VOA标准英语2012--US, Afghanistan Sign Draft of Strategic Partnership Agreement

US, Afghanistan Sign Draft of Strategic Partnership¹ Agreement

U.S. troops and Afghan security forces have fought on the front lines together. They have worked together to build up the Afghan Army and police force. And billions of dollars have poured into the country to boost the economy.

Now the new strategic partnership agreement shows Afghanistan the U.S. will not completely leave the country after 2014.

“NATO and its partners cannot and will not abandon Afghanistan after 2014. Our ongoing² support will be essential to preserving and building on the gains we’ve made thus far,” said Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

Western nations are negotiating how much to spend to support Afghan security forces following 2014. Analysts³ say whatever the cost, it will be far less than the more than $100 billion being spent this year.

Lisa Curtis is a South Asia specialist at The Heritage Foundation.

“Providing say two to three billion [dollars] to sustain Afghan security forces after 2014 seems like a pretty good bargain to ensure the U.S. is not attacked again - that we don’t have another type of 9/11 attack on the U.S. homeland,” she said. 

U.S. Representative Dana Rohrabacher, a strong critic of the Afghan government, was recently banned from traveling to Kabul by President Hamid Karzai. Rohrabacher said the strategic partnership agreement is an admission that a decade of nation-building has not worked.

“One of the reasons we are in bad shape and have lost so many people already, is we have imported combat troops to try to force local people to accept Kabul as the legitimate⁴ power. And Kabul, of course, is run by a corrupt⁵ regime under Karzai,” said Rohrabacher.

But U.S. military officials say they will need to stay in Afghanistan beyond 2014 to train local security forces. Major General John Toolan has spent the past year commanding troops in Afghanistan.

“They will have to be in Afghanistan as long as it takes for the Afghan security forces to establish, particularly the police and I’ll say specifically the police, to establish local security and credibility among the population,” said Toolan.

Earlier, officials signed agreements on the thorny⁶ issues of night raids by U.S. troops and the handover of detention⁷ facilities to Afghan authorities.

Analysts say the strategic partnership sends a strong message to Pakistan and the Taliban that Americans will not abandon the region as they did in the 1990s after the Soviets⁸ were pushed out of the country.

“I think what this agreement shows is that the U.S. is not desperate for a peace deal with the Taliban. Yes, certainly, some kind of settlement that involves the Taliban is desirable, but the U.S. is simply not desperate to reach some type of agreement in the next two years,” said Curtis of the Heritage Foundation.

A post-2014 military force could provide training, air power, intelligence sharing and counter-terrorism operations in partnership with Afghan soldiers.

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

3 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

4 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

5 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

6 thorny   

adj.多刺的，棘手的

参考例句：

• The young captain is pondering over a thorny problem.年轻的上尉正在思考一个棘手的问题。
• The boys argued over the thorny points in the lesson.孩子们辩论功课中的难点。

7 detention   

n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下

参考例句：

• He was kept in detention by the police.他被警察扣留了。
• He was in detention in connection with the bribery affair.他因与贿赂事件有牵连而被拘留了。

8 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。