Army Study of Iraq War Details a 'Morass' of Supply Shortages
by Eric Schmitt
陆军研究伊拉克战争的供应短缺
The first official Army history of the Iraq war reveals that American forces were plagued by a \
psychological operations and virtually no reliable intelligence on how Saddam Hussein would defend Baghdad.
Plague v. 困扰；折磨
far-flung ['fɑ:'fl??] adj. 遥远的；广泛的；广布的
Logistics problems, which senior Army officials played down at the time, were much worse than have previously been reported. While the study serves mainly as a technical examination of how the Army performed and the problems it faced, it could also serve as a political document that could advance the Army's interests within the Pentagon.
logistics [l?'d??st?ks] n. [军] 后勤；后勤学; 物流
play down V. 贬低；降低；减少
Tank engines sat on warehouse shelves in Kuwait with no truck drivers to take them north. Broken-down trucks were scavenged for usable parts. Artillery units cannibalized parts from
captured Iraqi guns to keep their howitzers operating. Army medics foraged medical supplies from combat hospitals.
scavenge ['sk?v?nd?] vt. 打扫；排除废气；以…为食 vi. 清除污物；打扫 artillery [a?'tl?r?]
n. 火炮；大炮；炮队；炮术 cannibalize ['k?nb?laz] vt. 拆用…的配件；调拨…的人员 vi. 调拨人员；拆用配件；同类相食 howitzer ['ha??ts?] n. [军] 榴弹炮 medics
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n. 医学工作者；苜蓿（medic的复数） forage ['f?r?d?] n. 饲料；草料；搜索 vi. 搜寻粮草；搜寻
In most cases, soldiers improvised solutions to keep the offensive rolling. But the study found that the Third Infantry Division, the Army's lead combat force, was within two weeks of being halted by a lack of spare parts, and Army logisticians had no effective distribution system.
improvise ['impr?vaiz] v. 即兴创作,临时提供 the Third Infantry Division 第三步兵师
logistician [,l?ud?i'sti??n] n. 物流师；军需官；后勤人员
\paper clips to tank engines - stems from the lack of a means to assign responsibility clearly,\study said.
confound [k?n'fa?nd]
vt. 使混淆；挫败；讨厌；使混乱 run the gamut of 及…的全部范围 stem from 源于
It also found that the Pentagon's decision to send mostly combat units in the weeks before the invasion had the \contributing greatly to the logistics problems. hold back ['h?uldb?k] 隐瞒；退缩；抑制；阻止
back support 后勤支持
The findings are contained in a 504-page internal Army history of the war written by the Army's Combined Arms Center at Fort Leavenworth, Kan. The unclassified study, a draft of which was obtained by The New York Times, was ordered last spring by the former Army chief of staff, Gen. Eric K. Shinseki, who clashed with Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld over troop strength for postwar Iraq. It draws on interviews with 2,300 people, 68,000 photographs and nearly 120,000 documents.
unclassified
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英 [?n'kl?s?fa?d] 美 [?n'kl?s?'fa?d] adj. 不保密的；无类别的
the former Army chief of staff前陆军参谋长 troop strength 兵力
draw on
利用；吸收；戴上；临近
Its senior author was Gregory Fontenot, a retired Army colonel who commanded a battalion in the Persian Gulf war in 1991 and a brigade in Bosnia.
The Marine Corps, Air Force and Navy are all conducting similar reviews of their forces' performance.
Army colonel 陆军上校
the Persian Gulf war 波斯湾战争
August 1990, Iraqi troops invade Kuwait, sparking the Persian Gulf War.
Army officials said the timing of the study was not intended to influence passage of a proposed military budget the Bush administration submitted to Congress on Monday. But it could fuel a debate on Capitol Hill over whether the military, and the Army in particular, has enough troops to carry out missions in Iraq, Afghanistan and other trouble spots.
timing ['ta?m??]
n. 定时；调速；时间选择
v. 为…安排时间；测定…的时间（time的ing形式） military budget 军事预算
trouble spot n. 动荡地区；出故障处
Senior Army officials say lessons from the study - from revamping how soldiers are deployed to overhauling battlefield supply-distribution networks - are being incorporated into Army training centers and among the 110,000 troops now replacing 130,000 soldiers in Iraq.
revamp [,ri'v?mp] vt. 修补；翻新；修改 n. 改进；换新鞋面 incorporate into 并入
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The bulk of the study, a book entitled \accounts of several pivotal battles. For the most part, it praises the Army's combat operations and the ability of soldiers and commanders to adapt to rapidly shifting battlefield conditions.
bulk of大部分，多数
lucid ['lus?d]
adj. 明晰的；透明的；易懂的；头脑清楚的 narrative ['n?r?t?v] n. 叙述；故事；讲述
adj. 叙事的，叙述的；叙事体的
the Army's combat operations军队的作战行动 for the most part 很大程度上
The report refers only glancingly to two of the most contentious issues of the war: Iraq?s suspected illicit weapons and the Pentagon?s preparations for securing and rebuilding the country after major combat ended.
glancingly ['ɡlɑ?ns??l?] adv. 随便地；粗略地
contentious [k?n't?n??s]
adj. 诉讼的；有异议的，引起争论的；爱争论的
illicit [?'l?s?t] adj. 违法的；不正当的
The study does note, however, that the strategy of starting the war before all support troops were in place, in order to achieve an element of surprise, taxed the postwar resources of local commanders, who in many cases were shifting back and forth between combat operations and the task of restoring civil services.
support troops支援部队 tax [t?ks]
vt. 向…课税；使负重担 n. 税金；重负 civil service
美 公务员；行政部门
\logistics - to meet the civilian needs,\a result of the running start, there simply was not enough to do both missions.“
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the scarce resourcesthe 稀缺的资源
running start 良好的开端；快速起动；迅速的起步（等于flying start）
The study's authors saved their most biting critique for the logistics operations. When the combat forces raced ahead, the supply lines - \campaign progressed, the force flow never caught up with the operational requirements,\
biting critique尖锐的批评
running start
良好的开端；快速起动；迅速的起步（等于flying start） biting critique尖锐的批评 combat forces 战斗部队
force flow management 兵力流量管理 military jargon军事术语
Put more bluntly elsewhere in the study, it said that \delivery, from the privates at the front to the generals\
Put more bluntly 坦率地说
Put even more bluntly (and perhaps offensively to some), if your ideal male partneris a “10, ” on a scale of 1-10, you want to make sure you?re a “10″ as well. 甚至更坦率地说（或许对某些人来说有冒犯之意），如果在1到10之间取分，你的理想男伴得分为10，你就要确保你的得分也是10。 part delivery 配件发料
Spare parts delivery arrangement 零配件的发货安排
command headquarters 司令部
Other problems cropped up. While divisional commanders could communicate with one another, officers at lower levels often could not. Units separated by long distances in the fast-moving offensive found their radios suddenly out of range, leaving troops to improvise solutions using mobile phones or secure e-mail messaging.
cropped up出现
divisional commanders分区指挥官
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