2007年VOA标准英语-Afghanistan Compact Hits Snags One Year After S

By Gary Thomas
Washington
31 January 2007

In a statement issued in Berlin Wednesday, Afghanistan and its international donor¹ partners called for stepped-up efforts to restore security and strengthen governance in Afghanistan. At a conference in London one year ago, Afghanistan and the donor countries agreed to a so-called Afghanistan Compact - a five-year plan of objectives for Afghanistan's post-Taleban government. As VOA correspondent Gary Thomas reports, the plan has run into some roadblocks.

 
Richard Boucher (r) reports on assistance to Afghanistan during a news conference in Berlin, 30 Jan 2007
A number of independent analysts³ say that in its first year of implementation⁴, the Afghanistan Compact is in trouble.

The Compact is a five-year plan that lays down benchmarks for the Afghan government to reach. When the Afghanistan Compact was signed, some 60 nations and international organizations pledged to provide resources to enable the Afghan government to reach those goals.

Mark Schneider, senior vice⁵ president of the International Crisis Group, a research institution on world trouble spots, says the Compact is endangered by the unexpected resurgence⁶ of the Taleban and a lackluster performance by the Afghan government of President Hamid Karzai.

"The surge in the insurgency⁷ has made it more difficult to carry out the development projects that are absolutely essential in terms of the areas that are critical to the Compact, that is, governance, rule of law and human rights, and social and economic development," he said.

Michael Williams, director of the Transatlantic Program at the Royal United Services Institute for Defense⁸ and Security Studies in London, says the international promises of help have not lived up to the rhetoric⁹.

"Well, I think there has been progress," he said. "But I would argue that in comparison with other post-conflict reconstruction¹⁰ scenarios¹¹, Afghanistan has been widely neglected. And there is a lot of rhetoric in London, a lot of money promised that never has materialized, a lot of troop commitments that have been promised that have been lacking. And so this has overall put the mission behind schedule and endangered, sort of, the future developments."

 
Hamid Karzai 
Analysts say that because of the slow pace of aid the Karzai government has been unable to deliver services to many areas, fuelling disappointment among the population. The International Crisis Group's Mark Schneider says poor services and rampant¹² corruption¹⁴ have dashed the aspirations¹⁵ of many Afghans who hoped for a better life after the Taleban was driven from power in 2001.

"You can say, 'Well, it's only five years.' But five years is a long time for a population that saw an end to the Taleban as the beginning of their new future," he said. "And then there's frustration¹⁶ when that doesn't get translated into immediate¹⁷ changes. They don't want to see that same warlord in power. They don't want to see a corrupt¹³ police chief. And there has not been sufficient change."

On January 26, the Bush administration announced it would ask Congress for an additional $10.6 billion in aid for Afghanistan, $9 billion of which would go to security assistance. Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said NATO must also do more to counter the insurgency.

 
Nicholas Burns 
"We are doing this because we want to win in Afghanistan and we intend to win," he said. "And we believe that the endeavor there is one that requires a greater effort by the United States and by its NATO allies. And as I said before, we're doing it because we do expect a high level of intensity¹⁸ of fighting, which we have seen over the last six to eight months, to continue."

Kamran Bokhari, a senior Middle East analyst² at the private intelligence company Stratfor, has just returned from a three-week trip to the region where he met key officials, including a private 35-minute meeting with Pakistan's president, General Pervez Musharraf. Bokhari says the Taleban and the Karzai government are locked in a stalemate, and that the Taleban and its allies in al-Qaida are betting that the United States and NATO will tire of Afghanistan and eventually leave.

"I can tell you that the jihadist perception is that it is only a matter of time when the U.S. is going to get sick of both Iraq and Afghanistan and they'll leave," he said. "Now, the Taleban fighter has orders from his commander that your efforts should be geared to making that happen sooner rather than later, make them more frustrated¹⁹ quickly so that we can accomplish that goal."

U.S. officials have voiced frustration over the restrictions²⁰ that some European allies have put on their troops in Afghanistan that prevent them from operating in combat zones. Undersecretary Burns says those restrictions, known as "caveats," need to be lifted so NATO can operate more effectively against the Taleban.

1 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

2 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

3 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。

4 implementation   

n.实施，贯彻

参考例句：

• Implementation of the program is now well underway.这一项目的实施现在行情看好。

5 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。

6 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

7 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

8 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。

9 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

10 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

11 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

12 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

13 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

14 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

15 aspirations   

强烈的愿望( aspiration的名词复数 )； 志向； 发送气音； 发 h 音

参考例句：

• I didn't realize you had political aspirations. 我没有意识到你有政治上的抱负。
• The new treaty embodies the aspirations of most nonaligned countries. 新条约体现了大多数不结盟国家的愿望。

16 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

17 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

18 intensity   

n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度

参考例句：

• I didn't realize the intensity of people's feelings on this issue.我没有意识到这一问题能引起群情激奋。
• The strike is growing in intensity.罢工日益加剧。

19 frustrated   

adj.挫败的，失意的，泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的过去式和过去分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's very easy to get frustrated in this job. 这个工作很容易令人懊恼。
• The bad weather frustrated all our hopes of going out. 恶劣的天气破坏了我们出行的愿望。 来自《简明英汉词典》

20 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制