2007年VOA标准英语-US Democratic Presidential Hopeful Obama Vows t

By Jim Malone
Washington
01 August 2007

Democratic presidential contender Barack Obama said Wednesday he would be willing to send U.S. troops into Pakistan to hunt down terrorists without permission from the government of President Pervez Musharraf. Senator Obama made the comments in a foreign policy speech in Washington, as we hear from VOA National correspondent Jim Malone.

Sen. Barack Obama, delivers a speech about terrorism, 01 Aug 2007

Obama focused on how he would fight the war on terrorism if he were elected president in November of next year.

The Illinois Democrat¹ said President Bush has become distracted from the main war on terrorism by the war in Iraq.

Obama said he would be prepared to send U.S. troops into Pakistan's northwest frontier region to hunt al-Qaida terrorists and the Taleban even if denied permission by the Pakistani government.

"Now I understand that President [Pervez] Musharraf has his own challenges. But let me make this clear," he said. "There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike again. If we have actionable intelligence about high value terrorist targets and President Musharraf will not act, we will."

Obama also said he would make pulling U.S. troops out of Iraq his first priority as president.

Obama said President Bush has confused the U.S. mission against the terrorists by focusing too much on the war in Iraq and plunging² the U.S. into the middle of a civil war.

"He is fighting the war that the terrorists want us to fight," he said. "Bin³ Laden⁴ and his allies know they cannot defeat us on the field of battle or in a genuine battle of ideas. But they can provoke the reaction we have seen in Iraq, a misguided invasion of a Muslim country that sparks new insurgencies and ties down our military."

At the White House, presidential spokesman Tony Snow said the U.S. remains⁵ committed to working with President Musharraf in going after suspected terrorist havens⁶.

"We think that our approach to Pakistan is one that not only respects the sovereignty of Pakistan, as a sovereign government, but is also designed to work in a way where we are working in cooperation with the local government," said Snow.

Obama's foreign policy speech came one week after a back and forth⁷ public debate with his main rival, Senator Hillary Clinton, about the use of diplomacy⁸ to deal with U.S. adversaries⁹ abroad.

Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton at debate, 23 July 2007

Clinton said Obama was irresponsible and naïve to offer to meet with leaders of countries hostile to the U.S. like Iran, Cuba and North Korea without preconditions.

Obama responded that Clinton's approach sounded like what he called "Bush-Cheney Lite," and said Clinton had been irresponsible and naïve when she supported the use of force against Iraq.

Joseph Biden (Jan 2007 photo)

The intensifying¹⁰ battle between Clinton and Obama is overshadowing the other six Democrats¹¹ in the race, including Senator Joe Biden of Delaware.

Biden trails behind both in the polls and in fundraising, but says many Democrats have yet to decide on a presidential candidate for 2008.

"The truth is, no one has made up their mind yet in the Democratic Party," he said. "And the truth is, I believe at the end of the day, ideas matter more than money."

In the latest national poll, Clinton has expanded her lead over Obama for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination¹². The Wall Street Journal-NBC News poll found Clinton leading Obama by a margin¹³ of 43 to 22 percent, with former North Carolina Senator John Edwards in third place with 13 percent support.

But new polls in early contest states like New Hampshire and South Carolina show Obama making gains at Clinton's expense.

1 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

2 plunging   

adj.跳进的，突进的v.颠簸( plunge的现在分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降

参考例句：

• War broke out again, plunging the people into misery and suffering. 战祸复发，生灵涂炭。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• He is plunging into an abyss of despair. 他陷入了绝望的深渊。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

4 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

5 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

6 havens   

n.港口，安全地方( haven的名词复数 )v.港口，安全地方( haven的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Your twenty havens would back out at the last minute anyhow. 你那二十个避难所到了最后一分钟也要不认帐。 来自辞典例句
• Using offshore havens to avoid taxes and investor protections. 使用海面的港口避免税和投资者保护。 来自互联网

7 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

8 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

9 adversaries   

n.对手，敌手( adversary的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• That would cause potential adversaries to recoil from a challenge. 这会迫使潜在的敌人在挑战面前退缩。 来自辞典例句
• Every adversaries are more comfortable with a predictable, coherent America. 就连敌人也会因有可以预料的，始终一致的美国而感到舒服得多。 来自辞典例句

10 intensifying   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的现在分词 )；增辉

参考例句：

• The allies are intensifying their air campaign. 联军部队正加大他们的空战强度。 来自辞典例句
• The rest of the European powers were in a state of intensifying congestion. 其余的欧洲强国则处于越来越拥挤的状态。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史

11 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》

12 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

13 margin   

n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘

参考例句：

• We allowed a margin of 20 minutes in catching the train.我们有20分钟的余地赶火车。
• The village is situated at the margin of a forest.村子位于森林的边缘。