VOA标准英语2009年-Senators Disagree on Obama's New Missile D

By Cindy Saine
Capitol Hill
24 September 2009

Several U.S. senators have blasted President Barack Obama's decision to change U.S. missile defense¹ policy in Europe, accusing the president of "abandoning" U.S. allies there. Senior Pentagon officials and some other senators defended the new strategy at an Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday, saying the new plan is the best way to deal directly with the nuclear threat from Iran.
 
President Obama surprised the world last Thursday when he announced plans to cancel a missile defense system in Europe proposed by the Bush administration.

The Bush-era program would have placed ground-based interceptors in Poland and a radar² station in the Czech Republic to counter any long-range nuclear threat posed by Iran. The Obama administration's plan will replace Bush's anti-missile plan with a re-designed sea- and ground-based system, which destroys short and mid-range missiles instead of intercontinental missiles.

 
US Sen. John McCain (file photo)
Opponents of the president's plan expressed outrage³ at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing Thursday, led by ranking member, Republican Senator John McCain of Arizona.

"The decision by the administration to back away from its missile defense commitment to the Czech Republic and Poland can only demonstrate to the rest of Europe that the United States is not prepared to stand behind its friends, that the United States views resetting⁴ its relationship with Russia more important than commitments made to close friends and allies, and that the administration is willing to let Russia have veto power over the disposition⁵ of our missile defense architecture," he said. 

Senator McCain, who competed for the White House against then-candidate Obama last year, also harshly criticized the way the Obama administration announced this major policy change.

"But a late night phone call wa s all it took to tell our friends to take a hike," he said. "According to news reports, the Polish prime minister was called at midnight."

Some centrist Democrats⁶, such as Senator Claire McCaskill of Missouri, also criticized the way the president rolled out the new defense plan, and some questioned the intelligence behind the change in strategy to focus more on short and mid-range missiles from Iran.

Democratic Senator Carl Levin of Michigan rejected the criticism from McCain and other Republicans that the decision had "bruised⁷" U.S. ties with Eastern Europe, saying that NATO already supports President Obama's decision and that Poland and the Czech Republic are satisfied with other missiles they have been offered.

 
Michelle Flournoy testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, 24 Sep 2009
Michèle Flournoy is the Pentagon's top policy chief. She testified at the hearing, calling the new missile defense plan for Europe a "dramatic improvement" over the old Bush administration plan, and rejecting criticism that it is a unilateral concession⁸ to Russia.

"In short we are standing⁹ by our allies in Central and Eastern Europe, and we are in fact increasing our commitment to their defense in very real terms," she said. "While we certainly welcome Russian interest in the new approach, as well as potential Russian cooperation in sharing data from their radars¹⁰, this is not about Russia, it has never been about Russia." 

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has praised President Obama's plans to scrap¹¹ the old missile defense system for Europe, which it bitterly opposed, calling the move a constructive¹² step in the right direction.

1 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。

2 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

3 outrage   

n.暴行，侮辱，愤怒；vt.凌辱，激怒

参考例句：

• When he heard the news he reacted with a sense of outrage.他得悉此事时义愤填膺。
• We should never forget the outrage committed by the Japanese invaders.我们永远都不应该忘记日本侵略者犯下的暴行。

4 resetting   

v.重新安放或安置( reset的现在分词 )；重拨（测量仪器指针）；为（考试、测试等）出一套新题；重新安置，将…恢复原位

参考例句：

• Range represents the maximum strain which can be recorded without resetting or replacing the strain gage. 量程表示无需重调或重装应变计就能记录到的最大应变。 来自辞典例句
• Adding weight to the puddle jumper by resetting its inertial dampeners. 通过调节飞船的惯性装置来增加重量。 来自电影对白

5 disposition   

n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署

参考例句：

• He has made a good disposition of his property.他已对财产作了妥善处理。
• He has a cheerful disposition.他性情开朗。

6 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》

7 bruised   

[医]青肿的，瘀紫的

参考例句：

• his bruised and bloodied nose 他沾满血的青肿的鼻子
• She had slipped and badly bruised her face. 她滑了一跤，摔得鼻青脸肿。

8 concession   

n.让步，妥协；特许(权)

参考例句：

• We can not make heavy concession to the matter.我们在这个问题上不能过于让步。
• That is a great concession.这是很大的让步。

9 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。

10 radars   

n.雷达( radar的名词复数 )；雷达装置

参考例句：

• Servos for large radars and launchers are either electro-hydraulic or all-electric. 大型雷达和发射装置的伺服系统，不是电动-液压式的，就是全电动式的。 来自辞典例句
• Range-velocity simultaneous pull-off is one of effective measures for countering PD radars. 距离-速度同步拖引干扰是对抗PD雷达的有效方法。 来自互联网

11 scrap   

n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废

参考例句：

• A man comes round regularly collecting scrap.有个男人定时来收废品。
• Sell that car for scrap.把那辆汽车当残品卖了吧。

12 constructive   

adj.建设的，建设性的

参考例句：

• We welcome constructive criticism.我们乐意接受有建设性的批评。
• He is beginning to deal with his anger in a constructive way.他开始用建设性的方法处理自己的怒气。