2007年VOA标准英语-Pentagon Says Full Iraq Assessment Will Come in

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
10 July 2007

The U.S. Defense¹ Department says it would be premature² to judge the new Iraq strategy now, as some members of Congress have done, and a spokesman is appealing for more time for the military operation implementing³ that strategy to work. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

Bryan Whitman (file photo)

Spokesman Bryan Whitman says the interim⁴ report President Bush must make to the Congress this week was not designed to be a full assessment⁵ of the new strategy the president outlined in January. Whitman says that assessment will come by September 15, the date Congress set for a report by the top U.S. commander in Iraq and the U.S. ambassador.

"September is not a political strategy," he said. "September is the course that we charted out, the plan, the deal, the manner in which we devised a way forward."

The document due this week is to report mainly on the performance of the Iraqi government in meeting political benchmarks toward reconciliation⁶. There has been little progress toward reaching those benchmarks, and Whitman and other U.S. government spokesman have said no one expected the Iraqis to fully⁷ meet the benchmarks by now.

Whitman says the report due this week has taken on what he called "some prominence⁸ that wasn't anticipated."

US troops during a mission in Baquba, 04 Jul 2007

But Whitman stressed that all the extra troops President Bush ordered to Iraq in January have only been in place and pursuing their new offensive for a little more than three weeks.

"One should be very careful about making any sort of premature conclusions or judgments⁹ about where we are at at this point in time," he said.

Field commanders have reported good progress from the offensive, called Operation Phantom¹⁰ Thunder. But they say their successes are only first steps and there is much work to be done. Whitman says the defense department is focused on implementing the president's new strategy, and its best assessment of the effort will come later.

"It should be of no surprise to anybody that we believe that the first opportunity to really make an initial assessment as to how well the surge is working is September," he said.

Whitman says Defense Secretary Robert Gates is personally reviewing the Pentagon's part of this week's report, and will be meeting with members of Congress to discuss it.

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 premature   

adj.比预期时间早的；不成熟的，仓促的

参考例句：

• It is yet premature to predict the possible outcome of the dialogue.预言这次对话可能有什么结果为时尚早。
• The premature baby is doing well.那个早产的婴儿很健康。

3 implementing   

v.实现( implement的现在分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• -- Implementing a comprehensive drug control strategy. ――实行综合治理的禁毒战略。 来自汉英非文学 - 白皮书
• He was in no hurry about implementing his unshakable principle. 他并不急于实行他那不可动摇的原则。 来自辞典例句

4 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。

5 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？

6 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。

7 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。

8 prominence   

n.突出；显著；杰出；重要

参考例句：

• He came to prominence during the World Cup in Italy.他在意大利的世界杯赛中声名鹊起。
• This young fashion designer is rising to prominence.这位年轻的时装设计师的声望越来越高。

9 judgments   

判断( judgment的名词复数 )； 鉴定； 评价； 审判

参考例句：

• A peculiar austerity marked his judgments of modern life. 他对现代生活的批评带着一种特殊的苛刻。
• He is swift with his judgments. 他判断迅速。

10 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。