美国有线新闻 CNN 2013-08-29

 What we saw in Syria last week should shock the conscience of the world. It defies any code of morality. Let me be clear, the indiscriminate slaughter¹ of civilians², the killing³ of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity. By any standard, it is inexcusable. And despite the excuses and equivocations that some have manufactured, it is undeniable. 

 

 

 

Secretary of State Kerry this afternoon, blaming in no uncertain terms the Assad regime for the suspected gas attack that may have killed upwards⁴ of 1300 men, women and children. Now over the weekend new video surfaced, it's deeply disturbing to watch, but arguably, deeply necessary for the world to see. 

 

 

 

In one utterly⁵ heartbreaking clip, a father grieves over the bodies of his two young daughters. His nightmare come to pass. 

 

 

 

Doctors Without Borders has already said it has found signs of a poison attack among victims. Today Secretary Kerry said the U.S. has additional evidence it plans to make public soon. Also today a U.N. inspection⁶ team gained access to the attack site after initially⁷ coming under sniper fire. 

 

 

 

Meantime out in the Mediterranean⁸, four American destroyers wait for orders they would be able to launch a cruise missile strike on short notice. 

 

 

 

And back home a senior administration official tells us President Obama will be presented with final options in the next few days. While House Speaker John Boehner warns that Congress should be consulted before any action is taken. 

 

 

 

We'll talk about the military and diplomatic possibilities and capability⁹ shortly. But first let's go straight to Fred Pleitgen, the only Western network correspondent right now in Syria. He's in the Syrian capital of Damascus. 

 

 

 

What's the latest, Fred, and has there been any reaction from the Assad regime? 

 

 

 

Hi, Anderson. Well, there hasn't been any statement or anything from the Assad regime. However they have reacted and they clearly are hearing the message. The foreign minister of the country, Walid al-Muallem, has called for a press conference for 1:00 p.m. local time. 

 

 

 

And Assad himself earlier today did give some sort of a reaction in general to the rhetoric¹⁰ that of course is getting more and more tough towards the Syrians. Assad said in an interview with a Russian newspaper that he denies all the claims of Syrian, the Syrian military using any sort of chemical weapons on the battlefield. 

 

 

 

He said, quote, "That it would be ludicrous(可笑的；滑稽的) for the Syrian military to do that, considering that in itself has forces on the front line and they would gas themselves if they use chemical weapons." He also warned the United States about any sort of possible intervention¹¹ and said the United States had started wars in the past and had never achieved its political objectives. 

 

 

 

Of course, the United States by no means buying that. We heard those statements from John Kerry. 

 

 

 

One of the other things, Anderson, that's also going on, and this is sort of a serious show of force, they have been absolutely pounding the outskirts¹² of Damascus with artillery¹³ all day. And of course those are exactly the areas where the rebels say those chemical attacks took place. Anderson. 

 

 

 

And what do we know about the U.N. inspection team? Any sense as to when they'll report their results? 

 

 

 

Well, we're not sure when exactly the final report is going to be issued, but clearly they said that they got some good evidence today and they also said that they've been evaluating that evidence. So one of the things that we're hearing from them is they're going to send that team out again tomorrow. 

 

 

 

It's unclear whether or not they're going to go to the same area that they visited today or whether they're trying to, they're going to get to some of the other sites where also chemical weapons have allegedly been used. 

 

 

 

The place that they went to today in Mouadamiya is a very hot zone. There's been a lot of fighting there in the past couple of months. It was obviously very difficult for them to get there, but they did manage to spend a good couple of hours on the ground getting samples and especially talking to people. That's sometimes, something that's very underrated. Sort of in the public's fear. 

 

 

 

But they say it's very important to get the story from people, what exactly happened on that night and what happened to them. What were the effects that they were feeling. So the U.N. says they're actually very happy with the way things went even after that amazingly rocky start that they had. 

 

 

 

First of all, the hotel they're in was mortared early in the morning and then their convoy¹⁴ ….

1 slaughter   

n.屠杀，屠宰；vt.屠杀，宰杀

参考例句：

• I couldn't stand to watch them slaughter the cattle.我不忍看他们宰牛。
• Wholesale slaughter was carried out in the name of progress.大规模的屠杀在维护进步的名义下进行。

2 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。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

5 utterly   

adv.完全地，绝对地

参考例句：

• Utterly devoted to the people,he gave his life in saving his patients.他忠于人民，把毕生精力用于挽救患者的生命。
• I was utterly ravished by the way she smiled.她的微笑使我完全陶醉了。

6 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

7 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

8 Mediterranean   

adj.地中海的；地中海沿岸的

参考例句：

• The houses are Mediterranean in character.这些房子都属地中海风格。
• Gibraltar is the key to the Mediterranean.直布罗陀是地中海的要冲。

9 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

10 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

11 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

12 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

13 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

14 convoy   

vt.护送，护卫，护航；n.护送；护送队

参考例句：

• The convoy was snowed up on the main road.护送队被大雪困在干路上了。
• Warships will accompany the convoy across the Atlantic.战舰将护送该船队过大西洋。