美国国家公共电台 NPR--Reflecting on the Pentagon's 'shock and awe' campaign that began the invasion of Iraq

Reflecting on the Pentagon's 'shock and awe¹' campaign that began the invasion of Iraq

Transcript²

For a moment, Steve Ankerstar thought Baghdad, Iraq looked just like any other city he had seen when looking out of a plane window.

Then the cruise missiles struck.

"Just boom boom boom boom boom all over Baghdad, you see these explosions and you see the return fire," Ankerstar remembers.

Ankerstar, then a Major in the U.S. Air Force, was in his Nighthawk stealth fighter jet, on his way to drop bombs on two different targets.

It was the beginning of a campaign that the U.S. military said would cause "shock and awe," softening³ up Iraq's military as American ground forces began their invasion in 2003.

Shaymaa Khalil, a teenager at the time who was living in Baghdad, will never forget that night either.

"I never saw this before. All the time I saw, like, the sky in Baghdad clear, pure, nice blue. But at that time it's really like action movies. For me it's a really scary experience," she said.

NPR's Morning Edition brought Ankerstar and Khalil together to talk about their different experiences of that same evening.

Khalil, who is now 38 years old and living in Minneapolis, Minnesota, wanted to ask Ankerstar if he ever had any doubts or concerns about the legitimacy⁴ of the war, and if he thought about the innocent civilians⁵ who were on the ground as he was carrying out his mission.

Ankerstar, now a 53 year old resident of Austin, Texas, wondered how close Khalil was to the bombs that fell that night, and if she thought that U.S.-Iraqi relations might be better 20 years from now.

You can listen to their conversation above.

1 awe   

n.敬畏，惊惧；vt.使敬畏，使惊惧

参考例句：

• The sight filled us with awe.这景色使我们大为惊叹。
• The approaching tornado struck awe in our hearts.正在逼近的龙卷风使我们惊恐万分。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 softening   

变软，软化

参考例句：

• Her eyes, softening, caressed his face. 她的眼光变得很温柔了。它们不住地爱抚他的脸。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• He might think my brain was softening or something of the kind. 他也许会觉得我婆婆妈妈的，已经成了个软心肠的人了。

4 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。

5 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。