2007年VOA标准英语-Bush Says His Iraq Policy Needs More Time to Wo

By Paula Wolfson
White House
10 July 2007

President Bush is urging Congress and the American people to give his Iraq policy time to work - this as a new poll shows opposition¹ to the war remains² high. We have more on the story from VOA White House Correspondent Paula Wolfson.

Days before the president is due to send an interim³ report on Iraq to Congress, he made an appeal for patience.

"I fully⁴ understand as we are watching the violence on TV every night, people are saying: 'Is it worth it? Can we accomplish an objective?' Well, first I want to tell you yes, we can accomplish and win this fight in Iraq. And secondly⁵, I want to tell you we must," he said.

During an appearance in Cleveland, Ohio, Mr. Bush urged Congress to look beyond the interim report, which is due on Capitol Hill by Sunday, July 15. He said lawmakers should wait until September, when the U.S. Commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, issues his final report on the situation following the deployment⁶ of 30,000 additional troops.

"I believe that it is in this nation's interest to give the commander a chance to fully implement⁷ his operations," he said. "And I believe Congress ought to wait for General Petraeus to come back and give an assessment⁸ of the strategy that he is putting in place before they make any decisions."

But many members of the House and Senate are running out of patience. They are attaching amendments¹⁰ dealing¹¹ with the Iraq war to legislation making its way through Congress that authorizes¹² defense¹³ spending.

Sen. Carl Levin, (l), discusses legislation to change course of the war in Iraq during a news conference on Capitol Hill, 10 July 2007

Democrat¹⁴ Carl Levin of Michigan, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, wants a firm timetable for a draw-down of U.S. troops.

"Without setting a date to begin a phased reduction of troops and a phased redeployment of troops there is much too little pressure on the Iraqi leaders to do what only they can do: which is to work out a political settlement," he said.

Republican leaders in the Senate have vowed¹⁵ to block the Levin amendment⁹. But a growing number of Republican Senators have doubts about the president's strategy.

Perhaps the most prominent is Senator Richard Lugar of Indiana, the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee. He stunned¹⁶ Washington with a recent speech on the Senate floor in which he questioned the president's war policy and spoke¹⁷ about the split the unpopular conflict has created in the Congress and in America.

Senator Richard Lugar (file photo)

"Unless we recalibrate our strategy in Iraq to fit our domestic political conditions and the broader needs of United States national security, we risk foreign policy failures that could greatly diminish our influence in the region and the world," he said.

All this comes as a new poll shows more than 70 percent of Americans favor removing almost all U.S. troops from Iraq by April.

The poll by the USA Today newspaper and the Gallup polling organization surveyed more than one thousand Americans last weekend. The poll also puts the president's approval rating at 29 percent.

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 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。

3 interim   

adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间

参考例句：

• The government is taking interim measures to help those in immediate need.政府正在采取临时措施帮助那些有立即需要的人。
• It may turn out to be an interim technology.这可能只是个过渡技术。

4 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。

5 secondly   

adv.第二，其次

参考例句：

• Secondly,use your own head and present your point of view.第二，动脑筋提出自己的见解。
• Secondly it is necessary to define the applied load.其次，需要确定所作用的载荷。

6 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。

7 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

8 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

9 amendment   

n.改正，修正，改善，修正案

参考例句：

• The amendment was rejected by 207 voters to 143.这项修正案以207票对143票被否决。
• The Opposition has tabled an amendment to the bill.反对党已经就该议案提交了一项修正条款。

10 amendments   

（法律、文件的）改动( amendment的名词复数 )； 修正案； 修改； （美国宪法的）修正案

参考例句：

• The committee does not adequately consult others when drafting amendments. 委员会在起草修正案时没有充分征求他人的意见。
• Please propose amendments and addenda to the first draft of the document. 请对这个文件的初稿提出修改和补充意见。

11 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

12 authorizes   

授权，批准，委托( authorize的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings 'traveler' and 'traveller'. 字典裁定traveler和traveller两种拼法都对。
• The dictionary authorizes the two spellings "honor" and "honour.". 字典裁定 honor 及 honour 两种拼法均可。

13 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。

14 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

15 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

16 stunned   

adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The fall stunned me for a moment. 那一下摔得我昏迷了片刻。
• The leaders of the Kopper Company were then stunned speechless. 科伯公司的领导们当时被惊得目瞪口呆。

17 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。