CNN 2010-08-11

The 9 Turkish activists¹ killed have been flown home and buried. The Mavi Marmara, the aid ship on which they were travelling, hoping to get to Gaza, has been transported back to Turkey. The physical reminders² of the Israeli military operation in the early hours of May 31st have left Israel what remains³ is the commission to find out what went wrong. 

 

Israel insists the activists on board were hostile and their military had no choice but to opened fire. The activists disagree. First up Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:

 

He's going to say, the buck⁴ stops here. I'm the leader. I accept responsibility, but I had nothing to do with it. I was in America. I wasn't informed. I was told about it late.

 

Few political experts expect any politician to fall on his assault for this operation. More likely, they say, the blame of lack of communication could rest at the door of the Israeli Navy.

 

I think that we'll find that the crux⁵ of the problem was the centrality of the aid of the navy and his lack of willingness to share the glory with other elements.

 

And Israeli military investigation⁶, while praising the commandos involved, has found fault with decisions made.

 

In this inquiry⁷, we found that there were some professional mistakes regarding both the intelligence and the decision-making process and some of the operational mistakes.

 

Israel's commission headed up by retired⁸ high court judge Jacob Turkel, includes two international observers, an unprecedented⁹ move by Israel to try and show transparency.

 

I recognize the significance of the decision to include an international element and I understand the constitutional and political niceties that surround that.

 

That's international presence was not enough to preempt¹⁰ an international commission. The United Nations starts its panel of inquiry on Tuesday with the representative from both Israel and Turkey, ensuring that the deadly events of May 31st will stay in the public eye for months to come.

 

Paula Hancocks, CNN, Jerusalem.

1 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 reminders   

n.令人回忆起…的东西( reminder的名词复数 )；提醒…的东西；（告知该做某事的）通知单；提示信

参考例句：

• The film evokes chilling reminders of the war. 这部电影使人们回忆起战争的可怕场景。
• The strike has delayed the mailing of tax reminders. 罢工耽搁了催税单的投寄。

3 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。

4 buck   

n.雄鹿，雄兔；v.马离地跳跃

参考例句：

• The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
• The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。

5 crux   

adj.十字形；难事，关键，最重要点

参考例句：

• The crux of the matter is how to comprehensively treat this trend.问题的关键是如何全面地看待这种趋势。
• The crux of the matter is that attitudes have changed.问题的要害是人们的态度转变了。

6 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

7 inquiry   

n.打听，询问，调查，查问

参考例句：

• Many parents have been pressing for an inquiry into the problem.许多家长迫切要求调查这个问题。
• The field of inquiry has narrowed down to five persons.调查的范围已经缩小到只剩5个人了。

8 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

9 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

10 preempt   

v.先发制人；先取

参考例句：

• We arrived early at the theatre so as to preempt the front seats.我们早早来到剧院，以便捷足先登占到前排座位。
• He pre-empted any decision to sack him.他预先阻止了所有解雇他的决定。