2007年VOA标准英语-US Creates Military Command for Africa

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
06 February 2007

The Bush administration has announced the creation of a new U.S. military command for Africa by September of next year.  The long-anticipated move will consolidate¹ responsibility for U.S. military activities on the continent under one top-level commander, rather than dividing responsibility for Africa among three commanders whose primary duties are elsewhere.  VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

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A Kenyan contingent prepares for a simulated joint military exercise with US forces (18 August 2006)

The new command will cover all of Africa except Egypt, which will remain under the responsibility of Central Command, the unit that also handles the rest of the Middle East and Central Asia.

The assistant secretary of defense⁴ for African affairs, Theresa Whelan, says the move is designed to provide more focus for the U.S. military's efforts in an increasingly important part of the world.

"The decision was made based on an analysis of the changing environment, the changing global security environment, and the changing role of Africa in that global security environment," she noted⁵.

Whelan says Africa Command will embody⁶ a key phrase from a major Defense Department policy document published last year.

"It goes, 'we want to prevent problems from becoming crises and crises from becoming catastrophes⁷.'  And Africa Command is going to sort of put that phrase in action," she added.

Whelan says while other U.S. regional commands focus on using diplomacy⁸ and combat power to address problems, Africa Command will have larger diplomatic and aid components⁹ and will focus on helping¹⁰ local governments prevent problems ranging from terrorism to AIDS.

"Africa Command is not going to reflect a U.S. intent to engage kinetically¹¹ in Africa," she said.  "This is about prevention.  This isn't about fighting wars."

Still, the chairman of the House of Representatives Africa subcommittee, Congressman¹² Donald Payne, expressed concern in a VOA interview about how the creation of Africa Command will be seen by ordinary Africans and their governments.

"I think there'll be a lot of skepticism, because there has been so little attention given to Africa, as other regions have gotten," he said.  "All of a sudden to have a special military command, I think the typical person would wonder why now and really what is the end game?"

Congressman Payne says he wishes the Bush administration had consulted with his committee before creating Africa Command.  But he says if part of the emphasis is on training African militaries in human rights and respect for civilian¹³ authority, that will be a good thing. 

Assistant Secretary Whelan says training is part of the plan, and that now that President Bush has made his decision official, she and others in the U.S. government will be consulting with African governments about how to move forward.

"We've decided¹⁴ that we're going to take the journey," she said.  "We've decided the vehicle we want to drive in.  But what we don't know really is what path we want to take.  And that's what we want to go and consult with the Africans on so that we essentially¹⁵ take the journey with them."

Theresa Whelan says in her more than 15 years working on African issues, she has frequently heard African leaders call for the creation of a single U.S. military command for the continent.

"We have been listening and we have heard the perspectives from our colleagues, our partners, in Africa," she said.  "This is a response to both that and to also our evolving strategic and security needs."

Former Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Chester Crocker welcomed the creation of Africa Command.

"It has the potential to add additional coherence¹⁶, or to overcome incoherence in the way we approach this region," he said.  "Africa is a region of weak states, sometimes failing states.  So one is hoping that by being able to do some capacity-building and upgrading the skill set of African militaries that they will be in a stronger position to participate in regional peacekeeping operations, for example."

But the former official, who now teaches at Georgetown University, cautions that the increased U.S. military focus on Africa must be managed carefully.

"I don't think that one would want people to draw the impression from this announcement that American policy toward Africa is becoming militarized," he added.  "That isn't really the point.  The point is let's have a coherent approach, strategic approach to the region."

Crocker says that message needs to be delivered to African governments, and Assistant Secretary Whelan says she plans to do exactly that.

An Africa Command transition team will begin work soon at European Command headquarters in Germany.  Eventually, Theresa Whelan says, the Defense Department hopes to establish Africa Command headquarters somewhere on the continent, or perhaps at several locations.

The increased focus on Africa by the U.S. Defense Department has been in the works for years.  A series of aid initiatives has delivered military training and civilian construction projects to many countries on the continent.  And a policy document issued by the department a year ago identified Africa as a "key operational area" for the U.S. military.

In the current structure, most of Africa falls under European Command.  Assistant Secretary Whelan says the countries of North Africa will continue to maintain a relationship with that command, particularly regarding cooperation with NATO.  But she says most of their dealings with the U.S. military will be shifted to Africa Command.  East Africa, which is now under Central Command, and Mauritius and Madagascar, which are under Pacific Command, will also shift to Africa Command.

1 consolidate   

v.使加固，使加强；(把...)联为一体，合并

参考例句：

• The two banks will consolidate in July next year. 这两家银行明年7月将合并。
• The government hoped to consolidate ten states to form three new ones.政府希望把十个州合并成三个新的州。

2 contingent   

adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队

参考例句：

• The contingent marched in the direction of the Western Hills.队伍朝西山的方向前进。
• Whether or not we arrive on time is contingent on the weather.我们是否按时到达要视天气情况而定。

3 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。

4 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。

5 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

6 embody   

vt.具体表达，使具体化；包含，收录

参考例句：

• The latest locomotives embody many new features. 这些最新的机车具有许多新的特色。
• Hemingway's characters plainly embody his own values and view of life.海明威笔下的角色明确反映出他自己的价值观与人生观。

7 catastrophes   

n.灾祸( catastrophe的名词复数 )；灾难；不幸事件；困难

参考例句：

• Two of history's worst natural catastrophes occurred in 1970. 1970年发生了历史上最严重两次自然灾害。 来自辞典例句
• The Swiss deposits contain evidence of such catastrophes. 瑞士的遗址里还有这种灾难的证据。 来自辞典例句

8 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

9 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

10 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。

11 kinetically   

动力学

参考例句：

12 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

13 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。

14 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

15 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。

16 coherence   

n.紧凑；连贯；一致性

参考例句：

• There was no coherence between the first and the second half of the film.这部电影的前半部和后半部没有连贯性。
• Environmental education is intended to give these topics more coherence.环境教育的目的是使这些课题更加息息相关。