VOA标准英语2009年-Odierno: US to Withdraw 4,000 More Troops

By Al Pessin
Washington
30 September 2009

The commander of U.S. and coalition¹ forces in Iraq says he is accelerating the drawdown of American troops, with 4,000 more coming out ahead of schedule by the end of October. General Ray Odierno spoke² to the Armed Services Committee of the House of Representatives Wednesday.

 
US Gen. Ray Odierno testifies on Capitol Hill before the House Armed Services Committee hearing on Iraq, 30 Sep 2009
General Odierno says the coalition effort in Iraq is "in reach of our goals." He described a situation in which attacks and casualties are down sharply, and he said life has "returned to normal" in many parts of the country. As a result, he is accelerating the drawdown of U.S. forces.

"As we go forward we will thin our lines across Iraq in order to reduce the risk and sustain stability through a deliberate transition of our responsibilities to the Iraqi security forces," he said.

The U.S. troop level in Iraq has already been cut by 20,000 this year, to about 122,000.

But the general said he will maintain a substantial force until after the Iraqi election in January to be sure the transition to a new government does not become violent. Still, he said the United States will meet the target of having not more than 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq by next August.

Although he cites much progress in the last two years, General Odierno says several "drivers of instability" remain, including disagreements over sharing oil revenues, the still insufficient³ capabilities⁴ of the Iraqi government and factional struggles, including the Arab-Kurd dispute. In addition, General Odierno says al-Qaida in Iraq has not been completely defeated, and is trying to ignite another outbreak of sectarian violence.

"Its capabilities are degraded. But they're still a bit resilient and they still are able to conduct operations," he added.

 
PM Nouri al-Maliki (2nd L), FM Hoshyar Zebari (1st L) inspect bomb crater⁵ outside foreign ministry⁶ building, Baghdad, 24 Aug 2009
He is particularly concerned about al-Qaida's ability to conduct large-scale attacks against civilians⁷, like the bombing in August in Baghdad that killed more than 75 people.

"We continue to see these attacks against innocent civilians absolutely mean nothing to the outcome. And all it does is kill innocent people. And it's frustrating⁸ to us. And it's frustrating to the Iraqis. And that's what we're trying to stop inside of Iraq now," he said.

General Odierno says Iraqi forces continue to need help fighting al-Qaida and other violent groups, particularly with logistics and supply issues. But he says their capabilities are growing.

The general also expressed concern about what he sees as continuing meddling⁹ in Iraq by Iranian operatives.

"Unfortunately, we still see some malign¹⁰ intent with Iran as we continue to see training conducted in Iran of Iranian surrogates that now then come back into Iraq," said Odierno. "We still continue to uncover large caches of rockets, rails to shoot rockets and some explosively formed projectiles¹¹ that are made in Iran. We continue to see potential interference in the political process inside of Iraq," he added.

General Odierno says Iraqi forces have been effective at finding and defeating Iranian-supported elements, particularly in the south.

The general predicted that all U.S. forces will be out of Iraq, as promised, by the end of 2011, but he told the members of Congress Iraq will still need U.S. support well beyond that date, as it works to stabilize¹² its democracy and fully¹³ secure the country.

 
 

1 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。

2 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。

3 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

4 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

5 crater   

n.火山口，弹坑

参考例句：

• With a telescope you can see the huge crater of Ve-suvius.用望远镜你能看到巨大的维苏威火山口。
• They came to the lip of a dead crater.他们来到了一个死火山口。

6 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。

7 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。

8 frustrating   

adj.产生挫折的，使人沮丧的，令人泄气的v.使不成功( frustrate的现在分词 )；挫败；使受挫折；令人沮丧

参考例句：

• It's frustrating to have to wait so long. 要等这么长时间，真令人懊恼。
• It was a demeaning and ultimately frustrating experience. 那是一次有失颜面并且令人沮丧至极的经历。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 meddling   

v.干涉，干预（他人事务）( meddle的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He denounced all "meddling" attempts to promote a negotiation. 他斥责了一切“干预”促成谈判的企图。 来自辞典例句
• They liked this field because it was never visited by meddling strangers. 她们喜欢这块田野，因为好事的陌生人从来不到那里去。 来自辞典例句

10 malign   

adj.有害的；恶性的；恶意的；v.诽谤，诬蔑

参考例句：

• It was easy to see why the cartoonists regularly portrayed him as a malign cherub.难怪漫画家总是把他画成一个邪恶的小天使。
• She likes to malign innocent persons.她爱诋毁那些清白的人。

11 projectiles   

n.抛射体( projectile的名词复数 )；（炮弹、子弹等）射弹，（火箭等）自动推进的武器

参考例句：

• These differences are connected with the strong absorption of the composite projectiles. 这些差别与复杂的入射粒子的强烈吸收有关。 来自辞典例句
• Projectiles became more important because cannons could now fire balls over hundreds or yards. 抛射体变得更加重要，因为人们已能用大炮把炮弹射到几百码的距离之外。 来自辞典例句

12 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

13 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。