VOA慢速英语2016--美国存放土耳其的核武是否安全

AS IT IS 2016-08-06 How Safe are U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Turkey? 美国存放土耳其的核武是否安全

Military and political experts are warning the United States against storing nuclear weapons in Turkey.

Those experts say the recent attempt to overthrow¹ Turkey’s government shows one of the risks of deploying³ American weapons overseas.

Jeffrey Lewis is an arms expert with the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterrey in California. He told VOA that the nuclear arms in Turkey are very safe in what he calls the near term. “[But] generally speaking, it is not a good idea to have nuclear weapons in a politically unstable⁴ country,” Lewis said.

The military-led coup⁵ of July 15 failed to oust⁶ Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Since then, his government has led a campaign against members of the armed forces, judiciary and media.

The U.S. military stores B61 nuclear bombs at an airbase in southern Turkey. The bombs are equipped with “Permissive Action Links,” known as PALs⁷. They prevent arming and using the weapons without approval from the top U.S. leadership.

The B61 bombs are heavily guarded and kept in underground shelters. Up to 50 of those weapons are believed to be stored at the airbase. But in July, the Turkish commander of the base was arrested after being accused of involvement in the failed coup against the government.

Ensuring Security

The United States has about 200 B61 bombs in and around Europe, according to Amy Woolf. She studies nuclear weapons policy for the U.S. Congressional Research Service.

American bombs in Turkey are mostly in storage, Woolf said. She noted⁸ that Turkey does not have aircraft designed to hold nuclear weapons. In addition, Turkey does not let the U.S. permanently⁹ deploy² such aircraft to the base.

Currently, some of the airplanes that pass through the airbase could drop nuclear weapons. But those aircraft are involved in operations against suspected terrorist targets.

Woolf said that for NATO member countries, the weapons are there in case “the fundamental security of any of its members” was to be threatened.

U.S. defense¹⁰ policy expert Kori Schake told VOA that removing the nuclear arms from Turkey would send the wrong message to America’s allies.

“Countries that feel protected by the U.S., [like] Japan, South Korea, Turkey, have not developed nuclear weapons of their own,” Schake said. Without that guarantee, she says, “the risk is that they might develop nuclear weapons of their own.”

There is another negative effect of removing the nuclear weapons from Turkey. Without the security of the bombs, Turkey could develop alliances with Russia or even Iran.

Time to Move Them?

Jeffrey Lewis thinks that Turkey’s president is much more concerned about political opposition¹¹ than about having nuclear weapons in the country. “It’s not something Erdogan is bringing up,” he said.

Hans Kristensen agrees. He directs the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation¹² of American Scientists. He says that there would not be any serious political problems if the nuclear weapons left southern Turkey.

Kristensen said that because of the political situation in Turkey, it might be time to consider moving the weapons.

"You only get so many warnings before something goes terribly wrong, and there are plenty of warnings” in the area now, he said.

Words in This Story

coup – n. a sudden attempt by a small group of people to take over the government usually through violence

according – p. as stated, reported, or recorded by

fundamental - adj. of or relating to the basic structure or function of something

negative - adj. harmful or bad

1 overthrow   

v.推翻，打倒，颠覆；n.推翻，瓦解，颠覆

参考例句：

• After the overthrow of the government,the country was in chaos.政府被推翻后，这个国家处于混乱中。
• The overthrow of his plans left him much discouraged.他的计划的失败使得他很气馁。

2 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

3 deploying   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的现在分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Provides support for developing and deploying distributed, component-based applications. 为开发和部署基于组件的分布式应用程序提供支持。
• Advertisement, publishing, repair, and install-on-demand are all available when deploying your application. 在部署应用程序时提供公布、发布、修复和即需即装功能。

4 unstable   

adj.不稳定的，易变的

参考例句：

• This bookcase is too unstable to hold so many books.这书橱很不结实，装不了这么多书。
• The patient's condition was unstable.那患者的病情不稳定。

5 coup   

n.政变；突然而成功的行动

参考例句：

• The monarch was ousted by a military coup.那君主被军事政变者废黜了。
• That government was overthrown in a military coup three years ago.那个政府在3年前的军事政变中被推翻。

6 oust   

vt.剥夺，取代，驱逐

参考例句：

• The committee wanted to oust him from the union.委员会想把他从工会中驱逐出去。
• The leaders have been ousted from power by nationalists.这些领导人被民族主义者赶下了台。

7 pals   

n.朋友( pal的名词复数 )；老兄；小子；（对男子的不友好的称呼）家伙

参考例句：

• We've been pals for years. 我们是多年的哥们儿了。
• CD 8 positive cells remarkably increased in PALS and RP(P CD8+细胞在再生脾PALS和RP内均明显增加(P 来自互联网

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 permanently   

adv.永恒地，永久地，固定不变地

参考例句：

• The accident left him permanently scarred.那次事故给他留下了永久的伤疤。
• The ship is now permanently moored on the Thames in London.该船现在永久地停泊在伦敦泰晤士河边。

10 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。

11 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

12 federation   

n.同盟，联邦，联合，联盟，联合会

参考例句：

• It is a federation of 10 regional unions.它是由十个地方工会结合成的联合会。
• Mr.Putin was inaugurated as the President of the Russian Federation.普京正式就任俄罗斯联邦总统。