2006年VOA标准英语-Bush to Host Iraq Strategy Talks

By Paula Wolfson
White House
11 June 2006
 
President Bush has called his top advisors¹ to his Camp David retreat for a strategy session Monday on Iraq. Iraqi leaders will join the discussions by teleconference on Tuesday.

President Bush   
  
The talks will take place in seclusion² in the mountains outside Washington.

President Bush says he wants to sit down in private and discuss - what he calls - the way forward in Iraq.

The two days of meetings at Camp David were announced last Thursday, following the killing³ of Abu Musab al-Zaqawi, the leader of al-Qaida in Iraq.

But White House officials stress the sessions were planned long before the Jordanian-born terrorist was killed in an air strike, and are tied to the naming of the final key members of the Iraqi Cabinet, announced on the same day as Zarqawi's death.

The first day of talks at Camp David will involve the president's top civilian⁴ and military advisers⁶, including Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, Secretary of Defense⁷ Donald Rumsfeld, and the chairman of the Joint⁸ Chiefs of Staff, General Peter Pace. The U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Zalmay Khalilzad, will join the discussions from Baghdad on a video link, as will the top U.S. commander in the field, General George Casey.

During an appearance Sunday morning on the CBS television program, Face the Nation, General Casey would not say if he would present the meeting with a plan to reduce the American troop presence in Iraq. But he did say troop reductions are possible over time.

"I think, as long as the Iraqi security forces continue to progress, and as long as this national unity⁹ government continues to operate that way and move the country forward, I think, we are going to be able to see continued gradual reductions of coalition¹⁰ forces over the coming months and into next year," said General Casey.

On Tuesday, the Camp David talks will expand. The Iraqi ambassador to the United States will join the discussions in person, with top ministers of the new government participating by video conference.

Iraq's national security adviser⁵ says there will be a full agenda. Nowaffak al-Rubaie told CNN's Late Edition program that there are many long-term issues to deal with.

"We need to work out what sort of financial help we need for next year, what sort of training we need, what the level of troops is going to be next year in Iraq, and the number of multi-national forces," said Nowaffak al-Rubaie.

When asked about prospects¹¹ for a withdrawal¹², the Iraqi official predicted the overwhelming majority of the multi-national troops will be out by the middle of 2008. That is in line with a prediction made earlier by the new Iraqi prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki

1 advisors   

n.顾问，劝告者( advisor的名词复数 )；（指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• The governors felt that they were being strung along by their advisors. 地方长官感到他们一直在受顾问们的愚弄。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• We will consult together with advisors about her education. 我们将一起和专家商议她的教育事宜。 来自互联网

2 seclusion   

n.隐遁，隔离

参考例句：

• She liked to sunbathe in the seclusion of her own garden.她喜欢在自己僻静的花园里晒日光浴。
• I live very much in seclusion these days.这些天我过着几乎与世隔绝的生活。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

6 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

11 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

12 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。