Putin warned against allowing atrocities to happen in 2001 Texas town hall

Putin warned against allowing atrocities¹ to happen in 2001 Texas town hall

Transcript²

Russia's invasion of Ukraine makes it hard to remember that decades ago, Vladimir Putin was on a charm offensive with the West. One stop was Crawford, Texas, with then President George W. Bush.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Russia's brutal³ invasion of Ukraine makes it hard to remember or even imagine that in the early years of Vladimir Putin's presidency⁴, he was on a charm offensive with the West. Putin sought respect abroad while pledging new openness at home. NPR's Don Gonyea takes us back to one such moment more than 20 years ago in Texas.

DON GONYEA, BYLINE⁵: It was November of 2001 in rural Crawford, Texas, population 705 back then. President George W. Bush owned a ranch⁶ just outside of town, and he and the first lady had invited Russian President Vladimir Putin and his wife to spend the night. The next morning, two presidents dropped by the local high school.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

GEORGE W BUSH: We had a great dinner last night. We had a little Texas barbecue, pecan pie, a little Texas music. And I think the president really enjoyed himself.

GONYEA: The so-called Crawford summit took place two months after the 9/11 terror attacks. In the high school gymnasium, Bush told students how Putin had been the first world leader to call him on September 11. Bush described him as a strong partner in fighting terrorism. Putin, through an interpreter, spoke⁷ of friendship and cooperation.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Through interpreter) And be here, I can feel the will of this people - the will to cooperate with the Russian Federation⁸, the will to cooperate with Russia. And I can assure you that the Russian people fully⁹ shares this commitment and is also committed to fully cooperating with the American people.

GONYEA: Then they took questions from students. One dealt with Afghanistan and women's rights and the then-imminent fall of the Taliban government. In his answer, Putin warned there should be no atrocities.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PUTIN: (Through interpreter) And we should not allow any atrocities or violations¹⁰ of human rights to happen.

GONYEA: Fast-forward to today and the headlines are about Russian atrocities in Ukraine. Amanda Lemmons (ph), a senior, asked a question that day. She wanted to know about Bush's travel plans.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

AMANDA BUCKNER: Have you decided¹¹ on whether you're going to go to Russia or not?

BUSH: Well...

(LAUGHTER)

BUSH: The president invited me, and I accepted.

BUCKNER: But the big moment for her came later, when she shook hands with Putin after the event. Reflecting now, she says time seemed to slow down.

BUCKNER: I remember - actually, I remember the color of his eyes. They were a dark, you know, deep blue. I was, like, I know he's got blue eyes.

GONYEA: And she distinctly remembers how Putin's hands felt.

BUCKNER: I don't know. They just - they were cold. Like, you know, they had a chill to them or something. You know, maybe it was too cold in the auditorium¹² or - you know, or wherever he was, you know, at first, but yeah, his hands just - they were cold.

GONYEA: Today, her name is Amanda Buckner. She's 38 years old and says when she watches TV and sees images from Ukraine, she finds herself shaken by that previously¹³ proud moment from her youth.

BUCKNER: Did I really sit there and meet a man who just, you know, bombs, you know, innocent women and children? I can't - like, I really couldn't - I was beside myself. And it kind of - I felt really overwhelmed.

GONYEA: Mary Elise Sarotte is a Russian expert at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies. She says the summit in Crawford was certainly a high point in terms of U.S.-Russia relations after the Cold War. But she also cautions that it's an overstatement to describe the cooperation on display back then as truly collegial.

MARY ELISE SAROTTE: Both parties were getting what they wanted out of the summit, which is not the same thing as collegiality. And I think we in America, in a sense, were mistaking that for a deeper collegiality that was not, in fact, there.

GONYEA: Putin wanted to be seen as an equal. Bush wanted help confronting global terrorism. But any hope for a real friendship faded within a few years over many conflicts. Could a moment like we saw in Crawford ever come around again? Sarotte says history can certainly surprise. She cites the unexpected swiftness of the Berlin Wall coming down, for example. But on U.S.-Russia relations, she says any future cooperative moment seems very far away.

Don Gonyea, NPR News.

1 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

2 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。

3 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

4 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

5 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。

6 ranch   

n.大牧场，大农场

参考例句：

• He went to work on a ranch.他去一个大农场干活。
• The ranch is in the middle of a large plateau.该牧场位于一个辽阔高原的中部。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

11 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。

12 auditorium   

n.观众席，听众席；会堂，礼堂

参考例句：

• The teacher gathered all the pupils in the auditorium.老师把全体同学集合在礼堂内。
• The stage is thrust forward into the auditorium.舞台向前突出，伸入观众席。

13 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。