2007年VOA标准英语-Australia PM Pleads For Voters' Patience Over I

By Phil Mercer
Sydney
22 March 2007

Australian Prime Minister John Howard has promised to stand by the United States in its war in Iraq despite mounting public opposition¹ at home. Mr. Howard has insisted he will not bow to pressure to pull Australian troops out of the conflict, stressing that the U.S. plan to restore peace must be given time to work. The Prime Minister is hoping his tough stance on matters of national security and foreign policy will help him win an election later this year. From Sydney, Phil Mercer reports.

 
In this photo released by the Australian Defense² Department, an Australian Surveillance Reconnaissance Vehicle (SRV) patrols outside the perimeter³ of a forward operating base in Afghanistan (File photo)
Australia has about 1,500 troops in and around Iraq while a smaller contingent⁴ is deployed⁶ in Afghanistan. Their role in the U.S.-led campaigns will be one of the key issues in Australia's general election due later this year.

Prime Minister John Howard has said success against insurgents⁷ in Iraq will ultimately make Australia safer by reducing the threat of global extremism.

The opposition Labor⁸ party will withdraw troops from Iraq if it forms the next government.

Mr. Howard, who recently returned from a secret visit to Iraq, told parliament in Canberra that Australian forces were playing an important part in helping⁹ the Iraqis provide their own security.

"Colonel Rawlins, the commander of the Australian forces in Tallil has told me of the great strides they have made, the confidence of the locals that had been won, the feeling that they were doing an effective job in training the local Iraqis, Mr. Speaker," said Mr. Howard. "And overall I came away from that country feeling more optimistic than I had felt before I went there.

 
John Howard (File photo)
Mr. Howard has conceded that his Iraq policy is unpopular with voters but has urged Australians to be patient and to consider the consequences of a hasty withdrawal¹⁰ from the strife-torn country.

A new opinion poll has shown his conservative government is trailing the opposition Labor Party by 39 percent to 61 percent.

Labor's deputy leader Julia Gillard says her party would pull Australian troops out of Iraq but not Afghanistan.

"The situation in Afghanistan is one that requires a military solution and we have supported that deployment¹¹ throughout. That is where Osama bin¹² Laden¹³ reined¹⁴ his terror from, it's where every terrorist who has been caught in Australia was trained. It is terror central and a military solution is required there," she said. "The situation in Iraq is different. Iraq is a country that effectively has a civil war and that requires a political solution.

Labor's position - a planned withdrawal from Iraq but not Afghanistan - has drawn¹⁵ an exasperated¹⁶ response from Prime Minister Howard.

"There remains¹⁷ in my mind a wonderment of the disconnect in the minds of those who attack the government on this issue between the fate of terrorism in Afghanistan and the fate of terrorism in Iraq," he said. "It is common cause on both sides of the house that we should defeat terrorism in Afghanistan, but apparently¹⁸ while it's good to defeat terrorism in Afghanistan, it's not good to defeat it in Iraq, Mr. Speaker. I find that a puzzling disconnect."

A victory for the opposition later this year and a withdrawal from Iraq would fundamentally change Australia's foreign policy.

Labor's foreign affairs spokesman Robert McClelland says re-shaping Australia's commitments overseas will not mean that a Labor government would be abandoning the United States.

"It's simply a matter of sitting down with the United States to say, 'Look, collectively we're in this war against terrorism around the globe. Let's look at where we can most strategically and effectively use our combined resources," he said. "We can do it much more effectively if we focus our combat troops in the one location. That's why we want to deploy⁵, or re-deploy our troops and our resources to Afghanistan."

Analysts²⁰, like politicians, disagree on Iraq and Afghanistan.

Rod Lyon from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute believes Mr. Howard is right when he says that both campaigns are part of the same effort against terrorism.

"What Howard is saying when he says it's silly to fight them in Afghanistan but not elsewhere, what he's really saying is that the war on terror is going to have many fronts over many years and Iraq is actually one of those fronts," said Lyon.

But another analyst¹⁹, Anthony Bubalo from the Lowy Institute, a think-tank in Sydney, disagrees.

"The real question for me is, if this is the case, if Iraq really is that central to the war on terror then why are Australian troops sitting, pretty much in their base in Tallil, outside the main fight in Iraq - and that main fight is in Baghdad - or indeed are not participating in the efforts in the Western Desert for example where some of the foreign Jihadist elements are based," said Bubalo.

Towards the end of this year Australian voters will have their chance to decide at a general election. Opinion in central Sydney on the emotive issue of Iraq is mixed.

"I do agree with what we're doing. It is a good cause," said one woman. "I think the end result will be good."

"I don't necessarily like it but I think if you start a job you finish it," another man agreed.

"I don't think we should have gone in the first place," said a second Australian woman. "Now that we are there we can't leave it the way it is. We've got a job to do and we've got to finish it. We're not people that run away from the commitment that we've made."

"It's a foreign war in a foreign country," an second Australian man concurred²¹. "We shouldn't be there at all."

Australian forces have suffered very few casualties in the Persian Gulf²², limiting the impact of their presence there on public opinion in Australia.

Unlike his allies in Britain and the United States Mr. Howard is seeking to gain political advantage through his government's commitment to an unpopular war in Iraq.

John Howard has been in power for more than decade and wants voters to see him as a strong leader who is prepared to make unpopular decisions.

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 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。

3 perimeter   

n.周边，周长，周界

参考例句：

• The river marks the eastern perimeter of our land.这条河标示我们的土地东面的边界。
• Drinks in hands,they wandered around the perimeter of the ball field.他们手里拿着饮料在球场周围漫不经心地遛跶。

4 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。

5 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

6 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

7 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

8 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

9 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。

10 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。

11 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。

12 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

13 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

14 reined   

勒缰绳使（马）停步( rein的过去式和过去分词 )； 驾驭； 严格控制； 加强管理

参考例句：

• Then, all of a sudden, he reined up his tired horse. 这时，他突然把疲倦的马勒住了。
• The officer reined in his horse at a crossroads. 军官在十字路口勒住了马。

15 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

16 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

18 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

19 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。

20 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。

21 concurred   

同意（concur的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。
• So many things concurred to give rise to the problem. 许多事情同时发生而导致了这一问题。

22 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。