VOA常速英语2007-Israel Confirms September Air Strike on Syria

By Robert Berger
Jerusalem
02 October 2007

Israel has confirmed that it carried out an air strike in Syria in early September.  But as Robert Berger reports from VOA's Jerusalem bureau, leaders on both sides have said they do not want a war.

Lifting a blackout on news coverage¹, Israel in effect acknowledged that its warplanes attacked a target deep inside Syria a month ago.  But the army kept further details under military censorship, such as the target of the raid and which forces took part in the mission.

Foreign news reports had quoted unidentified U.S. officials as saying that Israel attacked a weapons shipment destined² for Hezbollah in Lebanon or a nuclear facility supplied by North Korea.  Syria has denied the reports, saying Israel hit a vacant military building.

The attack has raised tensions, a year after the war in Lebanon, where Israel battled Syrian-backed Hezbollah guerrillas for 34 days.  Israel's failure to defeat Hezbollah prompted tough rhetoric³ from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.  Several times, he publicly warned that he might go to war to retrieve⁴ the strategic Golan Heights, captured by Israel during the Six Day War in 1967.

Israeli analyst⁵ Eyal Zisser says Israel sent its own warning through the air strike.

"Actually, what happened was that Israel called Bashar's bluff," he said.

Zisser says the fact that Syria did not respond militarily to the Israeli air strike shows that Assad does not want to take on the Jewish State.

"Syria does understand clearly the balance of power between Israel and Syria, and I do believe that from now on Syria will be much more careful, including in what Bashar has to say to its own people," he added.

Five months after an official inquiry⁶ in Israel declared the Lebanon war a failure, analysts⁷ here say the daring air strike on Syria has helped restore Israeli deterrence⁸.

1 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

2 destined   

adj.命中注定的；(for)以…为目的地的

参考例句：

• It was destined that they would marry.他们结婚是缘分。
• The shipment is destined for America.这批货物将运往美国。

3 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

4 retrieve   

vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索

参考例句：

• He was determined to retrieve his honor.他决心恢复名誉。
• The men were trying to retrieve weapons left when the army abandoned the island.士兵们正试图找回军队从该岛撤退时留下的武器。

5 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

6 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

7 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

8 deterrence   

威慑，制止； 制止物，制止因素； 挽留的事物； 核威慑

参考例句：

• An extreme school of "disarmers" pronounced stable deterrence was a dangerous deception. “裁军论者”中的极端派声称，稳定的威摄是一种危险的骗局。
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。