美国两届总统反恐战争换汤不换药

2014-10-10 15:34:47来源：可可英语

　　Few have given as much thought as Barack Obamato the pitfalls of waging open-ended war on anabstract noun. On top of its impracticalities – howcan you ever declare victory? – fighting a nebulousenemy exacts an insidious toll. Mr Obama builtmuch of his presidential appeal on such a critique –the global war on terror was eroding America’slegal rights at home and its moral capital abroad.The term “GWOT” was purged the moment he tookover from George W Bush. In his pledge last weekto “degrade and ultimately destroy” the IslamicState in Iraq and the Levant, known as Isis, he has travelled almost full circle. It is preciselybecause Mr Obama is a reluctant warrior that his legacy will be enduring.

　　对基于一个抽象名词发动的无限制战争会遇到的困难，没有几个人考虑得像巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)那样多。除了实际操作上的问题(怎样才算打赢了战争)，与不明确的敌人作战还会带来潜在的负面影响。奥巴马作为总统的吸引力在很大程度上建立在这样一种评论上：全球反恐战争正在侵蚀美国国内的合法权利及其在国外的道德资本。从小布什(George W Bush)手中接过总统大权后，奥巴马立刻抛弃了“全球反恐战争”一词。但不久前，他发誓要“削弱并最终摧毁”伊拉克和黎凡特伊斯兰国(ISIS)。就这样，在兜了一大圈后，他几乎又回到了原点。之所以这么说，完全是因为奥巴马是一位不情愿的斗士，而他留下的东西将是持久的。

　　The reality is the US war on terror has succeeded where it was supposed to. Mr Bush’s biggestinnovation was to set up the Department of Homeland Security. If you chart domestic terrorattempts in the US since September 11 2001, they have become increasingly low-tech andineffectual. From the foiled Detroit airliner attack in Mr Obama’s first year to the Bostonmarathon bombings in his fifth, each attempt has been more amateur than the last. The sameis true of America’s allies. There has been no significant attack in Europe since London’s July 7bombings nine years ago. Western publics have acclimatised to an era of tighter security.

　　事实上，美国反恐战争在既定目标上取得了成功。小布什的最大创新是设立了国土安全部(Department ofHomeland Security)。如果你把2001年9月11日以来美国国内的恐怖企图列一张表，你会发现它们的技术含量越来越低、效果越来越差。从奥巴马上任头一年被挫败的底特律民航客机恐怖袭击案，到他在任第5年发生的波士顿马拉松爆炸案，每次恐袭企图都比上一次更加业余。同样的结论也适用于美国的盟国。自9年前的7月7日伦敦发生爆炸案以来，欧洲没有发生任何重大恐怖袭击案。西方民众已经适应了这个安保更为严密的时代。

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