CNN 2009-12-04

Top officials with the Obama administration are on Capitol Hill for a 2nd day. you see them there. They are answering more questions about the new mission in Afghanistan. This hour, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates and Joint² Chiefs Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen are appearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. A little bit later on today, Gates and Mullen will head over to the house armed services committee. Joining me are two of its members and both of them have unique perspectives on the war. We spoke³ with them yesterday too.

Republican representative Duncan Hunter of California served three combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as a Marine⁴ Corp officer and for 31 years, Democratic representative Joe Sestak was in the navy rising to the rank of admiral. He ran battle group operations in Afghanistan.

Congressmen, thanks again for joining us today. We heard an awful lot of testimony⁵ yesterday, some of it certainly heated. I am wondering if you have the opportunity to question the dignitaries today, what will you be asking? Representative Sestak, I will start with you.

--Well my first question is that we were promised benchmarks by which we would measure a progress in this conflict in Afghanistan last March, we don't have them yet. And if you are going to insert a lot of assets, what are those measurements by which you judged how much asset you needed there? Second, if you set a definitive⁶ deadline to begin our re-deployment but your major objective is Al-Qaeda in Pakistan, how does that deadline measure up with these benchmarks of progress? and third, for Mrs Clinton, Secretary Clinton, back in Vietnam days, we had probably about 15,000 Foreign Service officers in USAID, they are part of the civilian⁷ surge. 5000 went to Vietnam.We've only got about 1200 foreign service officers today in USAID. Where is this civilian surge gonna come from?

--Now if i understand correctly, Secretary Clinton will not be at the  House Armed Services Committee today, (--Cool.)she is right now before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, correct?

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 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 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。

4 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。

5 testimony   

n.证词；见证，证明

参考例句：

• The testimony given by him is dubious.他所作的证据是可疑的。
• He was called in to bear testimony to what the police officer said.他被传入为警官所说的话作证。

6 definitive   

adj.确切的，权威性的；最后的，决定性的

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• No one has come up with a definitive answer as to why this should be so.至于为什么该这样，还没有人给出明确的答复。

7 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。