VOA标准英语2008年-Gates Says He and Bono Discussed Africa Policy

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
25 January 2008

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates says he discussed U.S. military policy toward Africa with Irish rock star Bono during a short meeting at his Pentagon office earlier this week. The secretary provided some details of the meeting during a news conference Thursday and VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

Besides gaining worldwide fame as the lead singer of the rock group U2, Bono has become prominent as an activist² for humanitarian³ causes, particularly in Africa. His fame and activism have gained him entrée to the offices of many world leaders, including President Bush.

So during a visit to Washington this week, Bono asked to see Secretary Gates, and the secretary says he carried with him concerns expressed by some humanitarian organizations about the creation of a new U.S. military command for Africa.

"He clearly was interested in Africa and AFRICOM," said Robert Gates. "He did share some of the concerns he has heard. We gave him some information on AFRICOM and he was not hostile to it. I would say that he was open-minded about it and he just recommended that we take care in how we proceed."

AFRICOM was created last year and will reach full operations by October. It is designed to focus more high-level attention on U.S. military training programs in Africa, and military support for U.S. government humanitarian and development efforts. But some aid groups are concerned that the command will lead to the militarization of U.S. policy toward the continent.

U.S. officials say that will not happen. And Secretary Gates says during their meeting Bono referred to a speech he gave in November that called for an increase in U.S. government civilian⁴ engagement overseas.

"To be honest about it, he had read my speech at Kansas State [University] and had liked a lot what I said about lso strengthening the non-military side of the U.S. face abroad," he said.

In that speech, Secretary Gates called for "a dramatic increase" in U.S. government spending on "the civilian instruments of national security," which he defined as "diplomacy⁵, strategic communications, foreign assistance, civic⁶ action and economic reconstruction⁷ and development."

The unusual image of a U.S. defense secretary meeting with a rock star, and having a serious policy discussion, received worldwide attention. Secretary Gates said he was "impressed" with Bono, and called him "a very serious guy" who was "very well informed." But although he is a former university president, the 63-year-old defense secretary admitted he is not familiar with Bono's musical career.

"First of all, I have to tell you, it's a matter of age that I thought U2 was an airplane," said Gates.

The U2 is an American high-altitude spy plane, which was particularly prominent during the Cold War, including the time when Secretary Gates was the director of the Central Intelligence Agency.

1 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。

2 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

3 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。

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

6 civic   

adj.城市的，都市的，市民的，公民的

参考例句：

• I feel it is my civic duty to vote.我认为投票选举是我作为公民的义务。
• The civic leaders helped to forward the project.市政府领导者协助促进工程的进展。

7 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。