Obama to Announce Decision on Afghanistan Troop Drawdown

     President Barack Obama will announce his plan for implementing¹ the beginning of a U.S. troop withdrawal² from Afghanistan in a speech scheduled to begin at 00:00 UTC Thursday. Mr. Obama will say he is fulfilling the commitment made 18 months ago to begin drawdown, and underscore progress toward turning over security to Afghan forces.

    Leading up to the president's announcement, the White House stressed again that it would not involve any re-tooling of the strategy unveiled in December 2009 in a speech Mr. Obama delivered at the U.S. military academy at West Point, New York.

    In that address, Mr. Obama set out what he called a "strategy to bring this war to a successful conclusion" and announced deployment³ of an additional 30,000 troops aimed at turning back Taliban advances.

    "As commander in chief I have determined⁴ that it is in our vital national interest to send an additional 30,000 U.S troops to Afghanistan.   After 18 months our troops will begin to come home.  These are the resources that we nee to seize the imitative while building the Afghan capacity that will allow for a responsible transition of our forces out of Afghanistan," Mr. Obama said.

    At the time, Mr. Obama noted⁵ the war's "enormous costs in lives and resources" but said he was convinced that U.S. security was at stake in what he called the epicenter of violent extremism in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

    The president will reaffirm his commitment from 2009 to begin withdrawing forces.   Various reports quoted administration officials as saying at least 5,000 soldiers, about one brigade, could come out in coming months, with another by the end of the year.

    Cautioning against media speculation⁶, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Mr. Obama has remained focused on three objectives:  disrupting, dismantling⁷ and defeating al-Qaida, reversing Taliban momentum⁸, and preventing Afghanistan from becoming a safe haven⁹ for terrorists.

    "Those objectives are being met, we have had a significant amount of success in meeting those objectives and the president has been very engaged in the process evaluating that.  We are not there yet obviously, but it is important to remember what the objective were from the beginning and what they were not and the president will make that clear again tomorrow evening," Carney said.

    Mr. Obama will reiterate¹⁰ the U.S. and NATO commitment of completely transferring security responsibilities to Afghan government forces by 2014.   He and military commanders have stressed that the speed of withdrawals¹¹ would be based on conditions on the ground.  Withdrawal of the 30,000 U.S. surge force by next year would still leave some 68,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

    The president could also address growing anti-war sentiment in the United States, reflected in public opinion polls, and positions taken by members of Congress.

    In the U.S. Senate, Democrat¹² Joe Manchin of West Virginia made the case heard more frequently that the U.S. can no longer afford the costs of the Afghanistan war.  Republican John McCain responded.

    MANCHIN: "The question the president faces and we all face is quite simple.  Will we choose to rebuild America, or Afghanistan?"MCCAIN: "If we leave Afghanistan in defeat, we will repeat the lessons of history, and it is not our expenditures¹³ on Afghanistan that are the reasons why we are now experiencing the budget difficulties that we are experiencing."Before a meeting with President Obama on Tuesday, outgoing Secretary of Defense¹⁴ Robert Gates told reporters Mr. Obama clearly had to take American's concerns about war costs into account in making his decision, in addition to conditions on the ground in Afghanistan.

    "It goes without saying that there are a lot of reservations in the Congress about the war in Afghanistan and our level of commitment.  There are concerns among the American people who are tired of a decade of war," Gates said.

    One day after announcing his Afghanistan troop decision, President Obama will visit the military base at Fort Drum, New York, home to the 10th Mountain Division, which has seen intense and frequent deployments in Afghanistan as well as Iraq.（本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑）

1 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

2 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。

3 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。

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

7 dismantling   

（枪支）分解

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。
• The dismantling of a nuclear reprocessing plant caused a leak of radioactivity yesterday. 昨天拆除核后处理工厂引起了放射物泄漏。

8 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

9 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

10 reiterate   

v.重申，反复地说

参考例句：

• Let me reiterate that we have absolutely no plans to increase taxation.让我再一次重申我们绝对没有增税的计划。
• I must reiterate that our position on this issue is very clear.我必须重申我们对这一项议题的立场很清楚。

11 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

12 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

13 expenditures   

n.花费( expenditure的名词复数 )；使用；（尤指金钱的）支出额；（精力、时间、材料等的）耗费

参考例句：

• We have overspent.We'll have to let up our expenditures next month. 我们已经超支了，下个月一定得节约开支。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The pension includes an allowance of fifty pounds for traffic expenditures. 年金中包括50镑交通费补贴。 来自《简明英汉词典》

14 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。