2007年VOA标准英语-White House Rejects Appeal for New Iraq Plan

By Paula Wolfson
White House
15 July 2007

The White House has rejected an appeal from two prominent Senate Republicans for a new approach to the Iraq war. VOA's Paula Wolfson reports the senators want the president to draft a revised war plan.

John Warner (file photo)

They are two Senate leaders on national security issues.

John Warner of Virginia is the top Republican on the Armed Services Committee. Indiana's Richard Lugar has the senior party seat on the Foreign Relations panel.

They have proposed legislation giving the administration until mid-October to conduct a policy review and come up with a plan to restrict the mission of American troops in Iraq to military training, protecting borders and U.S. assets, and combating terrorism. They say that more than four years after the ouster of Saddam Hussein, it is time for Congress to reauthorize the war, taking into account the changed nature of the fight.

White House National Security Advisor¹ Stephen Hadley told the Fox News Sunday television program that the Warner-Lugar proposal is not necessary, saying an orderly process for reviewing the president's Iraq strategy is already in place.

Hadley said that process begins in September.

Stephen Hadley (file photo)

"It begins with a report from our commander on the ground General Petraeus, and our ambassador on the ground Ryan Crocker," he said. "They will come back in September supplemented with a series of reports from the administration, from outside the administration, and that will be the time to consider the kind of questions and issues these gentlemen have raised."

A short time later on ABC's This Week program, Senator Warner urged the White House to reconsider. He said the proposal he drafted with Senator Lugar is sound, adding the president should start thinking about various policy options now.

Senator Warner pointed² to the administration's recent mixed assessment³ of progress in Iraq, and expressed doubts the extra U.S. troops sent by President Bush will be matched by the necessary political will in Baghdad.

"After all, we started this surge thing to give a certain degree of security in Baghdad so that the government in Baghdad can perform," he said. "It is not likely to perform as we had anticipated. So the president will have to make some changes and I am confident he will do so and report to the Congress."

The Warner-Lugar proposal has also received a cool reception from Senate Democrats⁴ who want a firm timetable for a withdrawal⁵ from Iraq. Among them is Jim Webb of Virginia. He told NBC's Meet the Press the president's war policy has failed.

"We have reached the point where we have to come together as a Congress and bring some order into this," he said.

Hoshyar Zebari (file photo)

On Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told reporters that Iraqi forces are ready to provide full security whenever U.S. troops leave. But on Sunday, his foreign minister, Hoshyar Zebari, told an American interviewer the prime minister was not calling for an immediate⁶ withdrawal.

"That [a withdrawal] is the goal," he said. "But he was not referring to a precipitous withdrawal or departure of the troops."

Foreign Minister Zebari appeared on CNN's Late Edition.

1 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。

2 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

3 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？

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 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。