2007年VOA标准英语-British Leader Rejects Call For Iraq Withdrawal

By Tom Rivers
London
28 August 2007

Britain's Prime Minister Gordon Brown is seen after a meeting of the government's top emergency committee Cobra, 29 Jun 2007

Prime Minister Gordon Brown has ruled out a timetable for the withdrawal¹ of British troops from Iraq.  He says they still have an important job to do there.  For VOA, Tom Rivers in London reports.

Writing to the leader of the opposition² Liberal Democrats⁴, Prime Minister Gordon Brown says he still has objectives to take care of in Iraq and therefore he insists setting a timetable would undermine those efforts.

Liberal Democrat³ leader Ming Campbell says those objectives have been changing from the hunt for weapons of mass destruction in the early days of the invasion, to building a democratic model for the region, to where we are right now.  And in an inferred reference to former Prime Minister Blair, Campbell says Brown should start looking out for British interests.

"We have a moral obligation to the young men and women of our armed forces who we ask to do dangerous and difficult tasks, and it seems to me that the prime minister is ignoring the reality on the ground, but second, the increasingly vocal⁵ anxieties and reservations being expressed by senior army officers," Campbell said. "And there really are two questions: First is, what political objectives are being achieved by our continued presence in the south of Iraq and what military objectives are being achieved?  And so far, and certainly not in this letter, the prime minister does not seem to me to have provided coherent answers to either of these questions."

British forces have recently pulled out of a base in Basra jointly⁶ housing Iraqi police and within days, the remaining British soldiers in the city will withdraw from their position in a former Saddam Hussein palace.

That will leave almost all of Britain's 5,500 troops housed in a single location in the country, the airport outside Basra.

Prime Minister Brown has promised he will update parliament in October on Britain's strategy in Iraq.

He says troop levels are under constant review and he relies heavily on the recommendations of his military commanders in the field. 

1 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。

2 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。

3 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

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 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。

6 jointly   

ad.联合地，共同地

参考例句：

• Tenants are jointly and severally liable for payment of the rent. 租金由承租人共同且分别承担。
• She owns the house jointly with her husband. 她和丈夫共同拥有这所房子。