美国国家公共电台 NPR--Russia has been threatening to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine

Russia has been threatening to use nuclear weapons in Ukraine

Transcript¹

The threats come 60 years since the world held its collective breath during the Cuban Missile Crisis. What lessons does that 1962 crisis offer today?

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Russian diplomats³ say they'll take their unfounded claim that Ukraine is preparing to use a dirty bomb inside its own borders to the U.N. Security Council today. To discuss, NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre is here. Hi, Greg.

GREG MYRE, BYLINE⁴: Hi. Good morning, Leila.

FADEL: So what are Ukraine and its allies saying about this Russian allegation about a radioactive bomb?

MYRE: Well, Ukraine, the U.S. and other NATO countries say it's absolutely false that Ukraine is preparing a dirty bomb. Ukraine has invited United Nations inspectors⁵ to come see for themselves. They say Ukraine has nothing to hide. Now, we should note we're marking the 60th anniversary of the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. That was a nuclear showdown between the U.S. and the Soviet⁶ Union. And we're going to hear now about those events and how quickly they can spiral out of control when nuclear weapons become part of the debate.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

JOHN F KENNEDY: Missiles in Cuba add to an already clear and present danger.

MYRE: President John F. Kennedy laid out the risk in a televised speech during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In the decades since, new details only reinforce how close the U.S. and Soviets⁷ came to nuclear war. Consider 1 of the 4 Soviet submarines that was headed toward Cuba and wasn't designed for warm waters.

PETER KORNBLUH: Their air conditioning and electricity was compromised. It got very hot in the sub, over an estimated 120 degrees.

MYRE: Peter Kornbluh is with the National Security Archive, a private research group. Soviet sailors were fainting from the heat and lack of oxygen. A U.S. Navy ship had detected the sub, and the Americans released depth charges. The intended message was that the sub should surface. That's not how it was received by the Soviet commander.

KORNBLUH: The sub was actually disabled from the shock waves of these explosions. Their communications were knocked out. The captain did not want to surface because he thought that, you know, World War III had broken out.

MYRE: Mariana Budjeryn of Harvard's Kennedy School explains what the commander, Captain Valentin Savitsky, did next.

MARIANA BUDJERYN: Being pursued for a day, unable to recharge batteries, unable to communicate with Moscow and under constant barrage⁸ of these explosions that sounded like sledgehammers, Captain Savitsky basically lost his cool and said, arm the nuclear torpedo⁹.

MYRE: In a stroke of good fortune, the overall commander for all four Soviet subs happened to be on this particular submarine. His name was Captain Vasily Arkhipov. He saved the day and perhaps the world when he...

BUDJERYN: Went in and dissuaded¹⁰ Captain Valentin Savitsky from arming and using the nuclear torpedo.

MYRE: On the same day, October 27, Soviet forces in Cuba shot down an American U-2 spy plane, killing¹¹ the pilot. President Kennedy faced tremendous pressure to respond, possibly with U.S. air strikes on Cuba or even a ground invasion. But former diplomat² Philip Zelikow says Kennedy kept his composure.

PHILIP ZELIKOW: At no time does President Kennedy jump to the conclusion that, I guess they've decided¹² to go to war. There is a general hesitation¹³ to overinterpret the meaning of all that gunfire.

MYRE: Zelikow says Kennedy and others in his inner circle had served in World War II. They were wary¹⁴ of rash actions that could spiral out of control.

ZELIKOW: Because of the combat experience and especially President Kennedy's experience, there was at least some measure of humility¹⁵ about what they didn't know and a reluctance¹⁶ to overreact, which I think was very important.

MYRE: The crisis was resolved when the Soviets publicly agreed to remove their missiles from Cuba, while the U.S. secretly pledged to withdraw its missiles from Turkey. The Kennedy administration's narrative¹⁷ was that the U.S. came out on top because it took a tough stance and forced the Soviets to retreat. Peter Kornbluh says this is misleading.

KORNBLUH: The Cuban Missile Crisis was resolved through diplomacy¹⁸, dialogue, backchannel communications and compromise.

MYRE: And Kornbluh says we should take heed¹⁹ today.

KORNBLUH: The ultimate lesson of the Cuban Missile Crisis is that when there are human beings, particularly authoritarian²⁰ personalities²¹, controlling nuclear weapons, the world is in a very dangerous situation.

FADEL: So that's reporting from NPR's Greg Myre. And Greg's still with us. So listening to that, Greg, there are, of course, chilling parallels between then and now. But today's also very different, right?

MYRE: Sure, there are some differences. Back in 1962, the U.S. and Soviets - and the Soviets were in direct confrontation²², thousands of nuclear weapons aimed at each other. Today, just one country has the nuclear weapons, Russia, and the other doesn't, Ukraine. And yet we see Russia making a claim without evidence that it's Ukraine that's posing the threat here.

FADEL: NPR's Greg Myre, thank you.

MYRE: My pleasure.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

3 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

6 Soviet   

adj.苏联的，苏维埃的；n.苏维埃

参考例句：

• Zhukov was a marshal of the former Soviet Union.朱可夫是前苏联的一位元帅。
• Germany began to attack the Soviet Union in 1941.德国在1941年开始进攻苏联。

7 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

8 barrage   

n.火力网，弹幕

参考例句：

• The attack jumped off under cover of a barrage.进攻在炮火的掩护下开始了。
• The fierce artillery barrage destroyed the most part of the city in a few minutes.猛烈的炮火几分钟内便毁灭了这座城市的大部分地区。

9 torpedo   

n.水雷，地雷；v.用鱼雷破坏

参考例句：

• His ship was blown up by a torpedo.他的船被一枚鱼雷炸毁了。
• Torpedo boats played an important role during World War Two.鱼雷艇在第二次世界大战中发挥了重要作用。

10 dissuaded   

劝（某人）勿做某事，劝阻( dissuade的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was easily dissuaded from going. 他很容易就接受劝告不走了。
• Ulysses was not to be dissuaded from his attempt. 尤利西斯想前去解救的决心不为所动。

11 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

12 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

13 hesitation   

n.犹豫，踌躇

参考例句：

• After a long hesitation, he told the truth at last.踌躇了半天，他终于直说了。
• There was a certain hesitation in her manner.她的态度有些犹豫不决。

14 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

15 humility   

n.谦逊，谦恭

参考例句：

• Humility often gains more than pride.谦逊往往比骄傲收益更多。
• His voice was still soft and filled with specious humility.他的声音还是那么温和，甚至有点谦卑。

16 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

17 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

18 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

19 heed   

v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心

参考例句：

• You must take heed of what he has told.你要注意他所告诉的事。
• For the first time he had to pay heed to his appearance.这是他第一次非得注意自己的外表不可了。

20 authoritarian   

n./adj.专制(的)，专制主义者，独裁主义者

参考例句：

• Foreign diplomats suspect him of authoritarian tendencies.各国外交官怀疑他有着独裁主义倾向。
• The authoritarian policy wasn't proved to be a success.独裁主义的政策证明并不成功。

21 personalities   

n. 诽谤，（对某人容貌、性格等所进行的）人身攻击； 人身攻击；人格, 个性, 名人( personality的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There seemed to be a degree of personalities in her remarks.她话里有些人身攻击的成分。
• Personalities are not in good taste in general conversation.在一般的谈话中诽谤他人是不高尚的。

22 confrontation   

n.对抗，对峙，冲突

参考例句：

• We can't risk another confrontation with the union.我们不能冒再次同工会对抗的危险。
• After years of confrontation,they finally have achieved a modus vivendi.在对抗很长时间后，他们最后达成安宁生存的非正式协议。