访谈录 Interview 2007-04-06&08, 专访即将诞生的第一位黑人总统

Yesterday, I interviewed the Republican presidential candidate John McCain, and he said this: "Failure is catastrophe¹. Failure is genocide. Failure means we come back. Failure means they follow us home." What if he's right? What if he's right and what you're proposing, and a lot of Democrats² are proposing, results in genocide in Iraq?

Well, look, what you have right now is chaos³ in Iraq. After having spent hundreds of billions of dollars, after seeing close to 3,200 lives lost, what you now see is chaos. And there's no end in sight. Now, John McCain may believe that it's an option for us to maintain an indefinite occupation of Iraq, regardless of what happens in terms of the politics within Iraq, so that we're every year sending 100 billion dollars over to Iraq, so that every year we're seeing hundreds or thousands of young Americans dying, so that we continue to see a deterioration⁴ of America's standing⁵ in the world. I don't think that serves the best interests of the United States, and I don't think it will ultimately result in the kind of, the stabilization⁶ in Iraq that's necessary. Now, these are judgment⁷ calls. I don't question John McCain's sincerity⁸ in believing that the approach that he wants to take, which is essentially⁹ a continuation of the Bush policies over the last six years, are the right ones to take.

If you're president of the United States in January 2009, and the situation is basically the same in Iraq as it is right now, what would be your immediate¹⁰ first step?

Well, the bill that I put in, I think...

But assuming that bill doesn't go.

No, no, but I think... Assuming that things are the same, I think the same dynamic will be at work, which is to say, we are gonna pull out our combat troops out of Iraq in a phased, systematic¹¹ way, that we continue to provide the Iraqi government with logistical and training support, that we have those forces over the horizon to respond to crisis that spill over into the remainder of the region. And most importantly, we have an aggressive diplomatic initiative with those countries in the region to make sure that we are part of a broader conversation about how can we stabilize¹² Iraq and stabilize the region.

You're president of the United State. 15 American sailors and marines are captured by Iranians, the Revolutionary Guard in the northern Persian Gulf¹³, and they're held. What do you do?

Well, I think that the British obviously are taking the prudent¹⁴ steps that are required, sending a strong, unequivocal message to the Iranians that they have to release these British soldiers. I think that they are handling it in the appropriate way. My sense is that the Iranians are going to stand down fairly soon. But, look, one of the obligations of the Commander-in-Chief is to make sure that our troops are protected, wherever they're projected around the world.

So, they, if they were to hold them, let's say, for 444 days—Iranians have held Americans hostage for a long period of time—what, do you just let them be held there?

No, you don't. I think you take a firm action to make sure that those troops are returned.

You want to be specific?

You know, I think that it's important to say that all options, including military, would be on the table in such a circumstance.

1 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

2 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

4 deterioration   

n.退化；恶化；变坏

参考例句：

• Mental and physical deterioration both occur naturally with age. 随着年龄的增长，心智和体力自然衰退。
• The car's bodywork was already showing signs of deterioration. 这辆车的车身已经显示出了劣化迹象。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 Stabilization   

稳定化

参考例句：

• The position of barycentre on plane directly impacts the stabilization and manipulation of plane. 飞机重心位置直接影响飞机的稳定和操纵特性。
• With the higher olefins, stabilization of the energetic intermediates occurs more easily. 在较高的烯烃情况下，高能的中间物稳定作用更易出现。

7 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。

8 sincerity   

n.真诚，诚意；真实

参考例句：

• His sincerity added much more authority to the story.他的真诚更增加了故事的说服力。
• He tried hard to satisfy me of his sincerity.他竭力让我了解他的诚意。

9 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

10 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

11 systematic   

adj.有系统的，有计划的，有方法的

参考例句：

• The way he works isn't very systematic.他的工作不是很有条理。
• The teacher made a systematic work of teaching.这个教师进行系统的教学工作。

12 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

13 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

14 prudent   

adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的

参考例句：

• A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
• You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。