Washington Expected to Refocus Military Strength in Asia

 

By Benjamin Sand

Analysts² say a planned re-alignment of U.S. military personnel abroad does not reflect a lessening³ of Washington's commitment to stability in Asia, but some individual countries in the region will receive less attention as the military focus is restructured to reflect post-Cold War concerns.

In all, it appears that at least 70,000 U.S. troops around the world will be repositioned.

U.S. officials familiar with the new plans, which President Bush is expected to detail on Monday, have said the majority of the moves will involve U.S. forces in Europe.

However, the proposed realignment is also expected to involve a major restructuring of the approximately 100,000 troops stationed in the Asia-Pacific region.

Washington has already announced plans to withdraw nearly one-third of its 37,000 troops based in South Korea.

Richard Baker⁴, a military and political analyst¹ with the East-West Center in Hawaii, says the realignment will strengthen America's military capabilities⁵ in Asia even if it ultimately means fewer troops in the region.

"The message for the region as a whole is the United States is modernizing⁶ and upgrading its capability⁷ to provide the security guarantees that it has been providing for a long time in the region," he said.

Washington has said for some time that it wants to recast what is essentially⁸ a Cold War deployment⁹ into a modern force capable of addressing contemporary threats, such as terrorism.

Mr. Baker suggests the War on Terror should result in reduced troop levels in South Korea and Japan, but that America's military focus on other parts of the region should increase.

"Other countries where we have cooperative arrangements, including Singapore, including Australia and various other countries in the region, will be affected¹⁰ by the new configuration¹¹ of American forces because in many instances we'll be doing more things with those other countries than we had been before," explained Mr. Baker.

The United States already supports the Philippine government's fight against Muslim separatists, and contributes to Malaysian and Indonesian security operations in the Strait of Malacca, which is thought to be especially vulnerable to terrorist actions.

Washington also hopes to expand a joint¹² military training base it occupies in Northern Australia.

U.S. Officials say any major troop realignment will take years to implement¹³.

Benjamin Sand, VOA News, Hong Kong.

注释：
lessening 减轻, 减少
restructure 调整，重建
reposition 重新配置
approximately 大约
Hawaii 夏威夷
upgrade 改善，提升
configuration 配置
Strait of Malacca 马六甲海峡
implement 贯彻，执行

 

1 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

2 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。

3 lessening   

减轻，减少，变小

参考例句：

• So however much he earned, she spent it, her demands growing and lessening with his income. 祥子挣多少，她花多少，她的要求随着他的钱涨落。 来自汉英文学 - 骆驼祥子
• The talks have resulted in a lessening of suspicion. 谈话消减了彼此的怀疑。

4 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

5 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

6 modernizing   

使现代化，使适应现代需要( modernize的现在分词 )； 现代化，使用现代方法

参考例句：

• Modernizing a business to increase its profitability and competitiveness is a complicated affair. 使企业现代化，从而达到增加利润，增强竞争力的目的，是一件复杂的事情。
• The young engineer had a large share in modernizing the factory. 这位年轻工程师在工厂现代化的过程中尽了很大的“力”。

7 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

8 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

9 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

10 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

11 configuration   

n.结构，布局，形态，(计算机)配置

参考例句：

• Geographers study the configuration of the mountains.地理学家研究山脉的地形轮廓。
• Prices range from $119 to $199,depending on the particular configuration.价格因具体配置而异，从119美元至199美元不等。

12 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

13 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。