2007年VOA标准英语-US Could Begin Withdrawal if Iraqis Can Take Ov

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
22 June 2007

The second-ranking U.S. commander in Iraq says the week-old offensive against insurgent¹ groups in and around Baghdad could create conditions for the start of a U.S. withdrawal² sometime between this fall and next spring.  Lieutenant³ General Ray Odierno spoke⁴ from Iraq to reporters at the Pentagon, and VOA's Al Pessin reports.

Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, center, is briefed by a field commander at a bombed-out hospital in Baqouba, Iraq, 21 June 2007

General Odierno says the additional forces President Bush ordered to Iraq in January are now resulting in a major change in the fight against insurgents⁵.

"We are beyond a surge of forces, and we are now into a surge of operations," he said.

The general says the offensive called "Phantom⁶ Thunder" involves several large simultaneous operations in and around Baghdad, as well as smaller moves by special operations forces targeting al-Qaida's supply lines for weapons and explosives.

"We have already begun attacking the enemy from multiple directions in ways that I believe he will not be able to resist," he added.  "Our pursuit will be agile⁷ and relentless⁸.  Our goal is to force the enemy to fight from positions of disadvantage, while we maintain the initiative."

General Odierno says there have been some encouraging results from the first week of the operation, including the killing⁹ of more than 150 insurgent fighters, the arrest of more than 700 insurgents, including 50 leaders, and the discovery of more than 300 bombs and 128 weapons caches.  But he says there is still much work to do, and the operation will continue through the summer. 

That would take it to about the time he and other senior U.S. officers and diplomats¹⁰ are to issue a report assessing the impact of the troop surge.  The general says the key element will be the ability of the Iraqi army and police to maintain security, once areas are cleared of insurgents, something that has not been done after previous offensives.

"With the amount of forces that we now have, we will be able to stay in these areas where, in fact, we've had either no or very little capability¹¹ to do this previously," he explained.  "So the Iraqi security forces will be able to sustain and continue to improve their ability to maintain security."

Senior U.S. officials have said they hope the offensive will create the conditions for the start of a withdrawal of 155,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by the fall.  General Odierno said that might be possible, but he might need the higher troops level somewhat longer than that.

"When are they going to have enough forces, enough leaders, to sustain this over time?" he asked.  "It could be this fall because we continue to build and they continue to improve.  It might take a little bit longer than that.  It might be until the spring.  I don't know.  But that's what we have to continue to work with them."

General Odierno also discussed the controversial move by some of his forces to forge alliances with insurgent groups, militias¹² and tribes that want to switch to the coalition¹³ side of the conflict.

"We have not given weapons to any insurgent groups," he noted¹⁴.  "They have plenty of weapons.  The point about reconciliation¹⁵ is I want those weapons to be used against al-Qaida, and not against coalition forces or Iraqi security forces.  These groups are reaching out to us and we are reaching back.  They want to fight al-Qaida and we think they can help us."

The general says the insurgent groups that want to cooperate with U.S. and Iraq forces must demonstrate their commitment by providing information or taking on other tasks.  He says one such group led U.S. forces to 16 large buried bombs, while information from another group doubled the number of bombs found in its area.

General Odierno also provided an update on Iran's role in the Iraq violence. 

"I think they are trying to surge their support to Shia' extremists," he said.  "We've seen an increased flow of training to mortar¹⁶ teams and rocket teams.  We've seen an increase in some flow of weapons and munitions¹⁷ into Iraq."

General Odierno says Iran surged its support for Iraqi Shi'ite groups at the same time that the United States was surging its additional troops to Iraq.  He says Iran's elite¹⁸ Quds Force is using a supply network that dates back to the Saddam Hussein era, and that one goal of the current operation north of Baghdad is to disrupt that network.  He says Iran is also helping¹⁹ some small Sunni groups in order to further destabilize Iraq, but he says that effort does not seem to have increased since he first reported it in April.

1 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。

2 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。

3 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。

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 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 phantom   

n.幻影，虚位，幽灵；adj.错觉的，幻影的，幽灵的

参考例句：

• I found myself staring at her as if she were a phantom.我发现自己瞪大眼睛看着她，好像她是一个幽灵。
• He is only a phantom of a king.他只是有名无实的国王。

7 agile   

adj.敏捷的，灵活的

参考例句：

• She is such an agile dancer!她跳起舞来是那么灵巧！
• An acrobat has to be agile.杂技演员必须身手敏捷。

8 relentless   

adj.残酷的，不留情的，无怜悯心的

参考例句：

• The traffic noise is relentless.交通车辆的噪音一刻也不停止。
• Their training has to be relentless.他们的训练必须是无情的。

9 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

10 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》

11 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。

12 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

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 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

16 mortar   

n.灰浆，灰泥；迫击炮；v.把…用灰浆涂接合

参考例句：

• The mason flushed the joint with mortar.泥工用灰浆把接缝处嵌平。
• The sound of mortar fire seemed to be closing in.迫击炮的吼声似乎正在逼近。

17 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

18 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

19 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。