VOA标准英语2008年-Pentagon Chief to Decide on Afghan Troop 'Surge

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
10 January 2008

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates says he will decide "pretty quickly" on a request from military commanders for 3,000 additional U.S. troops to help fight the Taliban and train Afghan forces. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

Secretary Gates says he has asked some questions about the request, and commanders are working on providing him the answers. At a news conference Thursday, he indicated he is trying to balance several factors.

"I am concerned about relieving the pressure on our allies to fulfill² their commitments," he said. "I am concerned about the implications for the [U.S.] force. And I also am very concerned that we continue to be successful in Afghanistan and that we continue to keep the Taliban on their back foot and that we defeat their efforts to try and come back."

Secretary Gates has been pressing NATO allies to meet the shortfall of more than 7,000 troops in the alliance's Afghanistan battle plan. But in recent months he has acknowledged that the allies may simply not be able to come up with the combination of operational forces and trainers that Afghanistan needs.

The request he is expected to receive Friday appears to be something of a compromise, calling for 3,000 U.S. Marines to be sent to Afghanistan for just seven months. But officials say they will arrive in Afghanistan at a crucial time, as the usual spring fighting season begins and as Afghan forces are expanding and will need more trainers to work with their new units.

U.S. officials say foreign and Afghan troops blunted an expected Taliban offensive last year, and they are determined³ to do the same this year. Still, violence rose last year, particularly in southern Afghanistan, where many of the extra U.S. troops are expected to be deployed⁴.

In Kabul Thursday, Afghan Foreign Ministry⁵ spokesman Sultan Ahmad Baheen welcomed the possible increase in the U.S. deployment⁶.

Baheen said the extra U.S. troops will fill an important need to increase efforts to strengthen and equip Afghan forces so they can take on more of the security burden.

The United States has about 27,000 troops in Afghanistan, of the total of 55,000 foreign forces. About half of the U.S. troops work within the NATO structure, most of them in eastern Afghanistan, and the rest conduct counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism operations throughout the country under U.S. command.

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 fulfill   

vt.履行，实现，完成；满足，使满意

参考例句：

• If you make a promise you should fulfill it.如果你许诺了，你就要履行你的诺言。
• This company should be able to fulfill our requirements.这家公司应该能够满足我们的要求。

3 determined   

adj.坚定的；有决心的

参考例句：

• I have determined on going to Tibet after graduation.我已决定毕业后去西藏。
• He determined to view the rooms behind the office.他决定查看一下办公室后面的房间。

4 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

5 ministry   

n.(政府的)部；牧师

参考例句：

• They sent a deputation to the ministry to complain.他们派了一个代表团到部里投诉。
• We probed the Air Ministry statements.我们调查了空军部的记录。

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。