CNN 2011-03-22

Military action is underway in the skies over Libya, and the U.S. is one of several countries involved. It's our first story in the week's first edition of CNN Student News.It's called "Operation Odyssey¹ Dawn," and the goal is to enforce a no-fly zone over Libya. The United Nations Security Council voted for that no-fly zone late last week. The coalition² responsible for enforcing it is made up of forces from the U.S., Great Britain and France, among others.

After the Security Council's vote, Libya's government declared a cease-fire in its fighting with rebel forces. And it invited representatives from other nations to come to Libya to make sure the cease-fire was real. Coalition forces were convinced that Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi was not following the rules of the cease-fire. On Saturday, the coalition attacked. You can hear the sounds of gunfire in the capital city of Tripoli. A U.S. commander said missiles landed near the capital and around other cities as part of these attacks.

The fighting between Colonel Gadhafi's forces and rebels raged on in other cities, like Benghazi. Here, you can see a fighter jet that was shot down over Benghazi on Saturday. Admiral Michael Mullen, the chairman of the U.S. Joint³ Chiefs of Staff, said on Sunday that coalition forces had taken out most of Libya's air defense⁴ systems. But Admiral Mullen also said the U.S. role in "Operation Odyssey Dawn" would be limited, saying "we're not going to put any boots on the ground."

Colonel Gadhafi? He's harshly criticized the other countries getting involved with the civil war in Libya. He called the coalition forces "terrorists" and promised a "long-drawn war." But Sunday, a spokesman for the Libyan military called for another cease-fire.

1 odyssey   

n.长途冒险旅行；一连串的冒险

参考例句：

• The march to Travnik was the final stretch of a 16-hour odyssey.去特拉夫尼克的这段路是长达16小时艰险旅行的最后一程。
• His odyssey of passion, friendship,love,and revenge was now finished.他的热情、友谊、爱情和复仇的漫长历程，到此结束了。

2 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 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。