2006年VOA标准英语-US Trainer Does Not See Troop Reduction in Iraq

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
01 August 2006

A senior U.S. military officer directly involved in training Iraq's army says in spite of notable progress it will likely take years before the new security forces can control the country on their own, and he does not foresee any significant reduction in U.S. forces in the country this year, as the top U.S. general in Iraq had hoped. The officer spoke¹ in a telephone interview from western Iraq with VOA Pentagon Correspondent Al Pessin.

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His job is to be the chief adviser² to the Iraqi army's 1st Division in the often violent Sunni Triangle west of Baghdad. He has been doing it since January, and Colonel Juan Ayala has drawn³ this conclusion about the prospects⁴ for ending the insurgency⁵ in that area.

"Well, in my opinion, this is a long term, long term problem, long term, long term issues," he said.

Colonel Ayala reports that the number of attacks on U.S. and Iraqi forces in his area is up slightly in recent months, even though he says the Iraqi troops are making good progress learning both the military skills and the community relations skills he is teaching.

"I would couch it in years. I cannot speculate," he said. "There are 10 divisions here. I am the senior advisor⁶ for one of them. We are in al-Anbar [Province], which is the most restive⁷ area, besides Baghdad. Certain parts of the country, I think, are going to be better before others."

US Marine⁸ takes cover behind a wall after receiving sniper fire during patrol through Haqlaniyah, July 23, 2006   
  
Last week, the defense⁹ department announced that one American combat brigade is being held in Iraq up to four months beyond its planned one-year deployment¹⁰. That led many analysts¹¹ to conclude that the hope expressed several months ago by the top American commander in Iraq, General George Casey, for a "fairly substantial" withdrawal¹² of U.S. troops this year will not be realized. Colonel Ayala agrees.

"On the surface, of course, it seems logical that we're not going to be able to draw forces down when the general said they were going to be drawn down," he said. "I think the long term plan is to do that, of course, but I'm not going to lie to you, I don't think it's going to happen at the end of the year."

But Colonel Ayala also says the Iraqi officers he works with welcomed the decision to hold over the brigade and move it to Baghdad to help in the effort to end the violence. And he says the American advisers¹³ he works with hope the move will mean fewer U.S. troops have to serve in Iraq in the long term.

"A lot of the Iraqis that are in this division have families in Baghdad," he said. "And there was almost universal joy that the Americans were coming back. There are only 15 [American] advisers where I am. Our reaction to bringing the Stryker Brigade back was, 'hopefully, this will quell¹⁴ that violence and all of us can get out of here quicker.'"

Iraqi army soldiers stand guard at military base used by Japanese coalition¹⁵ troops, July 17, 2006, in Samawah, southern Iraq   
  
Colonel Ayala says his mission is to help the new Iraqi army develop all the skills necessary to establish and maintain order on their own. For now, they still need the American advisers, as well as coalition artillery¹⁶, logistics, medical evacuation and air support, among other services. But the colonel says the Iraqis are leading all types of operations in his area, and are making good progress.

"We try to put an Iraqi face, not a fa?ade, a face, on all combat operations, all humanitarian¹⁷ assistance operations, all civilian¹⁸ engagement," he said. "And I think that we do that. They're very good, really, they've come along a long way."

Colonel Ayala says the Iraqi army and police need to continue to expand their operations, and establish a strong presence in more cities and towns. The colonel believes that when the Iraqi people see that, they will come to trust and rely on the government forces, and will reduce their support for the insurgents¹⁹.

And the colonel says expanding the army's influence will have another impact as well. He says the Iraqi troops he lives and works with have overcome sectarian differences to form a cohesive²⁰ force.

Indeed he notes that when there are competitions and rivalries²¹ in the division, even occasionally fist fights, they do not evolve along sectarian lines. Rather, he reports, they pit the various military units against each other, with each unit made up of Sunnis, Shiites and Kurds. He believes that as the Iraqi people see how an integrated army works, they will be more inclined to put aside sectarian differences, reducing violence and helping²² the country move forward.

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 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。

3 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。

4 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

5 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

6 advisor   

n.顾问，指导老师，劝告者

参考例句：

• They employed me as an advisor.他们聘请我当顾问。
• The professor is engaged as a technical advisor.这位教授被聘请为技术顾问。

7 restive   

adj.不安宁的，不安静的

参考例句：

• The government has done nothing to ease restrictions and manufacturers are growing restive.政府未采取任何措施放松出口限制,因此国内制造商变得焦虑不安。
• The audience grew restive.观众变得不耐烦了。

8 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

9 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。

10 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。

11 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。

12 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。

13 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

14 quell   

v.压制，平息，减轻

参考例句：

• Soldiers were sent in to quell the riots.士兵们被派去平息骚乱。
• The armed force had to be called out to quell violence.不得不出动军队来镇压暴力行动。

15 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。

16 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

17 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

18 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。

19 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

20 cohesive   

adj.有粘着力的；有结合力的；凝聚性的

参考例句：

• She sealed the parcel with cohesive tape.她用粘胶带把包裹封起来。
• The author skillfully fuses these fragments into a cohesive whole.作者将这些片断巧妙地结合成一个连贯的整体。

21 rivalries   

n.敌对，竞争，对抗( rivalry的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The new government was torn by rivalries. 新政府由于各派对立而四分五裂。 来自辞典例句
• Rivalries could bring about pain and hatred or give rise to fighting. 竞争会带来痛苦、仇恨，或者引起争斗。 来自互联网

22 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。