VOA标准英语2008年-Obama Pledges Security for Israel, Toughness, D

By Dan Robinson
Capitol Hill
04 June 2008

Presumptive Democratic presidential nominee¹ Barack Obama says that, if elected, he would defend Israel's security, pursue Middle East peace and firmly oppose any attempt by Iran to obtain nuclear weapons. VOA's Dan Robinson reports on major foreign policy remarks by Obama only hours after he secured the Democratic presidential nomination².
　

Sen. Barack Obama addresses AIPAC Policy Conference 2008 in Washington, 04 June 2008

Senator Obama was addressing the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee in Washington, a group that will be key to building more voter support for him in advance of November's presidential election.

Calling Israel's security sacrosanct³ and non-negotiable, he said his administration would seek a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians, based on key requirements.

"The Palestinians need a state that is contiguous and cohesive⁴ and that allows them to prosper⁵, but any agreement with the Palestinian people must preserve Israel's identity as a Jewish state with secure, recognized, defensible borders, and Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel and it must remain undivided," said Obama.

Obama directed criticism at Bush administration Mideast efforts, saying that, if he is elected, he would not wait until the waning⁶ days of his presidency⁷ to take an active role in advancing the cause of Middle East peace.

The United States, he said, should never force Israel to the negotiating table, and should support Israeli decisions to pursue negotiations⁸ with Syria.

At the same time, Obama had this message for the Syrian government.

"As president, I will do whatever I can to help Israel succeed in these negotiations, and success will require the full enforcement of [U.N] Security Council Resolution 1701 in Lebanon and a stop to Syria's support for terror. It is time for this reckless behavior to come to an end," he said.

Referring to threatening statements by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad against Israel, Senator Obama said his goal would be to eliminate what he called the real and grave danger of Iran's activities in support of terrorism and pursuit of nuclear capabilities⁹, which Iran denies.

"I will do everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon, everything in my power to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. Everything," he said.

At the same time, he again sought to contrast his approach with presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain, on the question of how to engage with Iran.

Obama says he would personally lead diplomatic efforts, carefully prepared with a specific agenda, and coordinated¹⁰ with key allies.

"Contrary to the claims of some, I have no interest in sitting down with our adversary¹¹ just for the sake of talking," he said. "But as president of the United States, I would be willing to lead tough and principled diplomacy¹² with the appropriate Iranian leader at a time and place of my choosing, if and only if, it can advance the interests of the U.S. That is my position. I want it to be absolutely clear."

There should be no doubt, Obama added, that as president he would never take the threat of military action off the table, but said any use of military force is more likely to succeed if diplomatic efforts are first exhausted¹³.

Iran and Middle East peace efforts were also addressed by Senator Hillary Clinton, who has not yet taken herself out of the 2008 presidential contest, despite Obama having secured enough delegates for the Democratic nomination.
　

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton gestures while addressing AIPAC conference, 04 Jun 2008

Clinton echoed Obama's criticisms of Bush administration policies, saying the United States needs to make a new start on Israel-Palestinian peace efforts.

She also endorsed¹⁴ a stronger U.S. international effort to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons.

"Iran is a country whose leaders, whose president, denies the Holocaust," said Clinton. "He defies the international community. His government trains, funds and arms Hamas and Hezbollah terrorists in attacking Israeli civilians¹⁵. He threatens to destroy Israel. Just this week, he said that Israel is about to die and will soon be erased¹⁶. We can never let Iran obtain nuclear weapons."

The next president, Clinton added, must work for an international consensus¹⁷ against Iran's nuclear program, including tougher sanctions, and work with Israel and moderate Arab neighbors to roll back Iranian influence in the region.

Key Democratic and Republican congressional leaders also used speeches to the America-Israel Public Affairs Committee conference to voice support for Israel, and criticism of Iran.

1 nominee   

n.被提名者；被任命者；被推荐者

参考例句：

• His nominee for vice president was elected only after a second ballot.他提名的副总统在两轮投票后才当选。
• Mr.Francisco is standing as the official nominee for the post of District Secretary.弗朗西斯科先生是行政书记职位的正式提名人。

2 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

3 sacrosanct   

adj.神圣不可侵犯的

参考例句：

• In India,the cow is a sacrosanct animal.牛在印度是神圣的动物。
• Philip Glass is ignorant of establishing an immutable, sacrosanct urtext.菲利普·格拉斯不屑于创立不变的、神圣的原始文本。

4 cohesive   

adj.有粘着力的；有结合力的；凝聚性的

参考例句：

• She sealed the parcel with cohesive tape.她用粘胶带把包裹封起来。
• The author skillfully fuses these fragments into a cohesive whole.作者将这些片断巧妙地结合成一个连贯的整体。

5 prosper   

v.成功，兴隆，昌盛；使成功，使昌隆，繁荣

参考例句：

• With her at the wheel,the company began to prosper.有了她当主管，公司开始兴旺起来。
• It is my earnest wish that this company will continue to prosper.我真诚希望这家公司会继续兴旺发达。

6 waning   

adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡

参考例句：

• Her enthusiasm for the whole idea was waning rapidly. 她对整个想法的热情迅速冷淡了下来。
• The day is waning and the road is ending. 日暮途穷。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 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。

8 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

9 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

10 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

11 adversary   

adj.敌手，对手

参考例句：

• He saw her as his main adversary within the company.他将她视为公司中主要的对手。
• They will do anything to undermine their adversary's reputation.他们会不择手段地去损害对手的名誉。

12 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。

13 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

14 endorsed   

vt.& vi.endorse的过去式或过去分词形式v.赞同( endorse的过去式和过去分词 )；在（尤指支票的）背面签字；在（文件的）背面写评论；在广告上说本人使用并赞同某产品

参考例句：

• The committee endorsed an initiative by the chairman to enter discussion about a possible merger. 委员会通过了主席提出的新方案，开始就可能进行的并购进行讨论。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The government has broadly endorsed a research paper proposing new educational targets for 14-year-olds. 政府基本上支持建议对14 岁少年实行新教育目标的研究报告。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

16 erased   

v.擦掉( erase的过去式和过去分词 )；抹去；清除

参考例句：

• He erased the wrong answer and wrote in the right one. 他擦去了错误答案，写上了正确答案。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He removed the dogmatism from politics; he erased the party line. 他根除了政治中的教条主义，消除了政党界限。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？