双语新闻：打击ISIS 美国不应“胜勇追穷寇”

2014-09-25 16:07:14来源：可可英语

　　Backing them is comparable to the failed strategy in Libya.

　　支持他们和在利比亚的失败战略没什么两样。

　　Finally, there is a moral limit to what western publics will support. Remember Tacitus who,describing Roman counter-insurgency efforts in Britain, said: “They made a wasteland andcalled it peace.” “Exterminate Isis” slips off the tongue now, but it will scar the eyes later,when we see what reprisals against civilians in Isis-supporting areas looks like. Should the localforces engage in atrocities, western public support for them will evaporate.

　　最后，西方公众支持的势力要有道德底线。别忘了塔西佗(Tacitus)这样描述罗马在英国镇压叛乱的努力：“他们制造了荒漠，却将此称为和平。”现在人们已经把“消灭ISIS”说顺了口，但当我们在支持ISIS的地区看到平民受到的报复时，又会有上当的感觉。如果当地势力参与暴行，西方公众对他们的支持将会消失。

　　The lessons of the past decade suggest that a clearly bounded extension of US militaryaction means taking responsibility at most for the initial phase, not the permanent defeat ofIsis, in which the west should only play a supporting role. The alternative is to commit to along fight, removing the pressure on regional states to act. Anyone advocating that wouldhave to believe that western publics are prepared to bear the cost. They are not.

　　过去10年的教训表明，美国扩大军事行动要有明显界限，这意味着至多在最初阶段承担责任，而不是永久性地击败ISIS——西方只应在后续阶段扮演支持角色。另一个选择是致力于打一场长期战争，消除中东国家采取行动的压力。提倡这么做的人必须认为，西方公众准备承担为此付出的代价。他们没有这个意愿。

　　The writer is a fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government and author of ‘War Fromthe Ground Up’

　　本文作者是美国哈佛大学肯尼迪政府学院(Harvard Kennedy School of Government)的研究员，著有《从地面战争开始》(War From the Ground Up)一书

本文关键字: 打击ISIS