VOA标准英语2010年-Israel Weighs Options in Face of Irani

Zeev Raz is proud of how he led an Israeli air force squadron of F-16 bombers¹ to destroy a nuclear facility near Baghdad.  The retired² Israeli air force pilot remembers it was a surprisingly easy job with little resistance from the Iraqis.

"When we approached the reactor³ and watched our radar⁴ 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 of 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 capabilities⁵, the Jewish State believes its existence is again threatened. 

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu speaks prior to meeting with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev in Moscow, 15 Feb 2010

On a recent visit to the White House, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his concerns clear.

"The worst danger we face is that Iran would develop nuclear military capabilities," he said.

Israelis tend to agree.

Yaakov Amidror is a retired general and former head of an Israel Defense⁶ Forces intelligence division.  He says Israel cannot afford to ignore Mr. Ahmedinejad.

"When it is clear that from his point of ideology⁷, Israel does not have the legitimacy⁸ to be a Jewish State in the Middle East, I think that from our experience, we have to take Ahmedinejad very seriously," said Amidror.

Ehud Barak, Israel's Defense Minister, has repeatedly warned that no option should be removed from the table, including air strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

But some here believe Israel 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 - in many ways - poses a much tougher challenge than Iraq did 29 years ago.

"The Iranian project is dispersed⁹ all over the country, which is a huge country, even larger than Iraq.  It is much farther - as we all know - and many of the targets are deep under the ground, even under mountains," said the former pilot.

Another question is whether an air attack would result in a nuclear-free Iran.  Amidror says the answer, to him, is obvious.

"The answer is a clear 'no.'  The whole problem of Iran, the challenge that Iran puts on the table for the international arena¹⁰, is something that Israel cannot deal with," he said.  "That should be done from within Iran.  The Iranians have to make a decision of what kind of government they want," said Amidror.

Israeli officials hope internal change in Iran will come as the result of new international sanctions, and leaders are aggressively lobbying for them. 

On a visit to Germany last month, Israeli President Shimon Peres spoke¹¹ before the German parliament.

He said Israel identifies with the millions of Iranians who have revolted against what he said is dictatorship and violence, and - in his words - a fanatic¹² regime that threatens nuclear destruction and poses a danger to the entire world.

Former pilot Zeev Raz thinks Israel should keep pressing for tougher 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," he said.  "If we go to Iran, we may not have that luck again," cautioned Raz.

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 open.

 

1 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》

2 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。

3 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。

4 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。

5 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

6 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。

7 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。

8 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。

9 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。

10 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。

11 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。

12 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。