2006年VOA标准英语-White House Considering More Troops in Iraq

By Peter Fedynsky
Washington, DC
21 December 2006
 
watch Iraq Troop Debate

In a recent front-page story, the Washington Post newspaper reported the White House and Joint¹ Chiefs of Staff are at odds² over sending 15,000 to 30,000 more U.S. troops to Iraq.  While the newspaper account is based on anonymous³ sources, some retired⁴ U.S. military officers have been openly voicing their opinions about policy options in Iraq. 

President Bush says the United States is neither winning, nor losing in Iraq and he is considering a temporary increase, or surge, of U.S. troop strength to reverse the deteriorating⁵ situation. 

 
Colin Powell
Retired General Colin Powell, who served as President Bush's secretary of state and was previously⁶ chairman of the Joint Chiefs, says there needs to be a clear understanding of why additional troops would be sent and for how long.  He spoke⁸ on the CBS television network program, "Face the Nation." "I am not persuaded that another surge of troops into Baghdad for the purposes of suppressing this communitarian violence, this civil war, will work."

 
President Bush speaking during a news conference Wednesday
President Bush says he values the advice of his military commanders in Iraq.  But Powell notes those commanders have not called for a troop increase, nor have Iraqi leaders. "We hear from the Iraqi leadership that they want to take control of Baghdad, not bring in more American troops. We hear from Prime Minister Maliki standing⁷ next to President Bush in Amman, Jordan a couple of weeks ago, that he believes Iraqi forces will be able to take over all security by June."

The former Secretary of State cautions the U.S. Army is nearly broken from repetitive tours of duty in Iraq.  Nonetheless, Senator John McCain, a former Navy pilot and the longest-held U.S. prisoner of war in Vietnam, says nothing is more stressful than defeat, and Iraqi troops need U.S. assistance. "We all know that the Iraqi military is not capable of doing by themselves now, period.  So, then it requires Americans to be able to do it with them."

Retired General Jack¹⁰ Keane, the Army's former Vice⁹ Chief of Staff, also favors a troop surge.  Keane says America faces a choice in Iraq and needs the additional forces to secure victory.

"So our choice is, can we do something about this in the intervening year, and make a difference and buy some time so that a political, diplomatic and economic strategy will work, or do we just cut our losses and walk away from it?"

 
William Odom
Retired General William Odom says, yes, cut the losses.  Odom, the Army's senior intelligence officer in the mid¹¹ 1980s, says leaving Iraq will prevent further damage to America's strategic positions.

"The only way out of this is to admit that we are going to live with these consequences, and that the sooner we leave, the quicker we will be able to regain¹² some diplomatic and strategic mobility¹³ and begin to come to terms with countries in the area and with our allies in Europe and East Asia, where they have soured as a result of our unilateralism."

General Odom says additional troops will not establish constitutional order in Iraq, because the country's ethnically¹⁴ and religiously fragmented elites¹⁵ cannot agree on fundamental rules. "Rules to decide who rules.  Rules to make new rules.  And rights the ruler cannot abridge¹⁶."

General Odom says rules are enforced by those who have the guns and money to do so.   He calls the U.S. invasion of Iraq a "fool's errand" that was doomed¹⁷ from the start.  But President Bush says the United States will win in Iraq.  The troop surge he is considering would also add guns to help stabilize¹⁸ the situation.

1 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。

2 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？

3 anonymous   

adj.无名的；匿名的；无特色的

参考例句：

• Sending anonymous letters is a cowardly act.寄匿名信是懦夫的行为。
• The author wishes to remain anonymous.作者希望姓名不公开。

4 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。

5 deteriorating   

恶化，变坏( deteriorate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• The weather conditions are deteriorating. 天气变得越来越糟。
• I was well aware of the bad morale and the deteriorating factories. 我很清楚，大家情绪低落，各个工厂越搞越坏。

6 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。

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 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。

9 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

10 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

11 mid   

adj.中央的，中间的

参考例句：

• Our mid-term exam is pending.我们就要期中考试了。
• He switched over to teaching in mid-career.他在而立之年转入教学工作。

12 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。

13 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

14 ethnically   

adv.人种上，民族上

参考例句：

• Ethnically, the Yuan Empire comprised most of modern China's ethnic groups. 元朝的民族成分包括现今中国绝大多数民族。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• Russia is ethnically relatively homogeneous. 俄罗斯是个民族成分相对单一的国家。 来自辞典例句

15 elites   

精华( elite的名词复数 )； 精锐； 上层集团； （统称）掌权人物

参考例句：

• The elites are by their nature a factor contributing to underdevelopment. 这些上层人物天生是助长欠发达的因素。
• Elites always detest gifted and nimble outsiders. 社会名流对天赋聪明、多才多艺的局外人一向嫌恶。

16 abridge   

v.删减，删节，节略，缩短

参考例句：

• They are going to abridge that dictionary.他们将要精简那本字典。
• He decided to abridge his stay here after he received a letter from home.他接到家信后决定缩短在这里的逗留时间。

17 doomed   

命定的

参考例句：

• The court doomed the accused to a long term of imprisonment. 法庭判处被告长期监禁。
• A country ruled by an iron hand is doomed to suffer. 被铁腕人物统治的国家定会遭受不幸的。

18 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。