CNN 2011-04-03

 

We thank Mrs. Long's students in Missouri for getting today's show revved¹ up and ready to go. And we thank all of you for checking out this Thursday edition of CNN Student News.

I'm Carl Azuz, and first up today, we have a report from CNN's Chris Lawrence on the conflict in Libya. The U.S. has been involved in this since March 19th, when it launched missiles at targets inside the North African country. But the military strategy is shifting.

U.S. officials say they're not in Libya to help rebels win a war.

That's not part of our mandate².

But the coalition³ is launching missiles at specific units, like the headquarters of Libya's elite⁴ 32nd Brigade.

This is one of Gadhafi's most loyal units.

The coalition has interpreted "protect civilians⁵" to mean it can destroy any weapons Gadhafi could use. Air strikes hit munitions⁶ depots⁷ in two cities.

Any place that we can see ammunition⁸ storage facilities, things of that nature, that, we're going after those.

A mission that started with preventing attacks from the air is now focused, not even two weeks later, on destroying targets on the ground. New flying gunships like the A-10 have replaced some of the ships that were firing cruise missiles. These new aircraft fly low, closer to a target, and shoot machine gun fire instead of dropping thousand-pound bombs. They're designed to fight in and around cities, where rebels are trying to hold off Gadhafi's forces. On Tuesday, the NATO commander said that protecting civilians mandate extends all the way into Tripoli itself.

I think that any Gadhafi forces that are demonstrating hostile intent against the Libyan population are legitimate⁹ targets.

So far, the assault has cost the Pentagon well over half a billion dollars. But most of that money came from cruise missiles and other munitions. The strategy has shifted, and now the U.S. forces are focused on refueling planes, jamming communication and striking Gadhafi forces. So, the military only expects to spend $40 million over the next few weeks. And a spokeswoman says, "After that, we would incur¹⁰ added costs of about $40 million per month." How many months? It's hard to tell.

But a stalemate is not an acceptable solution.

I think a stalemate is not in anybody's interest.

Some rebel leaders in Libya are calling the battles' front lines "fluid." They made some advances, took control of some key cities. But Colonel Gadhafi's forces have pushed back. And yesterday, the rebels withdrew from some territory they had taken over before.

One strategy that coalition military leaders are considering is arming the rebels, giving them weapons. President Obama has said he's open to this idea, and some experts think it could give rebels help in fighting government forces. But there are also some concerns about this, arming the rebels. U.S. intelligence indicates that some terrorists may be fighting on the side of the rebels. So of course, officials don't want to be giving weapons to the wrong people.

1 revved   

v.（使）加速( rev的过去式和过去分词 )；（数量、活动等）激增；（使发动机）快速旋转；（使）活跃起来

参考例句：

• The taxi driver revved up his engine. 出租车司机把发动机发动起来。
• The car revved up and roared away. 汽车发动起来，然后轰鸣着开走了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 mandate   

n.托管地；命令，指示

参考例句：

• The President had a clear mandate to end the war.总统得到明确的授权结束那场战争。
• The General Election gave him no such mandate.大选并未授予他这种权力。

3 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。

4 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

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。

6 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

7 depots   

仓库( depot的名词复数 )； 火车站； 车库； 军需库

参考例句：

• Public transportation termini and depots are important infrastructures for a city. 公交场站设施是城市重要的基础设施。
• In the coastal cities are equipped with after-sales service and depots. 在各沿海城市均设有服务部及售后维修站。

8 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

9 legitimate   

adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法

参考例句：

• Sickness is a legitimate reason for asking for leave.生病是请假的一个正当的理由。
• That's a perfectly legitimate fear.怀有这种恐惧完全在情理之中。

10 incur   

vt.招致，蒙受，遭遇

参考例句：

• Any costs that you incur will be reimbursed in full.你的所有花费都将全额付还。
• An enterprise has to incur certain costs and expenses in order to stay in business.一个企业为了维持营业,就不得不承担一定的费用和开支。