2006年VOA标准英语-US Troop Casualties in Iraq Continue to Mount

By Bill Rodgers
Washington, DC
27 October 2006
 
watch Iraq US Casualties
 
  
  
The number of American troops killed in Iraq this month continues to rise, reaching the highest monthly total in a year.  U.S. military authorities say the most recent casualties occurred in Anbar province, as troops continue an offensive aimed at returning the city of Ramadi to Iraqi control.  The rising death toll¹ is spurring growing dissatisfaction with the way the Bush administration is handling the war. 

----

As the fighting continues, American casualties are mounting -- making October the deadliest month for American soldiers in a year.   

 
Will Mock, US Army Sergeant² 
  
Television reports portraying³ those who have fallen -- such as Army Sergeant Will Mock -- bring the war home to Americans.  Ann Mock recalls her son.  "He kept saying, 'I will do you proud, Momma.  I won't fail you'.  You're not failing me, you're not failing me, baby."

Polls show most Americans are opposed to the way the Bush administration is handling the war.

And calls for a timetable to pull the troops out are coming more frequently from prominent Democrats⁴ such as Senator Charles Schumer as the mid-term election approaches. "We're certainly not winning the war in Iraq.  We seem to be policing a civil war.  That is not what the American people bargained for."

President Bush has said he is urging Iraqi leaders to take measures to end sectarian violence -- and spoke⁵ repeatedly at a news conference Wednesday about benchmarks to be met.  However, Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki has said his government will not bend to specific deadlines.   

US Defense⁶ Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld (file photo)   
  
On Thursday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters there has been no attempt to impose mandatory⁷ benchmarks in discussions between U.S. and Iraqi officials. "They then discuss, well, when might something happen.  It isn't a date, and it isn't a penalty if it doesn't.  I mean you're trying to add a degree of formality and finality and punishment to something. That is not what this is about.  This is complicated stuff, it's difficult.  We're looking out into the future." 

But the continuing violence has heightened criticism that Iraqi security forces are not up to the job because they have not been able to restore calm.

At his Thursday news conference, Rumsfeld dismissed this. "The Iraqi security force training program that we have laid out has been proceeding⁸ in an orderly, reasonable way.  We have projections⁹ that we have released to the Congress every month or two or three.  We show them what we think we're going to have in the way of training and equipping. It's all laid out there, we think it's working; they're doing a good job.  When we said they would handle security for the bulk of the security for the last election, they did."

But at least in Baghdad, where much of the violence is occurring, it is U.S. soldiers who are at the forefront. 

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 sergeant   

n.警官，中士

参考例句：

• His elder brother is a sergeant.他哥哥是个警官。
• How many stripes are there on the sleeve of a sergeant?陆军中士的袖子上有多少条纹？

3 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

4 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 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。

7 mandatory   

adj.命令的；强制的；义务的；n.受托者

参考例句：

• It's mandatory to pay taxes.缴税是义务性的。
• There is no mandatory paid annual leave in the U.S.美国没有强制带薪年假。

8 proceeding   

n.行动，进行，(pl.)会议录，学报

参考例句：

• This train is now proceeding from Paris to London.这次列车从巴黎开往伦敦。
• The work is proceeding briskly.工作很有生气地进展着。

9 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。