VOA标准英语2010年-Israel Weighs Options in Iran Nuclear

For the last few years, Israel has made the case that Iran poses a serious threat to its existence and it has not ruled out the possibility of a preemptive strike against Iran's nuclear facilities.  Tehran denies it is enriching uranium for weapons and says it will retaliate¹ if attacked. The failure of the major powers to engage Teheran and convince it to stop developing its atomic capabilities² is raising anxiety among Israeli leaders who are trying to determine whether to strike or give diplomacy³ another chance.  Israel is drawing on lessons from its past as it deals with what may be a new threat in the not-too-distant future.

Zeev Raz is proud of how he led an Israeli air force squadron of F-16 bombers⁴ to destroy a nuclear near Baghdad.  He remembers it was a surprisingly easy job with little resistance from the Iraqis.  "When we approached the reactor⁵ and watched our radar⁶ scopes and saw that there was no plane over Baghdad, over the reactor, each of us thought that his radar was not functioning. It was too good to be true," he said.

It was June 1981.  It took one mission of less than an hour to destroy Saddam Hussein's nuclear program, which Israel believes Iraq could have used to strike the Jewish State.

Now, with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmedinejad speaking of the destruction of Israel and Iran developing its nuclear capabilities, the Jewish State feels its existence is again threatened. 

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been clear. "The worst danger we face is that Iran would develop nuclear military capabilities," he said.
                                   
Israelis tend to agree.

Yaakov Amidror, a retired⁷ general and former head of an Israel Defense⁸ Forces intelligence division, says Israel cannot afford to ignore Mr. Ahmedinejad. "When it is clear that from his point of ideology⁹, Israel does not have the legitimacy¹⁰ to be a Jewish State in the Middle East,  I think that from our experience, we have to take Ahmedinejad very seriously," he said.

Israel has said all options are on the table, including a military option. "We clearly believe that no option should be removed from the table. This is our policy. We mean it," said Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister.
 
Some here believe Israel has may have waited too long, giving Iran time to develop its program.  By some Israeli estimates, Tehran will be able to make a crude nuclear bomb within a year.

Former pilot Zeev Raz says Iran poses a much tougher challenge than Iraq did 29 years ago. The Iranian project is dispersed¹¹ all over the country, which is a huge country, even larger than Iraq. It's much farther, as we all know, and many of the targets are deep under the ground, even under mountains," he said.

Another question is whether an air attack would result in a nuclear-free Iran. "The answer is a clear 'no.' The whole problem of Iran, the challenge that Iran puts on the table for the international arena¹², is something that Israel cannot deal with.  That should be done from within Iran.  The Iranians have to make a decision of what kind of government they want," said retired General Yaakov Amidror of the Israeli Defense Forces

Israeli officials hope internal change in Iran will come as the result of new international sanctions. And they are aggressively pushing for them. 

"Like our neighbors, we identify with the millions of Iranians who revolt against dictatorship and violence.  Like them, we reject a fanatic¹³ regime, which contradicts the United Nations charter, a regime which threatens destruction, accompanied by nuclear plants and missiles which activates¹⁴ terror in its country and in other countries.  The regime is a danger to the entire world," said Shimon Peres, Israel's President.

Former pilot Zeev Raz thinks Israel should keep pressing for more sanctions.  He says there is no guarantee of success like the one Israel had in Iraq in 1981.  "The Iraqis were taken by surprise.  There was no tactical problem. The planning was good. Execution was perfect. We also were quite lucky. We had much luck.  If we go to Iran, we may not have that luck again," he said.

Israelis hope regime change, or the threat of it, will cause Iran to give up its nuclear ambitions. 

Until then, all options, starting with an air strike, are on the table.

 

1 retaliate   

v.报复，反击

参考例句：

• He sought every opportunity to retaliate against his enemy.他找机会向他的敌人反击。
• It is strictly forbidden to retaliate against the quality inspectors.严禁对质量检验人员进行打击报复。

2 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

3 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。

4 bombers   

n.轰炸机( bomber的名词复数 )；投弹手；安非他明胶囊；大麻叶香烟

参考例句：

• Enemy bombers carried out a blitz on the city. 敌军轰炸机对这座城市进行了突袭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Royal Airforce sill remained dangerously short of bombers. 英国皇家空军仍未脱离极为缺乏轰炸机的危境。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 reactor   

n.反应器；反应堆

参考例句：

• The atomic reactor generates enormous amounts of thermal energy.原子反应堆发出大量的热能。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules.在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

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 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。

8 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

9 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

10 legitimacy   

n.合法，正当

参考例句：

• The newspaper was directly challenging the government's legitimacy.报纸直接质疑政府的合法性。
• Managing from the top down,we operate with full legitimacy.我们进行由上而下的管理有充分的合法性。

11 dispersed   

adj. 被驱散的, 被分散的, 散布的

参考例句：

• The clouds dispersed themselves. 云散了。
• After school the children dispersed to their homes. 放学后，孩子们四散回家了。

12 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

13 fanatic   

n.狂热者，入迷者；adj.狂热入迷的

参考例句：

• Alexander is a football fanatic.亚历山大是个足球迷。
• I am not a religious fanatic but I am a Christian.我不是宗教狂热分子，但我是基督徒。

14 activates   

使活动，起动，触发( activate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Activates the window and displays it in its current size and position. 激活窗口，保持当前的大小及位置不变。
• Pulling out the alarm switch activates alarm and pushing it deactivates it. 闹钟的开和关是通过拔出和按入闹铃开关实现的。