2006年VOA标准英语-US Military Fights Drugs, Terrorism in Lat

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
09 March 2006

 
Major General Richard Mentemeyer 
  
The U.S. military command responsible for operations in Latin America puts a lot of its effort into fighting the illegal drug trade and building the capabilities¹ of local militaries in nearly all the region's countries.  But the command's top priority is something different.  VOA defense² correspondent Al Pessin recently spoke³ to the deputy head of Southern Command, Major General Richard Mentemeyer.

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"No matter what combatant command you went to, their number one priority is going to be G-WOT, the Global War on Terror," said General Mentemeyer.

The Global War on Terror is not the first thing that comes to mind in terms of security issues in Central and South America and the Caribbean.  But General Mentemeyer says as U.S. and coalition⁴ forces put pressure on terrorist groups in the Middle East and South Asia, those groups seek other potentially safe havens⁶.

"They are putting an awful lot of pressure on al-Qaida and all the other terrorist groups in the Middle East," he added.  "And any time you put pressure on any kind of group, they tend to want to go where they can't be seen or can't be found.  So they try to find ungoverned spaces.  They're not limited.  They have the resources to go globally."

That has resulted in U.S. forces around the world helping⁷ local militaries improve their capabilities, so they can keep terrorists out of their territory.  And the general says South America is no exception. 

"There are areas out there that nobody is governing, nobody is watching, even within those countries, and it provides a haven⁵ for them," he explained.  "I'm not going to try to hype up a threat to say that they're building operations to attack the United States.  But there certainly are aspects of terrorist groups within Latin America that are facilitating passports, facilitating money laundering⁸.  There's a lot of money in drugs.  The terrorists have found that the drug world is a good source of income for them.

General Mentemeyer says that brings together Southern Command's counter-terrorism mission with its other two main missions, fighting the drug trade and building the capacity of local militaries in Latin America.  Indeed, officials say those two missions occupy most of the command's resources, and those of other U.S. government agencies that operate in the region, and the same capabilities that help fight the drug trade help fight terrorists, too.

The general says terrorist groups, or groups that would gladly do business with terrorists, are also involved in trafficking weapons and people in Latin America.  And he says the most attractive area of South America for such activities is what is called the Tri-Border Area, where the borders of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay come together.

A U.S. Army website says the tri-border area has "an important place in the strategy for combating terrorism."  The area is home to a large Arab and Muslim population.  Community leaders say their people are moderate and do not support terrorism, but experts say some Muslims in the area do funnel⁹ money to terrorist groups.

General Mentemeyer says there are also potential terrorist havens in Uruguay, Guyana, Suriname and elsewhere on the continent.

"We are keeping as much of an eye on them as we can to make sure that they don't gain a capability¹⁰ behind our back, so to speak," he noted¹¹.

Southern Command also offers counter-terrorism training opportunities in the United States to key officers from Latin American militaries.  But he says the United States is not the only major power that is working to build relations with Latin America.

"There's a lot of other powerful nations like China and Russia that are interested in the resources in Latin America," he explained.  "Our preference is to be the partner of choice when it comes to security assistance."

General Mentemeyer says military and trade relationships should be solid and consistent, even if political relationships go through difficult periods.  But he acknowledges that does not always happen.  His current concern is the future of military relations with Bolivia, which recently elected a new president who has been critical of the United States, particularly its advocacy of coca eradication¹².  But he says Bolivia is not the only country on his mind.

"There are several countries in Latin America that have elected liberal, leftist type governments that are typically not strongly in favor of military-to-military relationships, in a traditional sense," he said.  "These governments don't want to be seen as puppets to the U.S., and so mil-to-mil relationships is a way they can use to say, 'Look, I'm not kow-towing to the U.S.' And that's our fear.  And that's not just in any one country."

General Mentemeyer says the stronger the region's armies are, the better partners they can be in fighting illegal trafficking, and keeping terrorists and their supporters out of Latin America.

1 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

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 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。

4 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。

5 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。

6 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 laundering   

n.洗涤（衣等），洗烫（衣等）；洗（钱）v.洗（衣服等），洗烫（衣服等）( launder的现在分词 )；洗（黑钱）（把非法收入改头换面，变为貌似合法的收入）

参考例句：

• Separate the white clothes from the dark clothes before laundering. 洗衣前应当把浅色衣服和深色衣服分开。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He was charged with laundering money. 他被指控洗钱。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 funnel   

n.漏斗；烟囱；v.汇集

参考例句：

• He poured the petrol into the car through a funnel.他用一个漏斗把汽油灌入汽车。
• I like the ship with a yellow funnel.我喜欢那条有黄烟囱的船。

10 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

11 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。

12 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。