VOA标准英语2012--Coalition Commander Says Afghan Plan Still Intact

Coalition¹ Commander Says Afghan Plan Still Intact

General Allen took command of international forces in Afghanistan last July. Since then, his mission has been to put himself out of a job - to train Afghan troops to take over, against a weakened Taliban, by the end of 2014.
“It is a difficult job,” he says. “The Taliban continues to carry out spectacular attacks, and most Afghan troops start with a will to fight, but few professional soldiering skills.”
Then last week, U.S. Defense² Secretary Leon Panetta said he hopes U.S. troops will be able to end their combat mission by late 2013, more than a year ahead of the final handover agreed to at the NATO summit in Lisbon in 2010. The announcement surprised some foreign officials and other experts, but General Allen says that was always part of the plan.
“That has been the plan all along. It has not accelerated the Lisbon-based timeline. We will continue to serve right alongside, support the ANSF (Afghan National Security Forces) through the remainder of '13, across all of '14, right to the end of '14, which was the roadmap out of Lisbon.”
Still, General Allen says while Afghan forces are to be in the lead throughout the country starting in the middle of next year, foreign troops should expect to do some fighting.
“We will never be in a situation where there is no combat or no likelihood of combat. The enemy gets a vote here. This has been a virulent³ insurgency⁴. We should fully⁵ expect, as advisers⁶ always have been, that advisers when they are supporting combat forces are going to be exposed to combat.”
So the general does not expect the Taliban to give up easily. But he also rejects the findings of a secret U.S. military report leaked to the British media last week. The report says captured Taliban fighters claim their organization is stronger than Western officials say it is.
“The Taliban who are in our custody⁷ might be very interested in portraying⁸ for us that they're willing to wait until after 2014. But frankly⁹, that's a bankrupt narrative¹⁰ because there's going to be an international force of some form or another aiding the ANSF long after 2014.”
Foreign help for the Afghans after 2014 will largely involve money and training for its civilian¹¹ government and security forces.
But General Allen and other security experts say some sort of small but capable foreign force will also be needed.

1 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。

2 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。

3 virulent   

adj.有毒的，有恶意的，充满敌意的

参考例句：

• She is very virulent about her former employer.她对她过去的老板恨之入骨。
• I stood up for her despite the virulent criticism.尽管她遭到恶毒的批评，我还是维护她。

4 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

7 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。

8 portraying   

v.画像( portray的现在分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• The artist has succeeded in portraying my father to the life. 那位画家把我的父亲画得惟妙惟肖。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Ding Ling was good at portraying figures through careful and refined description of human psychology. 《莎菲女士的日记》是丁玲的成名作，曾引起强烈的社会反响。 来自汉英文学 - 中国现代小说

9 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

10 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

11 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。