2007年VOA标准英语-Coalition Faces Two New Insurgent Tactics in Ir

By Al Pessin
Washington
22 February 2007

The second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq says his forces are working to counter two new capabilities¹ developed by insurgents³ - an improved ability to shoot down helicopters and a new type of bomb that involves deadly chlorine gas. The general spoke⁴ via satellite from Baghdad to reporters at the Pentagon, and VOA's Al Pessin reports.

US military Apache helicopter releases an anti-missile decoy flare5 over Baghdad, 15 Feb 2007

Lieutenant⁶ General Ray Odierno says eight coalition⁷ helicopters have been brought down in the last month, and his forces are beginning to develop some information about how and why that happened.

"We're seeing some common tactics, techniques and procedures, which I don't want to comment on," he said. "And so, we seem to be aware of what they're doing and we're trying to understand what those are, learn about it, so we can protect our aircraft, but more importantly, try to go after the cells."

General Odierno says coalition troops detained a man last week who they believe was a member of one of those cells, and made more arrests in raids during the last few nights. The general believes the cells are affiliated⁸ with the al-Qaida terrorist network. General Odierno says protecting the helicopters is essential for the coalition because it relies heavily on the aircraft for safe transport. He reports the coalition will fly about 400,000 hours of helicopter missions this year, nearly double the usage level of two years ago.

General Odierno also discussed the recent use of three chlorine gas bombs by insurgents. He says his forces discovered a supply of the gas at an insurgent² bomb factory they raided on Tuesday near Fallujah, along with explosives, detonators and four vehicles in the process of being fitted with large bombs.

"What they're trying to do is try to adapt in such ways where they can continue to create instability," he added. "And that's what they're doing, especially with these chlorine VBIEDs [vehicle borne explosive devices]. That's just another way they're trying to adapt to cause some sort of chaos⁹ here in country."

The general says he has seen no indication that Iranians are involved in providing the chlorine bomb capability¹⁰. Ten days ago, speaking on condition of anonymity¹¹, military officials in Baghdad accused top Iranian officials of providing bomb-making technology and materials to the Iraqi insurgents. On Thursday, General Odierno joined other top officials in saying he is not sure whether the Iranian involvement goes to the top of the Tehran government, as the briefers claimed.

On other issues, General Odierno said he supports Britain's decision to withdrawal¹² 1,600 of its 7,000 troops from southern Iraq. He says Iraqi forces in the area have made "plenty of progress," and that soon they will be able to handle security on their own, with coalition forces in what he called an 'over-watch' role. The general says that is the plan for the entire country.

He also reports that the new Baghdad security operation is going well so far, with Iraqi commanders taking the promised even-handed approach toward both Sunni and Shi'ite groups that commit violence. But General Odierno also said it will take months to see significant results from the effort, and he urged observers to be patient.

1 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

2 insurgent   

adj.叛乱的，起事的；n.叛乱分子

参考例句：

• Faruk says they are threatened both by insurgent and government forces.法鲁克说，他们受到暴乱分子和政府军队的双重威胁。
• The insurgent mob assembled at the gate of the city park.叛变的暴徒聚在市立公园的门口。

3 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

4 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。

5 flare   

v.闪耀，闪烁；n.潮红；突发

参考例句：

• The match gave a flare.火柴发出闪光。
• You need not flare up merely because I mentioned your work.你大可不必因为我提到你的工作就动怒。

6 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

7 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。

8 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

9 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

10 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

11 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

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。