2007年VOA标准英语-Bush Administration Defends War in Iraq

By Scott Stearns
Washington
16 August 2007

The Bush administration continues to defend the war in Iraq ahead of a report to Congress next month on progress there. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports that, two days after truck bombings that killed at least 400 Iraqis, presidential spokesman Tony Snow defended the war in an address in New York.

Tony Snow (file photo)

With President Bush on his Texas ranch², White House Spokesman Tony Snow went to New York to again outline the administration's plans for success in Iraq.

In a speech to the Hudson Institute think tank, Snow said the debate in Washington should not be about how to leave Iraq but how to win there.

"The establishment of a stable democracy in Iraq would serve as the ultimate refutation of the philosophy, the means, and the methods of the terror movement," he said. "There they will have tried their very best using weaponry, using the instruments of terror, trying to argue throughout the world that they have a better way, and they will have been humiliated³ because people will have said to them, 'Sorry. You were wrong.'"

Snow said the president's decision to send more troops to Iraq this year is beginning to show signs of progress despite what he acknowledges are considerable political and security challenges.

Truck bombs Tuesday's in two northern villages were the deadliest coordinated⁴ attacks in Iraq since the U.S.-led invasion more than four years ago. Iraq's interior ministry⁵ says at least 400 people were killed in those attacks. The U.S. military command in Baghdad has blamed al-Qaida for the bombings, saying they are meant to undermine a sense of progress that U.S. and Iraqi forces are creating.

Progress will be key to the president's September 15 report to Congress at a time when the latest CBS News poll shows more than two-thirds of Americans disapprove⁶ of how the president is handling the war.

Opposition⁷ Democrats⁸ in Congress are pushing for a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal⁹. That measure failed earlier this year when enough of the president's supporters agreed to give his plan more time to work.

But some of those Republicans, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, are making clear that they expect next month's report to affect war planning.

Snow is engaged in a campaign to convince Republicans that now is not the time to start second-guessing the president. Snow says failure in Iraq would spread "waves of chaos¹⁰" through the region and America would lose the respect of allies.

"It's ludicrous to think that if the United States simply walked away, the world would become a safer place. A U.S. retreat would mark a victory for al-Qaida far more momentous¹¹ than what it achieved on September 11, 2001, and it would vindicate¹² Osama bin¹ Laden's prediction that the way to beat the Americans is to wait them out because the Americans are not going to be able to stay the course," he said.

National Security Council Spokesman Gordon Johndroe says Ambassador Ryan Crocker and General David Petraeus will testify publicly before Congress ahead of the September report. Johndroe says the men will report to the American people about what they see on the ground in Iraq.

1 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

2 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

3 humiliated   

感到羞愧的

参考例句：

• Parents are humiliated if their children behave badly when guests are present. 子女在客人面前举止失当，父母也失体面。
• He was ashamed and bitterly humiliated. 他感到羞耻，丢尽了面子。

4 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

6 disapprove   

v.不赞成，不同意，不批准

参考例句：

• I quite disapprove of his behaviour.我很不赞同他的行为。
• She wants to train for the theatre but her parents disapprove.她想训练自己做戏剧演员，但她的父母不赞成。

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 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》

9 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。

10 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

11 momentous   

adj.重要的，重大的

参考例句：

• I am deeply honoured to be invited to this momentous occasion.能应邀出席如此重要的场合，我深感荣幸。
• The momentous news was that war had begun.重大的新闻是战争已经开始。

12 vindicate   

v.为…辩护或辩解，辩明；证明…正确

参考例句：

• He tried hard to vindicate his honor.他拼命维护自己的名誉。
• How can you vindicate your behavior to the teacher?你怎样才能向老师证明你的行为是对的呢？