搜索关注在线英语听力室公众号:tingroom,领取免费英语资料大礼包。
(单词翻译)
US Troops Prepare for Afghan 'Spring Offensive'
Their message came in an audio message that announced the start of a monumental spring operation, one aimed at defeating those it described as "western invaders," a reference to U.S.-led allied1 forces that are in the process of drawing down.
U.S. Defense2 Secretary Chuck Hagel, on a visit to Afghanistan in March, noted3 there are challenges ahead as U.S. forces hand over security responsibility to the Afghans.
"That transition has to be done right, it has to be done in partnership4 with the Afghans, with our allies," said Hagel.
For the first time, Afghan forces are in the lead this fighting season, with allied forces as backup. That means they are the prime targets for insurgents6, who stepped up their attacks dramatically during the winter.
A report from the respected independent group, the Afghanistan NGO Safety Office, says the number of insurgent5 attacks has grown by 47 percent in the past year. Seventy-four percent of those attacks were on Afghan national security forces and only four percent against international troops.
Jonah Blank, an analyst7 with the Rand Corporation, said Taliban fighters have calculated that going after allied forces isn't as effective as targeting Afghan troops.
“The Taliban [is] trying to assert its dominion8 or its power over the national security forces and to put some fear into them," he said. "They don't take on ISAF or U.S. troops as much because they get killed when they do that. There isn't any percentage in it for them now that we have made clear that we will be withdrawing and we will be leaving only a fairly small force when we leave."
The United States is due to pull out most of the 66,000 troops it has in Afghanistan by December 2014, and is still deciding how many it will leave behind.
How Afghan forces do this fighting season may help answer that question.
1 allied | |
adj.协约国的;同盟国的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
2 defense | |
n.防御,保卫;[pl.]防务工事;辩护,答辩 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
3 noted | |
adj.著名的,知名的 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
4 partnership | |
n.合作关系,伙伴关系 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
5 insurgent | |
adj.叛乱的,起事的;n.叛乱分子 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
6 insurgents | |
n.起义,暴动,造反( insurgent的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句: |
|
|
7 analyst | |
n.分析家,化验员;心理分析学家 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
8 dominion | |
n.统治,管辖,支配权;领土,版图 | |
参考例句: |
|
|
本文本内容来源于互联网抓取和网友提交,仅供参考,部分栏目没有内容,如果您有更合适的内容,欢迎 点击提交 分享给大家。