2007年VOA标准英语-US Officials Concerned About Lack of Political

By Stephanie Ho
Washington
05 August 2007

Senior Bush administration officials say the surge of U.S. troops in Iraq is showing some military success. At the same time, they say they are concerned with the slow pace of movement toward national political reconciliation¹. VOA's Stephanie Ho reports from Washington.

Defense² Secretary Robert Gates said he is pleased with the military side of the U.S. operation in Iraq.

Robert Gates (file photo)

"Yes, I think that the effort under way to dampen the violence, particularly that caused by the Baathists and by al-Qaida, is working as well as we would have hoped, both in Anbar province and in belts (areas) around Baghdad," he said.

Speaking on CNN's Late Edition, Gates said U.S. commanders now have enough troops to hit enemy forces and continue going after them if they try to escape to other parts of Iraq. At the same time, Gates said he is disappointed with a lack of harmony in Iraqi politics, specifically noting a recent decision by the largest Sunni parliamentary bloc³ to leave the government.

He appeared in a separate interview on the NBC television program Meet the Press.

"At some point, there has to be reconciliation at the national level. I think we perhaps all underestimated the depth of the misunderstanding and mistrust among these sections, among these factions⁴ in Baghdad, over time," Gates said.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told Fox News Sunday the U.S. government knows the Iraqi leadership has been working hard to, "forge consensus⁵" over issues like dividing the country's oil resources, de-Baathification and reforming the Iraqi constitution.

U. S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (file photo)

"We've been very clear that we don't think that they have achieved enough and that they need to work harder," she said.

Democratic lawmakers also had sharp criticism for what they see as a lack of Iraqi political progress. Carl Levin, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, repeated calls for a drawdown of U.S. troops in Iraq. He appeared on CNN's Late Edition.

 

"How do you produce political progress? There are only two ways. Force the Iraqis to take responsibility for their own country by telling them we're going to begin to reduce our presence, as a way of focusing their mind, or a change in the Iraqi government, to get a less sectarian government, one that can make political progress," he said.

The White House has urged patience, pointing out that General David Petraeus, the top U.S. commander in Iraq, and U.S. Ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker are due to present a widely anticipated situation report next month.

1 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。

2 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。

3 bloc   

n.集团；联盟

参考例句：

• A solid bloc of union members support the decision.工会会员团结起来支持该决定。
• There have been growing tensions within the trading bloc.贸易同盟国的关系越来越紧张。

4 factions   

组织中的小派别，派系( faction的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The gens also lives on in the "factions." 氏族此外还继续存在于“factions〔“帮”〕中。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• rival factions within the administration 政府中的对立派别

5 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？