时间:2019-02-17 作者:英语课 分类:VOA常速英语2008年(四月)


英语课
By Cindy Saine
Washington
02 April 2008


The top U.S. military commander says the Pentagon will continue to withdraw five combat brigades from Iraq through July as planned, despite recent violence in Baghdad and Basra. But on Capitol Hill, three retired 1 army generals told a Senate hearing the United States must begin a major troop withdrawal 2 from Iraq when the next president takes office next year. VOA Correspondent Cindy Saine reports from Washington.


The Chairman of the Joint 3 Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, told reporters Wednesday the recent violence in Basra and Baghdad has not changed U.S. plans on troop levels in Iraq.


"Right now we're still on track for the fifth brigade to come out, the last of the surge brigades to come out, by the end of July and then the period of consolidation 4 and evaluation 5 will take place," he said.


The planned withdrawals 6 will bring the number of U.S. troops in Iraq back down to the level before a surge of U.S. forces last year of about 140,000 troops. The surge was intended to stabilize 7 the security situation and give the Iraqi government the chance to achieve political reconciliation 8.


Admiral Mullen praised Iraq's government for going after militiamen in Basra, though he said it will take a while to figure out who won and who lost in last week's fighting.


Asked if the high force levels in Iraq are having an impact on other U.S. national security goals, Mullen said Afghanistan immediately comes to mind. "So having forces in Iraq don't -- at the level they are at -- don't allow us to fill the need that we have in Afghanistan," he said.


But retired Army Major General Robert Scales told the Senate Foreign Relations committee a major withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq is inevitable 9, because the U.S. cannot sustain troop levels there and has run out of options. "For the first time since the Civil War, the number of ground soldiers available is determining American policy rather than policy determining how many soldiers we need. It is strategy turned on its head," he said.


Scales said setting a window of withdrawal would boost morale 10 for service members and their families, who feel like they are stuck on a perpetual rollercoaster of deployments.


Retired Lieutenant 11 General William Odom also said that withdrawal of combat troops from Iraq is the only thing that could break the current paralysis 12 of U.S. strategy in the Middle East. "The surge is prolonging instablility, not creating the conditions for unity 13 as the president claims," he said.


The retired generals agreed that a major withdrawal of combat forces from Iraq is likely to happen early in the next U.S. president's administration. They say the U.S. Army is overextended and the American people no longer support the war.




adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
n.取回,提款;撤退,撤军;收回,撤销
  • The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
  • They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。
adj.联合的,共同的;n.关节,接合处;v.连接,贴合
  • 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。
n.合并,巩固
  • The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民,对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
  • The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法
n.估价,评价;赋值
  • I attempted an honest evaluation of my own life.我试图如实地评价我自己的一生。
  • The new scheme is still under evaluation.新方案还在评估阶段。
n.收回,取回,撤回( withdrawal的名词复数 );撤退,撤走;收回[取回,撤回,撤退,撤走]的实例;推出(组织),提走(存款),戒除毒瘾,对说过的话收回,孤僻
  • He has made several withdrawals from his bank account. 他从银行账户上提了几次款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
  • It is not the bank's policy to deduct interest on withdrawals. 提款需扣除利息这并非是本银行的政策。 来自辞典例句
vt.(使)稳定,使稳固,使稳定平衡;vi.稳定
  • 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。
n.和解,和谐,一致
  • He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
  • Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。
adj.不可避免的,必然发生的
  • Mary was wearing her inevitable large hat.玛丽戴着她总是戴的那顶大帽子。
  • The defeat had inevitable consequences for British policy.战败对英国政策不可避免地产生了影响。
n.道德准则,士气,斗志
  • The morale of the enemy troops is sinking lower every day.敌军的士气日益低落。
  • He tried to bolster up their morale.他尽力鼓舞他们的士气。
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员
  • He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
  • He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官,递上了一张简短的便条进去。
n.麻痹(症);瘫痪(症)
  • The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
  • The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
n.团结,联合,统一;和睦,协调
  • When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结,并非一团和气。
  • We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前,我们必须加强团结。
学英语单词
abrasion landform
acanthocorys variabilis
adaptable stage
after-fixing
Agrostis turkestanica
aguan
Anhungai
aquatic toxicology
atticitis
Aura im Sinngrund
awards dinner
balikbayan
Bhimar
boilermakers' deafness
born-again virgins
branch organization
branchiostegalia
bulb thermometre
cannabich
channel lag
chemically deposited printed circuit
cinnamycin
contour of groove
coralline alga
dagar
diamond stop
dipalmitoylphosphatidylcholine
discotriaene
drumroll
Dwellingup
eclesial
educrats
encode model
fire ecology
flocculable
foot-fault
forced vibration cross-spectrum analysis
Frasca, C.della
fulgur
fuzzy-logic
half-word integer overflow
health centres
hennesy
high purity zirconium
hundred-and-tenth
Imperata Cyrillo
industry-specific
internal reflux ratio
IPU Inter-Parliamentary Union
irritabilities
isomerate process
jacobus arminiuss
kingly way
lacerater
lack of penetration
like ships that pass in the night
lo tech
mackintoshes
medevacing
methylatropine bromide
metric tons deadweight all told
mistbow
multiple entrance program
nucleus reticularis pontis caudalis
old master
optic neuromyelitis
output-to-input ratio
panial
pathetique
pheidole pieli
phosphor salt
physical-chemical refining
polliwog
pot-trained
power creep
rear auto window
recruiting response
relenters
retrieval of oceanographic element
rotameters
Salzburg vitriol
saprocol
scienced
semi-Fowler's
sex control
sexual violence
social legislation
sweet jumps
symmetry axiom
taint meats
tetanus bacillus
the Renaissance
tooling cost
totten
tram driver
transnationalism
Trigonum fibrosum dextrum
unattended beacon
vein of marshall
vindical
wernne
wing.membrane