VOA常速英语2008年-4,000th US Military Casualty Marked as Symbolic

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
24 March 2008

When a roadside bomb killed four American soldiers in Baghdad Sunday night it brought the U.S. military death toll¹ in Iraq to 4,000. It was a symbolic² moment, particularly coming during a period of reduced violence, and just two weeks before a major policy assessment³ by senior U.S. military and civilian⁴ officials. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon.

It was a typical announcement from the coalition⁵ command.

"Four Multi-National Division-Baghdad soldiers were killed at approximately 10 p.m. March 23 after terrorists attacked them with an improvised-explosive device in southern Baghdad while conducting a mounted vehicular patrol. One additional soldier was injured from this attack. The soldiers' names are being withheld⁶ pending⁷ notification of next of kin⁸..."

But the impact was not typical. The deaths of those four soldiers brought the U.S. military death toll in Iraq to 4,000, and they received prominent media coverage⁹.

Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman acknowledged the milestone¹¹, but added this.

"No casualty is more or less significant than another," he said. "Each soldier, Marine¹², airman and sailor is equally precious and each loss of life is equally tragic¹³."

President Bush called Monday a "day of reflection" following the 4,000th U.S. military death in Iraq. But he also made clear it will not change his overall view of the conflict.

"I have vowed¹⁵ in the past and I will vow¹⁴ so long as I'm president to make sure that those lives were not lost in vain, that in fact there is an outcome that will merit the sacrifice," he said.

President Bush spoke¹⁰ after a two-hour meeting with senior military commanders during which he heard their recommendations about Iraq strategy and troop levels for the next six months. The recommendations and the president's decisions will be made public in about two weeks.

The president said he is determined¹⁶ to see "victory" in Iraq, which he defined as the survival of a new democracy, a more secure America and a world more likely to be at peace in the 21st century.

One of the men charged with accomplishing that is Colonel Dominic Caraccilo, commander of a U.S. combat brigade operating south of Baghdad.

"Anytime you lose a soldier, of course, that's a horrible thing and it hits hard," he said. "I've seen the full spectrum¹⁷ of loss, from the north all the way down through where I am now in Baghdad. And it's difficult."

Speaking via satellite from his operating base, Colonel Caraccilo said violence and casualties are down significantly in his area since the surge of U.S. forces and the change in counterinsurgency strategy last year. He says attacks are down from more than 100 per week to about 12, and while the previous American unit in the area took 60 casualties during its deployment¹⁸, his unit has taken just one since it deployed¹⁹ six months ago.

But the colonel attributes some of the reduction in casualties to better equipment, particularly new heavily armored M-RAP vehicles.

"Yesterday, an M-RAP was hit, and because the M-RAP has such great survivability capability²⁰, the soldiers basically just walked away," he said. "And if they didn't have that equipment, a month ago they'd have been in a Humvee, all would have died, probably."

The 4,000th U.S. military casualty in Iraq also had significance for critics of the war. The policy director of the National Security Network, Ilan Goldenberg, says it is more evidence of the cost of a wrongheaded effort.

"The question is less about the 4,000 lives, which is the tremendous cost that we've already paid and a sacrifice, but the question is about 4,001, and 4,002, and going beyond that," Goldenberg said. "What we really need to be doing is making very clear that we're not staying and that they have to come to some kind of an agreement, or they have to face the consequences."

Goldenberg says the war in Iraq has not made the United States safer, and on the contrary has detracted from the fight against al-Qaida leaders in Pakistan and Afghanistan, strained the U.S. military and emboldened²¹ U.S. adversaries²² in Iran.

President Bush's commander in Iraq, General David and his ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, will likely face such criticism when they testify before congressional committees next month. They are expected to report that while casualty rates are down for U.S. troops and for Iraqi troops and civilians²³, insurgents²⁴ are still able to carry out attacks. And they are expected to urge caution on the question of further U.S. troop withdrawals²⁵ after the surge ends in July.

Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman put it this way on Monday.

"The forces that do not want to see Iraq move forward with a representative government, as a peaceful nation, can still inflict²⁶ casualties, both on Iraqi civilians as well as U.S. military and coalition forces," he said. "Would we like to reduce casualties to nothing? Of course we would. Are there still going to be casualties in the days ahead? Most unfortunately, there will be."

There were no further U.S. casualties reported in Iraq on Monday, but even with the reduced violence, U.S. military deaths in Iraq are averaging about one per day.

1 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

2 symbolic   

adj.象征性的，符号的，象征主义的

参考例句：

• It is symbolic of the fighting spirit of modern womanhood.它象征着现代妇女的战斗精神。
• The Christian ceremony of baptism is a symbolic act.基督教的洗礼仪式是一种象征性的做法。

3 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？

4 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

5 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。

6 withheld   

withhold过去式及过去分词

参考例句：

• I withheld payment until they had fulfilled the contract. 他们履行合同后，我才付款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• There was no school play because the principal withheld his consent. 由于校长没同意，学校里没有举行比赛。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 pending   

prep.直到，等待…期间；adj.待定的；迫近的

参考例句：

• The lawsuit is still pending in the state court.这案子仍在州法庭等待定夺。
• He knew my examination was pending.他知道我就要考试了。

8 kin   

n.家族，亲属，血缘关系；adj.亲属关系的，同类的

参考例句：

• He comes of good kin.他出身好。
• She has gone to live with her husband's kin.她住到丈夫的亲戚家里去了。

9 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

10 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。

11 milestone   

n.里程碑；划时代的事件

参考例句：

• The film proved to be a milestone in the history of cinema.事实证明这部影片是电影史上的一个里程碑。
• I think this is a very important milestone in the relations between our two countries.我认为这是我们两国关系中一个十分重要的里程碑。

12 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

13 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

14 vow   

n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓

参考例句：

• My parents are under a vow to go to church every Sunday.我父母许愿，每星期日都去做礼拜。
• I am under a vow to drink no wine.我已立誓戒酒。

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 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。

17 spectrum   

n.谱，光谱，频谱；范围，幅度，系列

参考例句：

• This is a kind of atomic spectrum.这是一种原子光谱。
• We have known much of the constitution of the solar spectrum.关于太阳光谱的构成，我们已了解不少。

18 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。

19 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。

20 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

21 emboldened   

v.鼓励，使有胆量( embolden的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Emboldened by the wine, he went over to introduce himself to her. 他借酒壮胆，走上前去向她作自我介绍。
• His success emboldened him to expand his business. 他有了成就因而激发他进一步扩展业务。 来自《简明英汉词典》

22 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

23 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

24 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

25 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

26 inflict   

vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担

参考例句：

• Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
• Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。