VOA标准英语2009年-US Mideast Commander Endorses Afghanistan

By Al Pessin
Pentagon
23 September 2009

 
US General David Petraeus, (file photo)
The commander of all U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, who was also the architect of the Iraq turnaround two years ago, has endorsed¹ the grim assessment² by the U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan, and General David Petraeus says the only way to fight terrorism is to take the multi-dimensional approach embodied³ in the current strategy there.

General Petraeus says he and the top U.S. military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, both endorsed the secret assessment made late last month by the new commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal. Most of that largely grim assessment was made public Monday by the Washington Post. McChrystal described a situation in which the Taliban and related groups are advancing, and said he needs more resources to avoid mission failure.

Speaking to a conference of military and civilian⁴ counterinsurgency experts, General Petraeus declined to discuss the specifics of the McChrystal assessment or the ongoing⁵ deliberations, but he did repeat a point he has often made about how he believes extremists must be fought.

"To counter terrorism, and I'm talking about terrorism writ⁶ large, extremism, requires more than just your special mission unit forces. It really requires a whole of governments, counterinsurgency approach. Many different government agencies, civil-military partnerships⁷ and, again, a comprehensive approach to these problems is the answer," he said.

General Petraeus appeared to be pointedly⁸ rejecting suggestions by some analysts⁹, and some officials and members of Congress, that the United States should scale back its ground operations in Afghanistan and focus on air strikes and special operations missions. Other senior military officers and Defense¹⁰ Secretary Robert Gates have made similar points.

But earlier Wednesday, Pentagon Spokesman Geoff Morrell said senior officials are considering whether a full counterinsurgency campaign, with large numbers of troops and civilians¹¹, is the right approach. He noted¹² that the president said he would regularly review his policy when he announced it in March. Morrell said the review does not mean that the counterinsurgency approach is over, but rather that U.S. officials want to make sure their strategy is right before committing significant numbers of additional troops.

The spokesman also said the general's specific troop request will be sent to Secretary Gates this week, as the review continues. He said Gates will hold the new troop request until the strategy review is completed. "There is no sense in complicating¹³ a discussion about strategy with the resource request. We want to do them in order. And I do not think this is going to take unduly¹⁴ long, nor has it taken unduly long," he said.

Morrell acknowledged that if the president decides to adjust his strategy, there may have to be changes to the troop request. "If there are adjustments, there may have to be adjustments made in terms of what is required to achieve the mission if it changes," he said.

Morrell said the general's request will contain further analysis and a range of force level options for the president to consider, along with a statement of the risks of each option. General McChrystal is expected to ask for tens of thousands more troops in an effort to bring stability to Afghan population centers.

President Obama has already increased the U.S. troop presence by more than 21,000 to about 68,000, and authorized¹⁵ more aggressive operations against the Taliban, which have resulted in a sharp increase in U.S. casualties.

This year, more than 360 U.S. troops have been killed in Afghanistan. That is 25 percent of total U.S. casualties in the full eight years of the war. Morrell acknowledges the troop deployment¹⁶ decision is particularly difficult because of the sharp increase in casualties.

"There are no two people in government who appreciate the gravity of the decisions that are being discussed and that will ultimately be made than the Secretary of Defense and the President of the United States. The secretary understands that this is a hugely consequential¹⁷ decision for the president, and he wants to make sure that the president, and himself frankly¹⁸, are very comfortable with it before they send thousands more young men and women off to battle," he said.

Morrell says it is in the troops' interest for the leaders to come up with a strategy that works.

1 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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？

3 embodied   

v.表现( embody的过去式和过去分词 )；象征；包括；包含

参考例句：

• a politician who embodied the hopes of black youth 代表黑人青年希望的政治家
• The heroic deeds of him embodied the glorious tradition of the troops. 他的英雄事迹体现了军队的光荣传统。 来自《简明英汉词典》

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 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

6 writ   

n.命令状，书面命令

参考例句：

• This is a copy of a writ I received this morning.这是今早我收到的书面命令副本。
• You shouldn't treat the newspapers as if they were Holy Writ. 你不应该把报上说的话奉若神明。

7 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

8 pointedly   

adv.尖地，明显地

参考例句：

• She yawned and looked pointedly at her watch. 她打了个哈欠，又刻意地看了看手表。
• The demand for an apology was pointedly refused. 让对方道歉的要求遭到了断然拒绝。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

10 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。

11 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。

12 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

13 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

14 unduly   

adv.过度地，不适当地

参考例句：

• He did not sound unduly worried at the prospect.他的口气听上去对前景并不十分担忧。
• He argued that the law was unduly restrictive.他辩称法律的约束性有些过分了。

15 authorized   

a.委任的，许可的

参考例句：

• An administrative order is valid if authorized by a statute.如果一个行政命令得到一个法规的认可那么这个命令就是有效的。

16 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。

17 consequential   

adj.作为结果的，间接的；重要的

参考例句：

• She was injured and suffered a consequential loss of earnings.她受了伤因而收入受损。
• This new transformation is at least as consequential as that one was.这一新的转变至少和那次一样重要。

18 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。