Good evening. It is a story that could come right out of a Tom Clancy novel, but it is very real: the Israeli air raid early last month on a suspected nuclear facility being built by Syria in the middle of the Syrian Desert. Everything about it has been top secret. The President has refused twice to comment on it at news conferences. The Israelis, even the Syrians have said little.
But tonight, our Martha Raddatz has details on who was involved in building the plant, and just how close the US came to a commando raid to blow it up. Martha. Charlie, what is extraordinary is that according to a US official I spoke to, the Israelis had managed to get the cooperation of one of the workers at the suspected nuclear facility or insert a spy. Whoever it was, they took detailed photographs of the site from the ground, photographs later shown to US officials.
A senior US official tells ABC News the suspected nuclear facility along with a water pumping station was deep in the Syrian Desert along the Euphrates River, critical because a nuclear reactor would need a constant source of water to keep it cool. But the hardest evidence of all was the photographs which the US official told me showed details of a large, cylindrical structure with very thick reinforced walls, the pump station, and trucks parked near by.
Based on the photographs and additional intelligence, the official said the facility was a North Korean design because of its construction and the technology used. The US official said the Syrians must have had “human" help from the North Koreans. The official said when the Israeli showed their photographs and satellite imagery to the CIA, the US then focused its own satellites and additional intelligence on the site. The US military then started looking at how it could destroy the facility.
The most startling option contemplated: a Special Forces raid, dropping teams in to collect data before blowing up the structures. But then came word that the White House was not interested in carrying out a raid. So months later, the Israelis did it themselves.
The official said the facility had been there at least eight months, but was in its very early stages, thus no fissionable material was found. But the official I spoke to said “it was unmistakable what it was going to be. There is no doubt in my mind.” All right, Marthat Raddatz reporting. Thanks. | |
air raid :공습
* raid : 급습 , 기습 , 공습 (=air raid), ( 경찰 의 ) 현장 급습 , 불시 단속 , 급습 [ 공습 ] 하다 , < 경찰이 > 불시 단속 하다 / by the military or police officers
* bust : ( 현행범으로 ) 체포하다 , < 경찰이 > 급습하다 , 현장을 덮치 다 , 체포 , ( 경찰의 ) 습격 / by police officers
top secret : 일급비밀
* secrecy : 비밀 / a situation in which you keep something secret, or the process of keeping something secret
* secret : 비밀의 , 비밀 ( a piece of information that is known by only a small number of people )
ex. promise secrecy 비밀 엄수를 약속하다 / ex. Discussions took place in total secrecy.
* cloaked/shrouded/veiled in secrecy: The Iraqi contract was shrouded in secrecy for months.
news conference : (= press conference) 기자회견
ex. hold a news conference 기자회견을 하다 .
involve : ~ 을 포함하다 , ~ 을 수반하다 , ~ 을 연루시키다
* be involved in ~ : ~ 에 연루되다 , ~ 과 관련있다 , ~ 종사하다 , ~ 에 참가 하다
ex. project the costs involved in the new plan 새 계획에 소요되는 경비를 견적하다 .
ex. The government is involved in yet another corruption scandal.
come close to (doing) something : (=come near to doing) 거의 ~하게 되다, 하마터면 ~할 뻔하다
ex. I came close to giving up several times.
commando : ( 제 2 차 대전 때의 ) 특공대 ( 원 ), 코만도
blow up : 폭파하다 [ 되다 ]
insert : 끼워 넣다 , 삽입하다
water pumping station : 취수펌프장
nuclear reactor : 원자로
hard : [only before noun] hard facts are certain and can be proved
* hard evidence : 확실한 증거 ex. We need some hard evidence to support our claim.
cylindrical : 원통(모양)의
cylinder : 실린더, 원통, 원주, 원기둥
reinforce : 강화 [ 증강 , 보강 ] 하다 , 보충하다 , 지원군을 보 내다
ex. reinforce a wall with mud 진흙으로 벽을 보강하다
startle : 깜짝 놀라게 하다
* startling : 깜짝 놀라게 하는 , 놀라운 (surprising)
contemplate : 심사숙고하다 , 잘 생각하다
Special Forces : 특수 부대
word : 말 , 단어 , 한 마디 말 , 이야기 , [ 보통 무관사로 ] 기별 , 소 식 (news, report), 전언
ex. I'd like a word with you. 잠깐 얘기할 것이 있다 .
ex. Word came that ~ : ~ 라는 기별이 왔다 .
carry out : 수행하다 , 실행하다
fissionable : 핵분열하는 , 핵분열성의 , [ 보통 pl.] 핵분열 물질
ex. fissionable material 핵분열 물질
* fission 핵분열
material : 자료 , 제재 ( 題材 ), 소재 / ideas or information that are used as a basis for a book, play, or film can be referred to as material.
ex. In my version of the story, I added some new material.
ex. Newspaper articles are a good source of material for stories | |