2006年VOA标准英语-Bush Wants More Troops for Afghanistan

By Scott Stearns
Riga, Latvia
28 November 2006   

		President Bush during his press conference in the Grand Hall at Latvia University, Tuesday, 28 Nov. 2006 in Riga, Latvia

U.S. President George Bush says more NATO troops are needed to battle Taleban militia¹ in Afghanistan. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, Mr. Bush spoke² in the Latvian capital, Riga, ahead of the annual summit of the NATO alliance.

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President Bush says NATO's founding principle that an attack on one is an attack on all holds true whether the violence comes on a member's home soil or against their troops serving on a NATO mission abroad.

With some NATO members reluctant to boost troop levels in Afghanistan, Mr. Bush says it is time the alliance better share the burden of backing Hamid Karzai's government.

"Taleban and al-Qaida fighters and drug traffickers and criminal elements and local warlords remain active and committed to destroying democracy in Afghanistan," Mr. Bush says. "Defeating them will require the full commitment of our alliance. For NATO to succeed, its commanders on the ground must have the resources and flexibility³ they need to do their jobs."

Increasing NATO troop levels in Afghanistan is the president's top priority at this summit in Latvia.

With most of the fighting in southern and eastern Afghanistan, countries with troops on those front lines - mainly Canada, Britain, the United States and the Netherlands - want more support from NATO members Germany, Italy, France, and Spain who have restricted their troops to the relatively⁴ peaceful north and west.

Canadian Foreign Minister Peter MacKay says public support for his country's mission in Afghanistan could dissolve if other NATO members fail to provide troops for operations in the south.

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop⁵ Scheffer is also concerned about the generally poor response to a September call for more troops in Afghanistan, but he says the alliance will ultimately prevail against Taleban militia and is confident that NATO will be able to hand over more responsibility to Afghan troops in 2008.

President Bush says NATO operations in Afghanistan are central to the broader fight against terrorism by helping⁶ to train the Afghan army and rebuild the nation.

"We are in a long struggle against terrorists and extremists who follow a hateful ideology⁷ and seek to establish a totalitarian empire from Spain to Indonesia," Mr. Bush says. "We fight against the extremists who desire safe-havens and are willing to kill innocents anywhere to achieve their objectives."

Following this NATO summit, President Bush leaves for Jordan and talks with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Mr. Bush says terrorists in Iraq are trying to destabilize the unity⁸ government there, and he wants to know what the United States can do to help stop them.

1 militia   

n.民兵，民兵组织

参考例句：

• First came the PLA men,then the people's militia.人民解放军走在前面，其次是民兵。
• There's a building guarded by the local militia at the corner of the street.街道拐角处有一幢由当地民兵团守卫的大楼。

2 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。

3 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。

4 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

5 hoop   

n.（篮球）篮圈，篮

参考例句：

• The child was rolling a hoop.那个孩子在滚铁环。
• The wooden tub is fitted with the iron hoop.木盆都用铁箍箍紧。

6 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。

7 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

8 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。