2006年VOA标准英语-US Increases Troops in Iraq, Rather Than Reduci

By Al Pessin
Washington
28 July 2006
 

US Army soldiers in Iraq(file photo)
   
  
The top U.S. general in Iraq had hoped to be able to recommend what he called a "fairly significant" reduction in U.S. troops in the country this year. Instead, on Thursday Defense¹ Secretary Donald Rumsfeld approved the general's request for 3,500 more troops. And that follows the general's decision to call in a reserve brigade from Kuwait earlier this year. Each brigade has about 3,500 troops. VOA Pentagon Correspondent Al Pessin reports on the implications of the turnaround in the U.S. troop outlook in Iraq.

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The soldiers of the 172nd Stryker Combat Brigade Team and their families got the bad news on Thursday. The troops had been scheduled to finish their year-long assignment in Iraq at the end of August, and return to their base in Alaska, but they were ordered to stay for up to another four months.

Officers from that brigade were not available for comment, but the leader of another combat Brigade, Colonel John Tully, told reporters by teleconference Friday that no soldier wants his or her tour of duty extended. "A year is a long time over here and none of us look forward to being extended. But we all knew what the chances were coming over here. We don't like it, but we're soldiers and we do what we're told. And times like this is when leadership has to step up and drive on to get the mission accomplished," he said.

The brigade that was extended is expected to help in the effort to establish security in Baghdad. And Colonel Tully, whose troops patrol Baghdad's southern suburbs and areas farther south, says it is partly just a matter of presence. "From what I understand, basically, we're going to increase the presence on the streets. You know, 'a cop on every block' type thing, to get a handle on the sectarian violence that's causing all the problems in Baghdad right now," he said.

Analyst² Lawrence Korb of the Center for Defense Information says more troops have been needed in Iraq for a long time. He says U.S. officials were counting on the establishment of Iraq's new government to ease the security situation, but instead the opposite has happened. "This new government has not been able to basically get its act together. It doesn't have the right people in the interior ministry³ and the defense ministry.It has not followed up on its pledge to dismantle⁴ the militias⁵. And what's happened now is you not only have an insurgency⁶, but you have a civil war on top of that," he said.

Korb, who was a senior defense department official in the 1980s, also blames U.S. officials for the spiraling violence, saying they have been denying that Iraq is in the midst of a civil war and delaying any concerted effort to deal with the situation.

Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman says the decision by the U.S. commander in Iraq, General George Casey, to keep the Stryker Brigade and its highly mobile armored vehicles in the country, and to also keep another American brigade he called in from Kuwait several months ago, resulted from a new situation. "The facts are that you have a security challenge that has emerged in Baghdad that General Casey, along with the Iraqi government, has said that we need to address," he said.

Whitman says all decisions on U.S. troop levels are based on the extent of violence, the capabilities⁷ of the new Iraqi security forces, the development of government services and related factors. And he points out that there was never a promise to reduce the number of U.S. troops this year. "We will base the decisions with respect to the number of U.S. forces on the ground in Iraq on the recommendations of the commander, which he will determine based on the conditions as to whether or not they need to go up, or whether they need to go down. And we've always said that those adjustments could go either way," he said.

On Thursday, the defense department also completed the process of designating enough units for deployment⁸ to Iraq next year to maintain the current troop level. Whitman says all the troops may not go, if the situation improves.

But Lawrence Korb is among many analysts⁹ who say a policy change is needed before any U.S. troop reduction is likely. "There's no potential for reducing the troops anytime soon if you continue to have a policy which says 'We'll stand down when they (the Iraqi forces) stand up,' because obviously they're not standing¹⁰ up and they don't seem to have as much incentive¹¹ as they need to stand up," he said.

There are currently about 127,000 U.S. troops in Iraq. The department spokesman, Bryan Whitman, says that could go up to about 134,000 in the coming months, including support units. But he emphasizes that the extension of the Stryker brigade and the deployment plan for next year are flexible, and that the troop levels will be adjusted based on the security situation and the abilities of the Iraqi military, police and government.

1 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。

2 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。

3 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

4 dismantle   

vt.拆开，拆卸；废除，取消

参考例句：

• He asked for immediate help from the United States to dismantle the warheads.他请求美国立即提供援助，拆除这批弹头。
• The mower firmly refused to mow,so I decided to dismantle it.修完后割草机还是纹丝不动，于是，我决定把它拆开。

5 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

6 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

7 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

8 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。

9 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。

10 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

11 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。