VOA标准英语2009年-Analysts: Gaza Might Be Obama's First Foreign P

Middle East analysts² say the fierce fighting in the Gaza Strip might be the first major foreign policy crisis for Barack Obama when he is sworn in as U.S. president January 20. The massive Israeli air and ground assault against Hamas militants⁴ in Gaza has claimed nearly 700 lives. And analysts say Mr. Obama's initial challenge could be attaining⁵ a lasting⁶ cease-fire.
　

President-elect Barack Obama (file photo)

Israel's decision to launch a massive military assault on the Gaza Strip in an effort to end Hamas rocket attacks on civilians⁷ in the Jewish state is a crisis that is not likely to be resolved when Barack Obama is sworn in as president in less than two weeks.

Martin Indyk, a Middle East expert who served two tours as U.S. Ambassador to Israel, says the deadly fighting will require the new president's immediate⁸ attention.

"His first challenge, depending on what exactly the situation is going to be like on January 20, is to achieve a sustainable cease-fire. I think the diplomatic efforts that are beginning now to get a cease-fire may well have borne fruit by January 20th. But my own experience in the Middle East is that everything takes a lot longer than one expects," he said.
　

A Palestinian boy stands next to destroyed houses after an Israeli missile strike in the Rafah refugee camp, southern Gaza Strip, 01 Jan. 2009

Indyk says it is important for the new president and Secretary of State-designate Hillary Clinton to launch a diplomatic initiative immediately following a cease-fire to try to move forward a political process of reconciliation⁹ between Israel and the Palestinians.

Israel ended its 38-year military occupation of Gaza in 2005 and says it has no intention of permanently¹⁰ reoccupying the narrow coastal¹¹ strip along the Mediterranean¹² with a population of about 1.5 million people.

Hamas took military control of Gaza in 2007 from rival Fatah forces leading Israel to clamp tight restrictions¹³ on the border in an attempt to end rocket attacks from the militant³ group, which in its founding charter calls for Israel's destruction.

Danny Gillerman, a former Israeli ambassador to the United Nations, says his country's goals are clear.

"Our aims are to dramatically change the security situation in the south to put an end to rocket firing - to put an end to terror, to put an end to smuggling¹⁴ and to put an end to the rearming of Hamas," he said.

Analysts say the Obama administration's policies on the Middle East must recognize how the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is intertwined with other challenges in the region.

"One of the great mistakes that we have made most particularly over the course of the last eight years has been to believe that we can compartmentalize these different policies - that we can somehow separate what is happening between Israel and the Palestinians from what is happening in Iraq, what is happening with Iran and what is happening in Egypt and Saudi Arabia and everywhere else in the Middle East. The truth is that all of these things are deeply interconnected," said Kenneth Pollack, a former Middle East analyst¹ at the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency and now a Senior Fellow at the Washington-based Brookings Institution.
　

Israeli Armored Personal Carriers drive to the Gaza Strip, near border with Gaza, southern Israel, 07 Jan 2009

Tamara Cofman Wittes, who directs the Middle East Democracy and Development Project at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy also at the Brookings Institution, says Israel's military offensive carries numerous risks for the Israeli government and she predicts that officials will be looking for a way to end the conflict before the new U.S. president is sworn into office.

"If this ground operation drags on from now through January 20th, my suspicion is that the strategic gains for Israel are going to taper¹⁵ off quite sharply in this operation," she said. "By then, they will be looking hard for a way to climb down from their tree [and end the offensive]."

Shibley Telhami, the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, says Barack Obama must be careful not to let the crisis in Gaza define his administration's policy toward the region.

"I think if you say something about this crisis as your very first thing, you do not have a second chance to make a first impression, then you really are tying your hands in a way that is consequential¹⁶. I think it is a mistake, a big mistake for him to intervene in this crisis. As much as many of us want to see some nuanced policy on the Arab-Israeli issue, but this is not the time for him to intervene," he said.

Telhami says that while the fighting in Gaza is very serious, it remains¹⁷ only a small part of the overall Arab-Israeli conflict. He says that soon after Mr. Obama becomes president, he should make a comprehensive statement on the Middle East.

Mr. Obama has promised to hit the ground running on renewed efforts to achieve a broad peace agreement shortly after January 20.

1 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。

2 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。

3 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

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。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 attaining   

（通常经过努力）实现( attain的现在分词 )； 达到； 获得； 达到（某年龄、水平、状况）

参考例句：

• Jim is halfway to attaining his pilot's licence. 吉姆就快要拿到飞行员执照了。
• By that time she was attaining to fifty. 那时她已快到五十岁了。

6 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

7 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。

8 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

9 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

10 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

11 coastal   

adj.海岸的，沿海的，沿岸的

参考例句：

• The ocean waves are slowly eating away the coastal rocks.大海的波浪慢慢地侵蚀着岸边的岩石。
• This country will fortify the coastal areas.该国将加强沿海地区的防御。

12 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

13 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

14 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

15 taper   

n.小蜡烛，尖细，渐弱；adj.尖细的；v.逐渐变小

参考例句：

• You'd better taper off the amount of time given to rest.你最好逐渐地减少休息时间。
• Pulmonary arteries taper towards periphery.肺动脉向周围逐渐变细。

16 consequential   

adj.作为结果的，间接的；重要的

参考例句：

• She was injured and suffered a consequential loss of earnings.她受了伤因而收入受损。
• This new transformation is at least as consequential as that one was.这一新的转变至少和那次一样重要。

17 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。