VOA标准英语2009年-Obama Says He Cannot Take Stand on Gaza Until H

President-elect Barack Obama says he is concerned about the violence in Gaza, but that it would not be right for him to speak at length about the conflict until he takes office later this month.
　

President-elect Barack Obama (l) and President Bush at the White House, 07 Jan 2009

A television journalist pressed President-elect Barack Obama at a Washington news conference Wednesday on his reluctance¹ to comment on the fighting in Gaza, saying that Mr. Obama's silence could be misinterpreted in the Arab world.

Mr. Obama said that while he has not refrained from addressing domestic policy issues, his decision not to comment on the Mideast crisis does not mean he is unconcerned about the violence.

"We cannot have two administrations running foreign policy at the same time," he said. "We simply can't do it. And so as a consequence, what am I doing is I am being briefed consistently, my national security team is fully² up to speed on it. But the situation of domestic policy making and foreign policy making are two different things."

University of Virginia political analyst³ Larry Sabato says that Mr. Obama is making the right distinction between domestic and foreign policy issues for a president-elect waiting to take office.

"As far as foreign policy is concerned, it is essential for any nation to present a united front beyond the 'water's edge' [abroad], and that is the position of the incumbent⁴ president," he said. "The incumbent president has the responsibility to project American policy and power abroad. Any confusion, constitutionally, about who is really president, who is exercising power, probably helps the United States' enemies."

Sabato said Mr. Obama is in a difficult position largely because the United States has a relatively⁵ long transition period between its elections in early November and its presidential inauguration⁶ in late January.

"Most other democratic societies have a transition ranging from 24 hours to approximately two weeks," he said. "We, of course, have a three-month - a 77-day period for a transition. So it is only natural that people abroad assume Obama is already running things. Well he is not."

Some critics have said Mr. Obama has been reluctant to stake out a position on the violence in Gaza because there is no easy answer to this latest outbreak of the long-standing and complex conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. But Gaza and other foreign policy issues will be Mr. Obama's responsibility less than two weeks from now when he takes the oath of office on January 20.

1 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 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。

4 incumbent   

adj.成为责任的，有义务的；现任的，在职的

参考例句：

• He defeated the incumbent governor by a large plurality.他以压倒多数票击败了现任州长。
• It is incumbent upon you to warn them.你有责任警告他们。

5 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

6 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。