奥巴马宣布暂缓从阿富汗撤军

 　　U.S. President Barack Obama said Tuesday that the 9,800 American troops stationed in Afghanistan would remain there until the end of the year, despite earlier plans to cut them by half.

　　"Afghanistan remains¹ a very dangerous place," Obama said at a news conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani at the White House. "Insurgents² still launch attacks, including cowardly suicide bombings against civilians³."

　　The United States is determined⁴ to maintain the gains made by U.S. forces in the country, Obama emphasized. He said U.S. forces would continue to advise and train Afghan troops, as well as assist them in targeted counterterrorism operations.

　　Obama Won Draw Down US Troops in Afghanistan in 2015

　　Also, U.S. military leaders have seemed receptive to Ghani's request that U.S. bases in Jalalabad and in Kandahar, where the Taliban had their capital until 2001, stay open as long as possible.

　　Obama previously⁵ had announced plans to cut the troop level to 5,500 by year's end and even fewer troops by the time he leaves office in early 2017. The president said that the timeline would be reworked later this year and that the date for a final troop drawdown remained the same.

　　Ghani said flexibility⁶ provided by slowing down the U.S. troop withdrawal⁷ "will be used to accelerate reforms, to ensure that the Afghan National Security Forces are much better led, equipped, trained and are focused on their fundamental mission."

　　Obama pointedly⁸ noted⁹ that despite the drawdown of U.S. troops — the level peaked at just over 100,000 several years ago — the Afghan national army has assumed responsibility for the country's security and has not collapsed¹⁰, as was predicted.

　　The U.S. administration will ask Congress for funding to allow the Afghan National Security Forces to maintain a level of 352,000 troops through at least fiscal¹¹ 2017, it was announced Monday after Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, his chief executive in a power-sharing government, met with other high-ranking officials at Camp David.

　　The Afghan leaders' U.S. trip is aimed at improving bilateral¹² relations strained by years of war and often testy¹³ White House relations with former Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

　　Obama noted that the U.S.-educated Ghani, like the American president's own mother, trained as an anthropologist¹⁴, a profession he said was committed to cultural understanding and peace. Obama said he believed "the progress we've made in this visit" has advanced "the goal of making our world safer."

　　Honoring war dead

　　Before meeting Obama, Ghani and Abdullah headed to Arlington National Cemetery¹⁵, where many of the 2,300 U.S. troops killed in Afghanistan are buried. They placed a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns, which honors unidentified war dead.

　　At the White House briefing, Ghani again thanked U.S. troops, as well as Afghan soldiers and civilians, for their roles in helping¹⁶ the young democracy.

　　He also expressed gratitude¹⁷ to veterans' families and "the American taxpayer¹⁸ for his and her hard-earned dollars" in supporting Afghanistan.

　　When asked why U.S. troops should continue to sacrifice in Afghanistan, Ghani said the need for security cooperation is paramount¹⁹ in an interconnected world. He also said Afghanistan had embraced democratic ways while staying true to its Islamic roots.

　　While not naming the Islamic State militant²⁰ group, the Afghan president referenced a “changing ecology of terror” that has made cooperation among regional governments imperative²¹.

　　“Today, the state system as we have known it is under attack. These are not classic, national liberation movements. These are destructive, nihilistic movements, and it’s essential that we confront them with vigor²² and determination,” Ghani said.

　　He said Afghanistan would not have peace with those who use Afghan territory as a proxy²³ for other purposes, as a battleground for “alien forces” or a launching pad for global terrorism.

　　The Afghan leader vowed²⁴ to defeat Taliban insurgents seeking to overthrow²⁵ his fledgling government in fighting that continues more than 13 years after the United States invaded Afghanistan to attack al-Qaida militants²⁶ after their 2001 terrorist assault on the U.S.

　　In a stark²⁷ reminder²⁸ of the violence still racking Afghanistan, gunmen killed 13 bus passengers in a province near Kabul early Tuesday.

1 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

2 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

3 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

4 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

5 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

6 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

7 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。

8 pointedly   

adv.尖地，明显地

参考例句：

• She yawned and looked pointedly at her watch. 她打了个哈欠，又刻意地看了看手表。
• The demand for an apology was pointedly refused. 让对方道歉的要求遭到了断然拒绝。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

10 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

11 fiscal   

adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的

参考例句：

• The increase of taxation is an important fiscal policy.增税是一项重要的财政政策。
• The government has two basic strategies of fiscal policy available.政府有两个可行的财政政策基本战略。

12 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

13 testy   

adj.易怒的；暴躁的

参考例句：

• Ben's getting a little testy in his old age.上了年纪后本变得有点性急了。
• A doctor was called in to see a rather testy aristocrat.一个性格相当暴躁的贵族召来了一位医生为他检查。

14 anthropologist   

n.人类学家，人类学者

参考例句：

• The lecturer is an anthropologist.这位讲师是人类学家。
• The anthropologist unearthed the skull of an ancient human at the site.人类学家在这个遗址挖掘出那块古人类的颅骨。

15 cemetery   

n.坟墓，墓地，坟场

参考例句：

• He was buried in the cemetery.他被葬在公墓。
• His remains were interred in the cemetery.他的遗体葬在墓地。

16 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

17 gratitude   

adj.感激，感谢

参考例句：

• I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
• She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。

18 taxpayer   

n.纳税人

参考例句：

• The new scheme will run off with a lot of the taxpayer's money.这项新计划将用去纳税人许多钱。
• The taxpayer are unfavourably disposed towards the recent tax increase.纳税者对最近的增加税收十分反感。

19 paramount   

a.最重要的，最高权力的

参考例句：

• My paramount object is to save the Union and destroy slavery.我的最高目标是拯救美国，摧毁奴隶制度。
• Nitrogen is of paramount importance to life on earth.氮对地球上的生命至关重要。

20 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

21 imperative   

n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的

参考例句：

• He always speaks in an imperative tone of voice.他老是用命令的口吻讲话。
• The events of the past few days make it imperative for her to act.过去这几天发生的事迫使她不得不立即行动。

22 vigor   

n.活力，精力，元气

参考例句：

• The choir sang the words out with great vigor.合唱团以极大的热情唱出了歌词。
• She didn't want to be reminded of her beauty or her former vigor.现在，她不愿人们提起她昔日的美丽和以前的精力充沛。

23 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

24 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

25 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

26 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。

27 stark   

adj.荒凉的；严酷的；完全的；adv.完全地

参考例句：

• The young man is faced with a stark choice.这位年轻人面临严峻的抉择。
• He gave a stark denial to the rumor.他对谣言加以完全的否认。

28 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。