the teeth,causing decay.细菌附着在牙缝中的食物残渣上，导致蛀牙。

7 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。

8 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。

9 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

10 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

11 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

12 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

13 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

14 enlisted   

adj.应募入伍的v.（使）入伍， （使）参军( enlist的过去式和过去分词 )；获得（帮助或支持）

参考例句：

• enlisted men and women 男兵和女兵
• He enlisted with the air force to fight against the enemy. 他应募加入空军对敌作战。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

15 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。

16 initiated   

n. 创始人 adj. 新加入的 vt. 开始，创始，启蒙，介绍加入

参考例句：

• He has not yet been thoroughly initiated into the mysteries of computers. 他对计算机的奥秘尚未入门。
• The artist initiated the girl into the art world in France. 这个艺术家介绍这个女孩加入巴黎艺术界。

17 inevitably   

adv.不可避免地；必然发生地

参考例句：

• In the way you go on,you are inevitably coming apart.照你们这样下去，毫无疑问是会散伙的。
• Technological changes will inevitably lead to unemployment.技术变革必然会导致失业。

18 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

19 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

21 embarking   

乘船( embark的现在分词 )； 装载； 从事

参考例句：

• He's embarking on a new career as a writer. 他即将开始新的职业生涯——当一名作家。
• The campaign on which were embarking was backed up by such intricate and detailed maintenance arrangemets. 我们实施的战争，须要如此复杂及详细的维护准备。