英语新闻阅读：美国陆军上将马丁·登普西就任参谋长联席会议主席

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　　U.S. Army General Martin Dempsey will be sworn as the new chairman of the
Joint Chiefs of Staff Friday.
        　　President Barack Obama will be in attendance when the 37-year veteran
becomes the nation's top uniformed officer, replacing retiring Navy Admiral Mike
Mullen. Mr. Obama nominated Dempsey to succeed Mullen in May, only a month after
Dempsey assumed the post of chief of staff of the Army.
        　　Dempsey's career includes two tours of duty in Iraq, and serving as acting
commander of all military operations in the Middle East.
        　　Dempsey is moving into his new role at a time when the military is facing
deep budget cuts to help trim the massive U.S. debt. During his confirmation
hearing last month, he warned lawmakers that cuts of $800 billion or more would
be 揺xtraordinarily difficult and very high risk.
        　　The president has asked the Defense Department to cut $400 billion from its
budget over the next 12 years.
        　　Dempsey is also taking over amid strained U.S. relations with Pakistan over
that country's apparent failure to dismantle Islamic extremist groups. Mullen
recently described the Haqqani terrorist network as a 搗eritable arm?of
Pakistan's intelligence agency.