2007年VOA标准英语-New US Africa Command Not for Combat, Says Defe

By Al Pessin
Washington
21 June 2007

A senior defense¹ department official says the planned new U.S. military command for Africa is not being organized with combat in mind, and will not immediately result in any changes in U.S. military activity on the continent. The official spoke² to reporters at the Pentagon Thursday and VOA's Al Pessin reports.

Joint3 Staff, discuss the establishment of US Africa Command (File Photo)" hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070629/0949190.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

Principal Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Ryan Henry, right, and Lt. Gen. Walter Sharp, Director of the Joint Staff, discuss establishment of US Africa Command (file photo)

The senior official, Ryan Henry, says the creation of the Africa Command later this year will simply re-organize existing U.S. military training and counter-terrorism efforts on the continent, and will not include any new initiatives.

"We don't plan on fundamentally changing anything or our approach to start with. After the commander has had some time to look at the situation and work with it, then he might choose to make some choices," he said. "But going into it, this is basically a realignment of our activities on the continent."

The principal deputy undersecretary of defense for policy has just returned from his second consultation⁴ trip to the continent to discuss the Africa Command plan. This time, he visited Algeria, Morocco, Libya and Egypt in North Africa, and Djibouti in the east, which hosts a U.S. task force involved in humanitarian⁵ and counter-terrorism efforts. Henry says the top security concern for those countries is fighting terrorism, but he says the defense department already has counter-terrorism cooperation programs in place.

"We think that we have a cooperative arrangement with them," continued Henry. "They appear to be satisfied with that. We appear to be meeting with some successes. And so we don't see a compelling need to change right now, and they don't see the compelling need either."

U.S. officials have previously⁶ made clear that Africa Command will have a strong contingent⁷ of diplomats⁸ and aid officials, and will take a long-term, inter-agency approach to improving security, governance and development on the continent. But Ryan Henry went a bit further on Thursday when pressed at his news conference on whether Africa Command might end up overseeing increased U.S. military activity on the continent.

"This command is not optimized⁹ for war fighting," he continued. "We're optimizing¹⁰ it for engaging in security cooperation activities. And that's where the planning effort is going. The intention is not to use it for intervention¹¹ in any African affairs."

But Henry says the command would be involved in emergency humanitarian relief efforts, as needed.

Africa Command is to come into existence in a limited way by October 1, and is scheduled to become fully¹² operational a year later. But Henry indicated those timing¹³ targets might slip. President Bush has not yet nominated a commander, and Henry says there has still been no decision about where in Africa to put the command's headquarters.

Henry says consolidating¹⁴ U.S. military efforts in Africa under one senior commander will provide more focus and efficiency to American military and civilian¹⁵ aid programs. But he says the new U.S. command will work closely with existing African security structures, particularly the African Union.

"Who Africans should look for for their security needs are their own nations," added Henry. "They have a security structure that they're building with the African Union and the five regional components¹⁶ of the African Union. And AfriCom would look to support them in their success of building that capability¹⁷. But they should not look to the United States for the solution of their security problems."

Henry says there is no plan to build U.S. bases in Africa, or to permanently¹⁸ station more U.S. troops there, except for the new command's headquarters staff.

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 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 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 consultation   

n.咨询；商量；商议；会议

参考例句：

• The company has promised wide consultation on its expansion plans.该公司允诺就其扩展计划广泛征求意见。
• The scheme was developed in close consultation with the local community.该计划是在同当地社区密切磋商中逐渐形成的。

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

7 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。

8 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 optimized   

adj.最佳化的，（使）最优化的v.使最优化，使尽可能有效( optimize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• We are often asked whether consumer Web sites should be optimized for beginners or intermediates. 我们常常被问到这样的问题：消费类网站究竟应该为新手而优化，还是应该为中间用户而优化？ 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• GOOGLE Advertising optimized sequence, greatly increasing the advertising effect. 优化了GOOGLE广告位排列顺序，大大增加了广告效果。 来自互联网

10 optimizing   

v.使最优化，使尽可能有效( optimize的现在分词 )；最佳化；寻优

参考例句：

• This model may be classified as either an optimizing model or simulation model. 这个模型可分为最佳化模型或模拟模型。 来自辞典例句
• Need to design crossover operator rationally while optimizing ANN. 优化网络需要合理设计交叉算子。 来自互联网

11 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

12 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

13 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

14 consolidating   

v.（使）巩固， （使）加强( consolidate的现在分词 )；（使）合并

参考例句：

• These measures are meant for consolidating the system of basic medical care. 这些举措旨在夯实基层医疗体系，让老百姓看大病不必出远门。 来自互联网
• We are consolidating the Chinese and English versions of our homepage. 我们将为您提供中英文版本一起的主页。 来自互联网

15 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。

16 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。

17 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。

18 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。