2007年VOA标准英语-Iran Emerges as US Presidential Campaign Issue

By Leta Hong Fincher
Washington
26 September 2007
  

As Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad continues his controversial visit to the United States, Iran has emerged as a major issue in the 2008 U.S. presidential campaign. Leading candidates for the presidency¹ are presenting different approaches to what they see as a growing threat from Iran's suspected nuclear weapons program. VOA's Leta Hong Fincher has more on what some of the presidential contenders are saying.

Mr. Ahmadinejad's appearance at Columbia University in New York on Monday, September 24th, sparked outrage² among some of the Republican presidential contenders. But former Massachusetts Governor Mitt³ Romney was the only candidate to oppose the United Nations' decision to allow Mr. Ahmadinejad to speak to the General Assembly on Tuesday.

Mr. Romney, a Republican presidential candidate commented, "It's simply unacceptable to bring a man to the world stage who has called for the elimination⁴ of another nation, has called for, in various terms, genocide, and is developing, contrary to the demands of the United Nations, nuclear weapons that would allow him to carry out genocide."

Romney has called for Mr. Ahmadinejad to be indicted⁵ for genocide, and he says there should be tighter sanctions against Iran.

Another Republican presidential candidate, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, has repeatedly said the United States must make it clear that it will not allow Iran to become a nuclear power. Giuliani said in a presidential debate in June that he would not rule out using "tactical" nuclear weapons against Iran.  "Iran is a threat, a nuclear threat and not just because they can deliver a nuclear warhead with missiles. They are a nuclear threat because they are the biggest state sponsor of terrorism and they can hand nuclear materials to terrorists."

Other leading Republican presidential contenders agree that the United States should not rule out military action against Iran to keep it from developing nuclear weapons.

Candidates from the Democratic Party vary more on how they say they would treat Iran, but many are calling for intensified⁶ diplomatic efforts.

Senator Barack Obama says he finds many of Mr. Ahmadinejad's statements "odious⁷." But Obama says he would be willing, as president, to meet with the Iranian leader to protect U.S. interests. "As John F. Kennedy said, 'We should never negotiate out of fear, but should never fear to negotiate.' And by us listening to the views of even those who we violently disagree with, that sends a signal to the world that we are going to turn the page on the failed diplomacy⁸ that the Bush administration has practiced for so long."

Obama has clashed with his Democratic rival, Senator Hillary Clinton, over their foreign policy judgment⁹. At a debate in July, Obama said he would be willing to meet with foreign leaders -- including those of Iran and North Korea -- without preconditions.

Clinton criticized Obama's remarks as "irresponsible and naïve."  She said she would not promise to meet any leaders without preconditions because she did not want to be used for "propaganda purposes." "I will use a lot of high-level presidential envoys¹⁰ to test the waters, to feel the way," she said. "But certainly we're not going to just have our president meet with Fidel Castro and Hugo Chavez and, you know, the president of North Korea, Iran and Syria until we know better what the way forward would be."

Both Clinton and Obama say they do not rule out military force against Iran to keep it from developing nuclear weapons.

1 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。

2 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

3 mitt   

n.棒球手套，拳击手套，无指手套；vt.铐住，握手

参考例句：

• I gave him a baseball mitt for his birthday.为祝贺他的生日，我送给他一只棒球手套。
• Tom squeezed a mitt and a glove into the bag.汤姆把棒球手套和手套都塞进袋子里。

4 elimination   

n.排除，消除，消灭

参考例句：

• Their elimination from the competition was a great surprise.他们在比赛中遭到淘汰是个很大的意外。
• I was eliminated from the 400 metres in the semi-finals.我在400米半决赛中被淘汰。

5 indicted   

控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The senator was indicted for murder. 那位参议员被控犯谋杀罪。
• He was indicted by a grand jury on two counts of murder. 他被大陪审团以两项谋杀罪名起诉。

6 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 odious   

adj.可憎的，讨厌的

参考例句：

• The judge described the crime as odious.法官称这一罪行令人发指。
• His character could best be described as odious.他的人格用可憎来形容最贴切。

8 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。

9 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

10 envoys   

使节( envoy的名词复数 )； 公使； 谈判代表； 使节身份

参考例句：

• the routine tit for tat when countries expel each other's envoys 国家相互驱逐对方使节这种惯常的报复行动
• Marco Polo's travelogue mentions that Kublai Khan sent envoys to Malgache. 马可波罗游记中提到忽必烈曾派使节到马尔加什。