【2月11日】看軍聞學英語

原文：

McKenzie's visit comes amid heightened anti-American sentiment that has fueled violent protests, rocket attacks on the embassy and a vote by the Iraqi parliament pushing for withdrawal of U.S. troops from the country. And it raises questions about whether the appearance of a high-profile U.S. military commander could spur compromise, or simply inflame tensions and scuttle ongoing negotiations to put Patriot missile batteries in Iraq to better protect coalition forces.

McKenzie acknowledged that due to the current strain in relations, joint military operations and training between the U.S. and the Iraqis have been scaled back. He said that U.S. Special Operations Force are doing missions with Iraqi commandos, emphasizing that ＇we're still in a period of turbulence. We've got a ways to go.＇

中譯：

時值反美情緒高漲之際，助長了暴力抗議、火箭彈攻擊大使館以及伊拉克國會投票迫使美軍撤離該國等情事。麥肯錫的造訪引發些許疑慮，即美軍高階指揮官的現身，能否促成妥協，抑或只是讓緊張情勢升溫，並破壞在伊拉克部署愛國者飛彈連，以強化聯軍安全所正進行中的協商。

麥肯錫承認，由於當前關係緊張，美國和伊拉克共同執行的聯合軍事行動和訓練規模都已縮減。他說美國特戰部隊仍會與伊拉克突擊隊一起執行任務，並強調「我們仍處動盪，但一定會找到突破的方法」。

－關鍵軍語－

※battery:

A tactical and administrative artillery unit.

※commando:

An elite special operations unit.

例句：

A commando often specializes in amphibious landings, parachuting or abseiling.

突擊隊通常具備兩棲登陸、空降或繩降專長。