VOA标准英语2008年-Gates in Iraq to Mark New Phase of Conflict

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates flew into Iraq Monday for a change of command ceremony he says marks the beginning of a new phase in the conflict- in which the United States will gradually reduce its military presence. VOA's Al Pessin is traveling with the secretary, and filed this report shortly after arriving in Baghdad.
　
US Defense Secretary Robert Gates (file)

Secretary Gates says he wants to get a first-hand report on efforts to improve intelligence and reconnaissance capabilities² in Iraq, one of his main efforts in recent months. He also wants to see the impact of the withdrawal³ of the five surge brigades President Bush ordered to Iraq last year, a withdrawal that reduced U.S. combat power in the country by 25 percent.

On route to Iraq, Secretary Gates told reporters on his aircraft that with the end of the surge, the conflict is moving to a new phase.

"We are clearly in a mission transition, a transition from the focus of the surge brigades and the surge strategy to more Iraqi units in the lead, us in more of a support and over-watch role," he said. "There's no question we will still be engaged, as we are, but the areas in which we are seriously engaged will, I think, continue to narrow."

Secretary Gates said the surge enabled commanders to deploy⁴ American troops to areas where they had not been before, to defeat insurgents⁵ and hold the ground. Now, more and more of that responsibility will fall to Iraqi forces. He says U.S. commanders believe the Iraqis are up to the task, or they would not have recommended the end of the surge, and the further small withdrawals⁶ President Bush announced last week. He also says Iraqi leaders, who are also on his schedule, need to continue their political reconciliation⁷ in order to block the efforts of groups he says would still like to reverse the country's progress.

During this visit, Secretary Gates will preside over a change of command ceremony marking the end of the tenure⁸ of General David Petraeus as commander of coalition⁹ forces. General Petraeus' leadership, and the new counterinsurgency doctrine¹⁰ he helped write, are widely credited with turning the tide of the Iraq war. Now, Secretary Gates says the general's successor and former deputy, Lieutenant¹¹ General Ray Odierno, will have a somewhat different mission.

"The challenge, I think, for General Odierno is how do we work with the Iraqis to preserve the gains that have already been achieved, expand upon them, even as the numbers of U.S. forces are shrinking," he said.

General Petraeus will continue to play a major role in the Iraq war in his new post, as head of U.S. Central Command, which supervises all U.S. military operations in the Middle East and Central Asia. Part of his job will be to try to transfer his Iraq success to Afghanistan, where attacks by Taliban and al-Qaida militants¹² have been on the rise.

 

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 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 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。

4 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

5 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

6 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

7 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

8 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

9 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

10 doctrine   

n.教义；主义；学说

参考例句：

• He was impelled to proclaim his doctrine.他不得不宣扬他的教义。
• The council met to consider changes to doctrine.宗教议会开会考虑更改教义。

11 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

12 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。