VOA常速英语2007年-Rice Urges Canada, Other NATO Allies to Perseve

By David Gollust
State Department
20 December 2007

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice Thursday hailed Canada's military role in Afghanistan and said defeating the Taliban-led insurgency¹ there is crucial to international security. Rice met Canada's Foreign Minister Maxime Bernier in advance of a parliamentary debate in Canada next month on the future of that country's Afghan mission. VOA's David Gollust reports from the State Department.

The Bush administration is heaping praise on Canada for its Afghan effort amid domestic criticism there that Canadian battlefield losses have been disproportionate and that some other NATO members are not sharing the burden.

Canada has about 2,500 troops in Afghanistan, most of them in the volatile² southern part of the country. More than 70 Canadians have been killed there since Canada joined the NATO mission a year ago.

At press events Thursday, both President Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice applauded Canada for its sacrifices in Afghanistan.

Rice, meeting reporters after talks with Foreign Minister Bernier, said Canada's role has been extraordinary and invaluable³, and that Afghanistan must not be allowed to become the terrorist safe haven⁴ it was before the U.S.-led invasion at the end of 2001.

"We learned the hard way what happened when we allowed a failed state to emerge in Afghanistan under Taliban control, that then allowed al-Qaida to burrow⁵ in, to train, to become equipped, to fund-raise, to use the assets of a state like Afghanistan to improve their capabilities⁶ as terrorists. And as a result, they were able to use that platform for the attacks of September 11," she said.

Canada is committed to keeping troops in Afghanistan until February of 2009 and the Conservative Party government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has said it would like to see the military mission extended beyond that.

However opposition⁷ parties are adamant⁸ about ending the mission on schedule or even sooner. A parliamentary debate in Ottawa will to be held after an independent study panel on the Afghan mission reports to legislators late next month.

Appearing with Rice, Foreign Minister Bernier made clear the Harper government's inclination⁹ is to remain, but said the decision rests with parliament.

"It will be vote in Parliament, in the House [of Commons] for the future of our military mission," he said.  "And it's our job as a government, when we'll take our decision, to explain our decision to Canadians, what we're doing there. And I hope that we'll be able to have our mission, our military mission, extended for a couple of months. But we're going to await the recommendations from the panel. And after that, we'll have a position from our government and we'll have a public debate."

At his news conference earlier Thursday, President Bush applauded Britain, Canada, Denmark and the Netherlands for their Afghan contributions, saying they are working side-by-side with U.S. forces to deal the Taliban a blow.

Mr. Bush said his main concern is that countries in the NATO-led international force in Afghanistan will grow tired of their involvement, stressing it will take time for what he called the "democratic experiment" in Afghanistan to work.

Rice said the United States is working with all the NATO allies to make sure responsibilities in Afghanistan are spread more evenly.

U.S. officials, among them Defense¹⁰ Secretary Robert Gates, have recently become more vocal¹¹ in criticizing restrictions¹² by some NATO members on their combat roles in Afghanistan, or for not supplying helicopters or other key equipment.

The United States has about 26,000 troops in Afghanistan and has the lead combat role. NATO provides most of the remaining 28,000 troops, but British, Canadian, Dutch, Danish  and Australian forces are credited by U.S. officials with doing most of the fighting.

1 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

2 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

3 invaluable   

adj.无价的，非常宝贵的，极为贵重的

参考例句：

• A computer would have been invaluable for this job.一台计算机对这个工作的作用会是无法估计的。
• This information was invaluable to him.这个消息对他来说是非常宝贵的。

4 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。

5 burrow   

vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞

参考例句：

• Earthworms burrow deep into the subsoil.蚯蚓深深地钻进底土。
• The dog had chased a rabbit into its burrow.狗把兔子追进了洞穴。

6 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

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 adamant   

adj.坚硬的，固执的

参考例句：

• We are adamant on the building of a well-off society.在建设小康社会这一点上，我们是坚定不移的。
• Veronica was quite adamant that they should stay on.维罗妮卡坚信他们必须继续留下去。

9 inclination   

n.倾斜；点头；弯腰；斜坡；倾度；倾向；爱好

参考例句：

• She greeted us with a slight inclination of the head.她微微点头向我们致意。
• I did not feel the slightest inclination to hurry.我没有丝毫着急的意思。

10 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。

11 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

12 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