2007年VOA标准英语-Bush Works to Ease Russian Concerns Over Missil

By Scott Stearns
Rostock, Germany
06 June 2007

Russian President Vladimir Putin is threatening to aim missiles at new targets in Europe if America goes through with plans for a missile defense¹ program. VOA White House Correspondent Scott Stearns reports, U.S. President George Bush says there would be no military response to Russia retargeting missiles because the countries are not at war.

President Bush is trying to ease Russia's concerns about the missile defense plan which would base a radar² station in the Czech Republic and U.S. Interceptor missiles in Poland.

President Putin says it is the start of a new arms race, and he will not be responsible for retaliatory³ steps if the plan goes through. Mr. Putin told reporters in Moscow that Russia would respond by setting new targets in Europe that could be hit with ballistic missiles or cruise missiles or what he called a completely new system.

Chancellor4 Angela Merkel, makes remarks to reporters after their meeting at  start of G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, Germany 06 Jun 6 " hspace="2" src="/upimg/allimg/070609/0825210.jpg" width="210" vspace="2" border="0" />

President Bush, left, accompanied by German Chancellor Angela Merkel, makes remarks to reporters after their meeting at start of G8 Summit in Heiligendamm, Germany 06 Jun 6

President Bush says he will try to ease President Putin's concerns when they meet at the G8 summit here in Germany.

In an off-camera interview with White House reporters before the start of the summit, President Bush said Russia is not going to attack Europe. He said there needs to be no U.S. military response if Russia retargets its missiles, because America is not at war with Russia and Russia is not a threat.

Asked if the increasingly heated rhetoric⁵ over the missile defense plan could make for a tense meeting with the Russian president, Mr. Bush said he will work to see that it is not tense.

The president has been addressing Russian concerns since this trip began in Prague. Following talks with the Czech president and prime minister Tuesday, President Bush said Russia has nothing to fear from the missile defense plan.

"Russia is not our enemy. The enemy of free societies such as ours would be radicals⁶ or extremists or a rogue⁷ regime trying to blackmail⁸ the free world in order to promote its ideological⁹ objectives," he said. "My attitude on missile defense, not my attitude, this is the truth, it is a purely¹⁰ defensive¹¹ measure aimed not at Russia but at true threats."

U.S. officials say the missile defense plan is primarily aimed at stopping missiles from Iran.

Iran's top security official calls that the joke of the year. Supreme¹² National Security Council chief Ali Larijani told Iran's state-run news agency that the country does not have missiles capable of reaching Europe.

President Putin agrees, saying he does not believe there are real threats from Iranian or North Korean missiles, so he says the American plan could be an effort to undermine Russia's relations with Europe.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

3 retaliatory   

adj.报复的

参考例句：

• The process can take years before the WTO approves retaliatory action. 在WTO通过此行动之前，这个程序恐怕要等上一阵子了。 来自互联网
• Retaliatory tariffs on China are tantamount to taxing ourselves as a punishment. 将惩罚性关税强加于中国相当于对我们自己实施课税惩罚。 来自互联网

4 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

5 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。

6 radicals   

n.激进分子( radical的名词复数 )；根基；基本原理；[数学]根数

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals. 一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The worry is that the radicals will grow more intransigent. 现在人们担忧激进分子会变得更加不妥协。 来自辞典例句

7 rogue   

n.流氓；v.游手好闲

参考例句：

• The little rogue had his grandpa's glasses on.这淘气鬼带上了他祖父的眼镜。
• They defined him as a rogue.他们确定他为骗子。

8 blackmail   

n.讹诈，敲诈，勒索，胁迫，恫吓

参考例句：

• She demanded ＄1000 blackmail from him.她向他敲诈了1000美元。
• The journalist used blackmail to make the lawyer give him the documents.记者讹诈那名律师交给他文件。

9 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

10 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

11 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

12 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。