2007年VOA标准英语-US Military Leaders Give Details of New Africa

By Marissa Melton
Washington
09 February 2007

The U.S. military released more details Friday about its plans for a new Africa Command center or AFRICOM. The center is going to coordinate¹ U.S. military activities for almost all of the African continent. VOA's Marissa Melton reports.

Rear Admiral Robert Moeller told members of the foreign press in Washington Friday that the new African command center will pull together responsibilities for Africa that had formerly² been divided up among U.S. Central Command in the U.S. state of Florida, U.S. Pacific Command in the Pacific island state of Hawaii, and U.S. European Command, located in Germany.

"Three geographic³ combatant commands have responsibility for the continent, with the European command having the largest number of countries with whom they work. When we get to a full operational capability⁴, AFRICOM will be responsible for the entire continent, less Egypt."

Moeller said U.S. Central Command will continue to handle Egypt, along with the Middle Eastern countries, as it has in the past.

The command center is meant to coordinate military activities as well as help with humanitarian⁵ aid operations conducted by U.S. government agencies such as the State Department and USAID. Officials say AFRICOM troops will also train African peacekeeping troops and help establish stability in troubled areas.

Moeller is transition team leader for the new project. He said a location for the new center has not been decided⁶ yet, but discussions on that will start right away. "We anticipate beginning soon, within a matter of weeks most likely, a series of detailed⁷ conversations with countries around the continent to get their perspective on this idea of a headquarters location on the continent," he said.

One reporter asked if the decision to establish AFRICOM resulted from some worldwide "scramble⁸ for Africa," a struggle for economic or political power on the continent. Another asked if the center would be a headquarters for anti-terror investigations⁹. Theresa Whelan, deputy assistant defense¹⁰ secretary for Africa, said a flat "no" to both.

"The purpose of this command is to help promote greater security, cooperation, and dialogue between ourselves and our African partners. That's the intent. To build capacity within Africa for security because security is the framework, the foundation, of stability required for economic development, social development. So this isn't about chasing terrorists around Africa," she said.

The transition team, led by Moeller, is working now at the European Command Center to start merging¹¹ the operations of the three command centers that have been handling African affairs. AFRICOM is expected to begin operations later this year. President Bush has said he wants the command center to be fully¹² operational by September of next year.

1 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。

2 formerly   

adv.从前，以前

参考例句：

• We now enjoy these comforts of which formerly we had only heard.我们现在享受到了过去只是听说过的那些舒适条件。
• This boat was formerly used on the rivers of China.这船从前航行在中国内河里。

3 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

4 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。

5 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。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

8 scramble   

v.爬行，攀爬，杂乱蔓延，碎片，片段，废料

参考例句：

• He broke his leg in his scramble down the wall.他爬墙摔断了腿。
• It was a long scramble to the top of the hill.到山顶须要爬登一段长路。

9 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

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 merging   

合并（分类）

参考例句：

• Many companies continued to grow by merging with or buying competing firms. 许多公司通过合并或收买竞争对手的公司而不断扩大。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• To sequence by repeated splitting and merging. 用反复分开和合并的方法进行的排序。

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。