VOA常速英语2008年-Gates Says Iraq Troop Withdrawals Will Probably

By Naomi Martig
Hong Kong
22 February 2008

U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates says he hopes to pull more American troops out of Iraq after a brief pause in withdrawals³ in July or August. Gates made his comments en route to Australia, which he says will continue to play a military role in Iraq even though the new Australian government plans to pull its own combat troops out of the country. Naomi Martig reports from VOA's Asia News Center in Hong Kong.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he wants to continue withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq over the next 10 to 12 months.

The current plans call for the Pentagon to withdraw around 20,000 of the more than 155,000 American troops from the country through mid-July. At that point, military commanders are expected to pause while they evaluate the security situation. Gates says he hopes U.S. troop withdrawals will resume after the evaluation⁴.

The defense secretary's comments came as he and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte were en route to Canberra, where they are due to hold two days of security talks with the new Australian government.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised during last year's election campaign to withdraw all of Australia's combat troops from Iraq. Canberra recently confirmed that it will withdraw its 575 combat troops by the middle of this year, around one-third of its total military contingent⁵ in and around Iraq.

Gates told reporters Friday he is expecting continuity in U.S.-Australian relations despite Mr. Rudd's withdrawal² plans. Gates says the Australians are in talks with the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, over their future role in Iraq.

"They are still going to have a number of people in Iraq and in terms of the role they might continue to play and the training and other kinds of activities like that," said Gates. "So that's a dialogue right now that is going on between the Australians and General Petraeus."

Australia was a major supporter of the U.S.-led war on terror under former Prime Minister John Howard, whose party was defeated late last year in parliamentary elections.

Mr. Rudd has said that despite policy differences with the Bush Administration, he intends to maintain the traditionally strong U.S.-Australian relationship. Australian officials have said their troop withdrawal from Iraq will be conducted in a manner that will minimize problems for the U.S.-led military coalition⁶ there.

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 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 withdrawals   

n.收回，取回，撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 )；撤退，撤走；收回[取回，撤回，撤退，撤走]的实例；推出（组织），提走（存款），戒除毒瘾，对说过的话收回，孤僻

参考例句：

• He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句

4 evaluation   

n.估价，评价；赋值

参考例句：

• I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
• The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。

5 contingent   

adj.视条件而定的；n.一组，代表团，分遣队

参考例句：

• The contingent marched in the direction of the Western Hills.队伍朝西山的方向前进。
• Whether or not we arrive on time is contingent on the weather.我们是否按时到达要视天气情况而定。

6 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。