VOA英语2010年-White House Prepares Afghan Policy Review

Top U.S. defense¹ officials say the new strategy for the war in Afghanistan announced by President Barack Obama a year ago is working. Some military and intelligence analysts³, however, say the fight is far from over. The comments come as the White House prepares to deliver a widely anticipated year-end review of the administration's Afghan policy.

After more than nine years of war and the surge of 30,000 additional troops into Afghanistan, U.S. defense officials say progress is being made in the fight against the Taliban and al-Qaida.

Speaking recently in Kabul, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said the new plan for Afghanistan is successful because Taliban insurgents⁴ control much less territory than they did one year ago. "I will go back convinced that our strategy is working and that we will be able to achieve the key goals laid out by President Obama last year."

Those goals include the handover of security responsibilities to Afghan forces and to have the Afghan government take the lead for the entire nation by the end of 2014. Obama's goals also include denying al-Qaida a safe haven⁵ and the Taliban the ability to overthrow⁶ the Afghan government.

Georgetown University Professor Bruce Hoffman said that while al-Qaida has been under immense pressure from a major increase in drone attacks in Pakistan's tribal⁷ areas along the Afghan border, the terrorist group continues to wage a war of attrition against Western nations.

"Their strategy is to wear us down and also to force us to spend more money on domestic security and to prolong our overseas military commitments to the greatest extent possible," said Hoffman.

The top NATO and U.S. Commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, said allied⁸ and Afghan forces have seized momentum⁹ from the Taliban in many key regions, but some still are under the control of insurgents.

"Clearly, again, the Taliban does still have areas in which it has the freedom of movement, in some cases still has arguably the momentum, and so therefore there's more work to be done in those areas," said Petraeus.

Most of the military effort during the surge has focused on the provinces of Kandahar and Helmand in southern Afghanistan, traditionally the stronghold of the Taliban insurgency¹⁰.
While U.S. troops have made progress in pacifying¹¹ that region, there are concerns the Taliban is increasing its presence in northern Afghanistan, in areas once considered secure.

Muhammad Tahir is an analyst² from Radio Free Europe who has spent considerable time in Afghanistan. During a recent trip to northern Kunduz Province, Tahir said there was significant evidence of Taliban influence there.

"Security is very important. Something must be done with this. Because when you do not have enough security there, there are other guys to fill this security gap today. The other guys are the Taliban, the militants¹², the foreign or the local. So they will fill that," said Tahir.

Amrullah Saleh is the former director of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security. He said the key to defeating the Taliban is to cut off support in safe havens¹³ across the border in Pakistan. Saleh said while this year's surge in U.S. troops has secured some territory, it has failed to achieve the primary goals of the war.

"Has the surge brought a fundamental change in the basics? Has something changed in Pakistan? No. Have we captured, killed or brought into the negotiations¹⁴ table the Taliban leadership? No. Have we defeated al-Qaida? No," said Saleh.

The executive director of the Center for Research and Security Studies in Islamabad, Imtiaz Gul, said it will take more time to establish whether President Obama's strategy for the war in Afghanistan will work.

"On a tactical level there has been some success reported by General Petraeus and also by the Afghan government," said Gul. "But tactical victories or successes do not necessarily translate into durable¹⁵, peaceful solutions. So you really have to look at the impact a few further months down the lane to determine as to whether the surge has been successful or not."

The next major deadline in the war strategy is July 2011, when Obama has said he wants to begin a gradual drawdown of U.S. troops from Afghanistan.

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 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

3 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。

4 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

5 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

6 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

7 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

8 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

9 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

10 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

11 pacifying   

使（某人）安静( pacify的现在分词 )； 息怒； 抚慰； 在（有战争的地区、国家等）实现和平

参考例句：

• The papers put the emphasis on pacifying rather than suppressing the protesters. 他们强调要安抚抗议者而不是动用武力镇压。
• Hawthorn products have the function of pacifying the stomach and spleen, and promoting digestion. 山楂制品，和中消食。

12 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

13 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

14 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

15 durable   

adj.持久的，耐久的

参考例句：

• This raincoat is made of very durable material.这件雨衣是用非常耐用的料子做的。
• They frequently require more major durable purchases.他们经常需要购买耐用消费品。