纽约时报 特朗普下令打击伊朗 但推迟了打击的具体时间(1)

Trump¹ Approves Strikes Against Iran but Delays Carrying Out the Attack.

特朗普下令打击伊朗 但推迟了打击的具体时间

By Michael D. Shear², Eric Schmitt, Michael Crowley and Maggie Haberman

文/迈克尔·希尔、埃里克·施密特、迈克尔·克劳利和玛吉·哈伯曼

WASHINGTON — President Trump approved military strikes against Iran in retaliation³ for downing an American surveillance drone,

华盛顿——因伊朗击落了一架美国无人侦察机，特朗普总统批准对伊朗进行军事打击，以示报复，

but pulled back from launching them on Thursday night after a day of escalating⁴ tensions.

然而，次日紧张局势不断升级，特朗普便于周四晚叫停了打击计划。

As late as 7 p.m., military and diplomatic officials were expecting a strike,

总统的高级国家安全官员和国会领导人在白宫就打击事宜展开了激烈的讨论和辩论，

after intense discussions and debate at the White House among the president’s top national security officials and congressional leaders,

一直到周四晚7点，美国军方和外交官员都在等待着袭击计划落地，

according to multiple senior administration officials involved in or briefed on the deliberations.

据多位参与或听取了讨论简报的高级政府官员透露。

Officials said the president had initially⁵ approved attacks on a handful of Iranian targets, like radar⁶ and missile batteries.

他们说，总统最初批准要对包括雷达和导弹发射台在内的多个目标实施打击。

The operation was underway in its early stages when it was called off, a senior administration official said.

取消命令发出时行动之箭已经离弦，所幸尚处于早期阶段，一名高级政府官员透露。

Planes were in the air and ships were in position,

这位官员称，当时，海，空方面都已经就位，

but no missiles had been fired when word came to stand down, the official said.

只是尚且还未发射导弹。

The abrupt⁷ reversal put a halt to what would have been the president’s third military action against targets in the Middle East.

这一突然的逆转终止了总统就任以来针对中东目标实施的第三次军事打击行动。

Mr. Trump had struck twice at targets in Syria, in 2017 and 2018.

2017年到2018年间，特朗普就已经两度打击叙利亚境内的目标。

It was not clear whether Mr. Trump simply changed his mind on the strikes

这次取消究竟是总统自己改变了对打击的看法，

or whether the administration altered course because of logistics or strategy.

还是政府出于运筹或战略方面的原因改变了计划，目前尚不清楚。

It was also not clear whether the attacks might still go forward.

袭击是否还会重启也未可知。

Asked about the plans for a strike and the decision to hold back,

当被问及打击计划和取消打击的决定时，

the White House declined to comment, as did Pentagon officials.

白宫和五角大楼官员一样拒绝置评。

No government officials asked The New York Times to withhold⁸ the article.

没有任何政府官员要求本报搁置这篇文章。

The retaliation plan was intended as a response to the shooting down of the unmanned, $130 million surveillance drone,

特朗普此次的报复计划是在回应周四早晨，一架价值1.3亿美元的无人侦察机

which was struck Thursday morning by an Iranian surface-to-air missile,

被伊朗的地对空导弹击落一事，

according to a senior administration official who was briefed on the military planning

据一位听取了有关这次军事行动的汇报的高级政府官员透露，

and spoke⁹ on the condition of anonymity¹⁰ to discuss confidential¹¹ plans.

因为讨论的是机密计划，该官员要求本文为他匿名。

The strike was set to take place just before dawn Friday in Iran to minimize risk to the Iranian military and civilians¹².

袭击原定于周五黎明前开始实施，旨在将对伊朗军队和伊朗平民的风险降到最低。

But military officials received word a short time later that the strike was off, at least temporarily.

但不久军方官员就又得到消息，称打击计划取消，起码已经暂时取消。

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 shear   

n.修剪，剪下的东西，羊的一岁；vt.剪掉，割，剥夺；vi.修剪，切割，剥夺，穿越

参考例句：

• Every spring they shear off the sheep's wool and sell it.每年春天他们都要剪下羊毛去卖。
• In the Hebrides they shear their sheep later than anywhere else.在赫伯里兹，剪羊毛的时间比其他任何地方都要晚。

3 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 escalating   

v.（使）逐步升级( escalate的现在分词 )；（使）逐步扩大；（使）更高；（使）更大

参考例句：

• The cost of living is escalating. 生活费用在迅速上涨。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The cost of living is escalating in the country. 这个国家的生活费用在上涨。 来自辞典例句

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

7 abrupt   

adj.突然的，意外的；唐突的，鲁莽的

参考例句：

• The river takes an abrupt bend to the west.这河突然向西转弯。
• His abrupt reply hurt our feelings.他粗鲁的回答伤了我们的感情。

8 withhold   

v.拒绝，不给；使停止，阻挡

参考例句：

• It was unscrupulous of their lawyer to withhold evidence.他们的律师隐瞒证据是不道德的。
• I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation.我忍不住要发泄一点我的愤怒。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

11 confidential   

adj.秘（机）密的，表示信任的，担任机密工作的

参考例句：

• He refused to allow his secretary to handle confidential letters.他不让秘书处理机密文件。
• We have a confidential exchange of views.我们推心置腹地交换意见。

12 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。