VOA标准英语2012--Obama Hosts NATO, Focus on Afghanistan and Alliance Future Global Role

Obama Hosts NATO, Focus on Afghanistan and Alliance Future Global Role 

The U.S. and NATO are withdrawing from Afghanistan under a timetable that will have all foreign combat forces out by 2014.

Despite high profile Taliban attacks, NATO says Afghan government forces are on track to fully¹ shoulder the security burden.

President Obama, earlier this month. "In Chicago, our coalition² will set a goal for Afghan forces to be in the lead for combat operations across the country next year. International troops will continue to train, advise and assist the Afghans, and fight alongside them when needed. But we will shift into a support role as Afghans step forward," he said.

A recently-signed U.S.-Afghanistan Strategic Partnership³ Agreement will be supplemented by a NATO announcement of a long-term support strategy.

But the alliance faces decisions about its ability to deal with new challenges amid declining defense⁴ budgets.

Philip Gordon, Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, said, "The trend of European defense spending is poor, and, in the long run, if it is not sustained, the alliance will not be able to do [what it has done] for so many years and decades, including most recently in Libya."

NATO will discuss Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen's push for "smart defense", involving greater sharing of resources.

Steven Pifer, at the Center on the United States and Europe at The Brookings Institution in Washington, said, "The question with smart defense is how can NATO together spend money so that NATO as an entity⁵ has more capability⁶ than if countries make independent decisions."

Also, Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman John Kerry says failure of many NATO members to meet financial obligations raises serious questions. "We all understand this is a time for austerity. It is time for austerity for everybody, but we are going to have to set priorities. We're going to have to decide what is really important and what is less important," he said.

Another major issue is missile defense and a U.S. shield system to protect against launches from Iran. Russia objects to the program.

But NATO intends to deploy⁷ the system anyway.

In Chicago, NATO leaders will discuss lessons learned from Afghanistan and Libya.

Steven Pifer is among experts saying a key challenge is to come up with a clearer picture of what NATO's role should be. "The focus of NATO the last seven or eight years has been Afghanistan. And right now one of the problems that NATO may have is when you ask NATO what is the purpose, different allies probably give you different answers," he said.

The Chicago summit will be the first time in 13 years NATO leaders have met in the U.S. 

1 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。

2 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。

3 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

4 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。

5 entity   

n.实体，独立存在体，实际存在物

参考例句：

• The country is no longer one political entity.这个国家不再是一个统一的政治实体了。
• As a separate legal entity,the corporation must pay taxes.作为一个独立的法律实体，公司必须纳税。

6 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。

7 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。