俄罗斯对叙利亚的军事行动测试奥巴马危机应对能力

Russia’s Syrian Escalation¹ Tests Obama’s Crisis Response 俄罗斯对叙利亚的军事行动测试奥巴马危机应对能力

WHITE HOUSE—

As Russia lobbed missiles into the skies over Syria, Republican leaders lobbed their own missive against President Barack Obama this week.

“From repeatedly seeking to declare some arbitrary end to the war on terror, to discarding the tools we have to wage it, to placing unhealthy levels of trust in unaccountable international organizations - the president’s foreign policy has been as predictable as it has been ineffectual,” Mitch McConnell said.

The Senate majority leader spoke² Wednesday, as Moscow launched cruise missiles on extremist targets in Syria from its warships³ in the Caspian Sea.

“Dissatisfied powers like Russia, China and Iran are all looking to exploit American withdrawal⁴ in pursuit of regional hegemony and dreams of empire,” McConnell said on the Senate floor during a vote on the National Defense⁵ Authorization⁶ Act.

The Republican leader is not alone in his concerns about Russian involvement in Syria.

Syria tests Obama's crisis response

As the country’s air campaign dominates headlines, critics of the administration are once again questioning whether the American president has been slow to act on the Syrian conflict, thus creating an opening for powers like Russia.

During a press conference last week, Obama hit out at such criticism.

“When I hear people offering up half-baked ideas as if they are solutions, or trying to downplay the challenges involved in this situation - what I’d like to see people ask is, specifically, precisely⁷, 'What exactly would you do?'” the president shot back.

During a lengthy⁸ explanation to a reporter’s question on Syria, Obama said people are looking for an “easy, low-cost answer” to a “hugely difficult, complex problem.”

He cited lessons learned from wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, where the United States spent enormous time, effort and resources.

“When I make a decision about the level of military involvement that we're prepared to engage in, in Syria, I have to make a judgment⁹ based on, once we start something we’ve got to finish it. And we’ve got to do it well.  And do we, in fact," Obama asked, "have the resources and the capacity to make a serious impact?”

What drives presidential action

This is classic President Obama, Georgetown University professor Stephen Wayne says.

From the outset of his presidency¹⁰, Obama has demanded a diverse set of views, basing decisions on information not emotion.

“He is very rational, does not demonstrate a lot of emotion and doesn’t want to be the first African American president to make a major mistake. So he errs¹¹ on the side of caution. And caution means you go slowly rather than go quickly. That’s the nature of the man,” Wayne said.

The Georgetown government professor says while the Middle East may be in worse shape than when Obama took office, the president is not to blame for a perceived failure to act, particularly in Syria.

"In a democracy, you can’t move without extended public support. He does not have the public [support]. He made the statement about chemical weapons in Syria, that we are going to bomb them. Then he looked at the polls and there was no support for a military response,” Wayne said.

No president can predict what’s going to happen, but George Washington University’s Matthew Dallek says the question is how quickly an administration senses when an issue becomes one that commands presidential attention.

The political management professor draws parallels to former President Bill Clinton, who was criticized for not acting¹² quickly and decisively to put an end to Serbian atrocities¹³ in Kosovo during the late 1990s.

“In part he is judged on the result. That military campaign from the air was seen as a success, even though for many years, his critics were saying he was doing very little to nothing and really was AWOL and really this moral abject¹⁴ failure to intervene in the Balkans,” Dallek said.

Whether it be the spread of Ebola in West Africa or Islamic State militants¹⁵ in the Middle East, analysts¹⁶ say ultimately the president’s response to a crisis is driven by a variety of factors – whether it be media coverage¹⁷, public support for action or simply how much an issue means to the commander-in-chief.

“A lot of people see it thorough a partisan¹⁸ lens. This administration would also say, and somewhat rightly so, that ‘we had the foresight¹⁹ to take the initiative with Cuba, to take the initiative on the Iran nuclear agreement, to try to take the lead on climate change,’” Dallek noted²⁰. “So, it partly depends on what people’s priorities are and what they see as the most important issue.”

1 escalation   

n.扩大，增加

参考例句：

• The threat of nuclear escalation remains. 核升级的威胁仍旧存在。 来自辞典例句
• Escalation is thus an aspect of deterrence and of crisis management. 因此逐步升级是威慑和危机处理的一个方面。 来自辞典例句

2 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。

3 warships   

军舰，战舰( warship的名词复数 )； 舰只

参考例句：

• The enemy warships were disengaged from the battle after suffering heavy casualties. 在遭受惨重伤亡后，敌舰退出了海战。
• The government fitted out warships and sailors for them. 政府给他们配备了战舰和水手。

4 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

5 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。

6 authorization   

n.授权，委任状

参考例句：

• Anglers are required to obtain prior authorization from the park keeper.垂钓者必须事先得到公园管理者的许可。
• You cannot take a day off without authorization.未经批准你不得休假。

7 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。

8 lengthy   

adj.漫长的，冗长的

参考例句：

• We devoted a lengthy and full discussion to this topic.我们对这个题目进行了长时间的充分讨论。
• The professor wrote a lengthy book on Napoleon.教授写了一部有关拿破仑的巨著。

9 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

10 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

11 errs   

犯错误，做错事( err的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Man errs so long as he strives. 人只要奋斗就会犯错误。 来自每日一句
• He that talks much errs much. [谚]言多必有失。

12 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

13 atrocities   

n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪

参考例句：

• They were guilty of the most barbarous and inhuman atrocities. 他们犯有最野蛮、最灭绝人性的残暴罪行。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The enemy's atrocities made one boil with anger. 敌人的暴行令人发指。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 abject   

adj.极可怜的，卑屈的

参考例句：

• This policy has turned out to be an abject failure.这一政策最后以惨败而告终。
• He had been obliged to offer an abject apology to Mr.Alleyne for his impertinence.他不得不低声下气，为他的无礼举动向艾莱恩先生请罪。

15 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

16 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

17 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

18 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

19 foresight   

n.先见之明，深谋远虑

参考例句：

• The failure is the result of our lack of foresight.这次失败是由于我们缺乏远虑而造成的。
• It required a statesman's foresight and sagacity to make the decision.作出这个决定需要政治家的远见卓识。

20 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。