2007年VOA标准英语-US Commander Sees Mixed Picture in Iraq, Condem

By Al Pessin
Washington
26 April 2007

The senior U.S. commander in Iraq says the new security plan is ahead of his expectations in some aspects, but behind in others, little more than half way through the deployment¹ the extra U.S. forces. The general spoke² in Washington Wednesday and VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

General David Petraeus

General David Petraeus says the sectarian murder rate is down and his forces and Iraqi troops are capturing significant insurgent³ leaders. But he also calls the large-scale suicide bombings a 'setback,' and says stopping them is a major focus of his efforts. "We are actually ahead of where I wanted to be in some areas, and probably behind where we might have hoped to be in some other areas," he said.

Speaking after three hours of closed meetings with members of Congress, General Petraeus said there has also been what he called 'quite heartening' and 'almost breathtaking' progress fighting the insurgency⁴ in mostly Sunni al-Anbar Province. He says local tribes have joined forces with the Iraqi Army and U.S. forces to push al-Qaida insurgents⁵ down the Euphrates River valley, town by town. Still, he said much work remains⁶ to be done.

General Petraeus also announced that his forces have captured a key leader of the Iranian effort to provide Iraqi insurgents with high-powered bombs known as Explosively Formed Projectiles⁷. "We have learned a great deal more about Iranian involvement, very nefarious⁸ involvement, involving funding, training on Iranian soil, advice and the provision of, again, lots of arms and ammunition⁹, including these Explosively Formed Projectiles that have been so lethal¹⁰ against some of our armored vehicles," he said.

The general also responded to the debate over the construction of barriers around some neighborhoods in Baghdad. He said the move in the Amadiya neighborhood was controversial because of a Sunni shrine¹¹ in the area, but he said the wall building has gone smoothly¹² in other parts of the city, and in other cities, and has improved security.

"The idea is, you can not hold the neighborhood if you can not control access to it, and that means that you have to have a method of controlling vehicle flow in and out of it. And that's why, in fact, Iraqis as well as coalition¹³ forces have carried forward this kind of effort," he said.

General Petraeus noted¹⁴ that he will not have all the additional troops he has been promised until mid-June. He said he and the new U.S. ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, will make their first official assessments¹⁵ of the new security effort in September. In the meantime, he tried to steer¹⁶ clear of the congressional debate over funding for the war, in which Democratic Party members are trying to set a timetable for a U.S. withdrawal¹⁷ from Iraq.

He did, however, advise members of congress to consider the impact of their rhetoric¹⁸ on U.S. allies and adversaries¹⁹, and on American troops and their families. He also urged members to be patient with Iraqi Prime Minister Noori al-Maliki, saying he has a fractious coalition to deal with. And the general called for efforts to influence key leaders in that coalition, not just the prime minister. U.S. officials say progress on political issues is as important as security efforts in establishing stability in Iraq.

Members of congress who spoke after the meetings mostly repeated their known positions on the Iraq war. Democratic Party Senator Carl Levin, who heads the Senate's Armed Services Committee, said he didn't think General Petraeus had changed any minds during the sessions.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

4 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

5 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

6 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。

7 projectiles   

n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器

参考例句：

• These differences are connected with the strong absorption of the composite projectiles. 这些差别与复杂的入射粒子的强烈吸收有关。 来自辞典例句
• Projectiles became more important because cannons could now fire balls over hundreds or yards. 抛射体变得更加重要，因为人们已能用大炮把炮弹射到几百码的距离之外。 来自辞典例句

8 nefarious   

adj.恶毒的，极坏的

参考例句：

• My father believes you all have a nefarious purpose here.我父亲认为你们都有邪恶的目的。
• He was universally feared because of his many nefarious deeds.因为他干了许多罪恶的勾当，所以人人都惧怕他。

9 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

10 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

11 shrine   

n.圣地，神龛，庙；v.将...置于神龛内，把...奉为神圣

参考例句：

• The shrine was an object of pilgrimage.这处圣地是人们朝圣的目的地。
• They bowed down before the shrine.他们在神龛前鞠躬示敬。

12 smoothly   

adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地

参考例句：

• The workmen are very cooperative,so the work goes on smoothly.工人们十分合作，所以工作进展顺利。
• Just change one or two words and the sentence will read smoothly.这句话只要动一两个字就顺了。

13 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。

14 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。

15 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

16 steer   

vt.驾驶，为…操舵；引导；vi.驾驶

参考例句：

• If you push the car, I'll steer it.如果你来推车，我就来驾车。
• It's no use trying to steer the boy into a course of action that suits you.想说服这孩子按你的方式行事是徒劳的。

17 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。

18 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

19 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句