VOA常速英语2007年-US Commander Arrives in Afghanistan for Strateg

By Al Pessin
Kabul
18 December 2007

One of the top U.S. military commanders arrived in Afghanistan early Wednesday to work on an assessment¹ of American and allied² efforts to defeat Taliban and al-Qaida insurgents⁴, who continue to operate six years after the U.S.-led invasion.  VOA's Al Pessin is traveling with the commander and filed this report from Kabul.

The continuing ability of Taliban and al-Qaida fighters to launch attacks and prevent the Afghan government from establishing its authority throughout the country is forcing American officials to take a fresh look at their strategy.  While they point to improvements in several parts of the country, U.S. military and civilian⁵ officials acknowledge the insurgents are particularly strong in southern Afghanistan, and are able to cause problems in many other areas.

The commander of U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, Admiral William Fallon, came on his monthly visit to Afghanistan Wednesday with a broader mission than usual - to make progress on an assessment he is leading aimed at finding a more effective way to deal with the insurgents.

"Well, I don't want to make too big a deal of it, but I've asked my staff to go back and take a look at everything we're doing here, to look at the situation, to reassess where we are so that we can have a firm understanding of the situation," he said.  "And as we figure out what we want to do strategically in the country, how we can do it better."

In a VOA interview enroute to Afghanistan, Admiral Fallon said he wants to make recommendations to senior U.S. leaders on how to move forward more effectively in Afghanistan next year.  He said one challenge is to get the dozens of countries and organizations working in Afghanistan to better coordinate⁶ their efforts.

In that regard, he says there has been progress in one critical area, cooperation with Pakistan on controlling the border region.

The admiral attributes the improvement to several factors.

"Things have gotten better, not cleaned up altogether, but the trends are in the right direction," he added.  "The data that I have indicates that in the eastern part, for which the U.S. has responsibility under [NATO] ISAF [International Security Assistance Force] and I have a high interest, of course, the level of activity has come down significantly here in the past several months now.  I would attribute that to a number of things.  One, our people have been very aggressive in going out and seeking out these insurgents and these terrorists to get rid of them.  [And, two] on the Pakistani side of the border, the Pakistani military has been more cooperative with us this year."

Admiral Fallon says a joint⁷ U.S.-Afghan-Pakistani coordination⁸ committee is having more success sharing information and coordinating⁹ counter-terrorism efforts along the northern part of the border.  But he says he has not seen the same the reduction in cross-border insurgent³ activity farther south, where most of the violence has been concentrated in recent months.

Admiral Fallon has direct command of U.S. forces in eastern Afghanistan, and his troops also help NATO-led security efforts in the rest of the country.  The New York Times reported on Sunday that his assessment will be combined with parallel efforts by NATO and the U.S. State Department in a top level review of Afghanistan strategy early next year.

1 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

2 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

3 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

4 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

5 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。

6 coordinate   

adj.同等的，协调的；n.同等者；vt.协作，协调

参考例句：

• You must coordinate what you said with what you did.你必须使你的言行一致。
• Maybe we can coordinate the relation of them.或许我们可以调和他们之间的关系。

7 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。

8 coordination   

n.协调，协作

参考例句：

• Gymnastics is a sport that requires a considerable level of coordination.体操是一项需要高协调性的运动。
• The perfect coordination of the dancers and singers added a rhythmic charm to the performance.舞蹈演员和歌手们配合得很好，使演出更具魅力。

9 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白