美国国家公共电台 NPR--How the U.S. took out an al-Qaida mastermind despite having no boots on the ground

How the U.S. took out an al-Qaida mastermind despite having no boots on the ground

Transcript¹

A drone strike that killed al-Qaida's top leader marks the first major U.S. operation in Afghanistan in a year, and comes at a time when national security interests seemed to be focused elsewhere.

A MART?NEZ, HOST:

President Biden says the U.S. drone strike that killed al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri brought justice to a mastermind of decades of attacks on Americans, including 9/11 and the bombing of the USS Cole. The U.S. hadn't carried out such a high-profile operation in Afghanistan since the withdrawal² of U.S. forces a year ago. And the strike came at a time when U.S. national security interests seemed to be focused elsewhere. Joining us now is NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Greg, with the U.S. military gone from Afghanistan, how was the U.S. able to develop such precise intelligence on where the al-Qaida leader was?

GREG MYRE, BYLINE³: Yeah, the U.S. has provided a few details, not that much. But clearly, they did have great intelligence on Zawahiri. They said his family moved into this large upscale house in the center of Kabul. This is a diplomatic area also favored by some of the Taliban leaders. And the U.S. was able to keep close watch on this house. And then Zawahiri himself moved in after his family did. He never left the place. But the U.S. knew enough about his movements to expect him on the balcony on Sunday morning. That's when he was hit by the - in the drone strike. A year ago, the U.S., as it was leaving Afghanistan, said it would keep tabs on the country from over the horizons. And many doubted this or mocked this because the U.S. military wouldn't be there. Diplomats⁴ were gone. Intelligence would be much harder to get. But the U.S. has shown that it is able to gather good intelligence and, at least in this case, carry out a very precise strike.

MART?NEZ: Considering where he was living, does this maybe point to a close relationship with the Taliban and al-Qaida?

MYRE: Yeah, it really does. The Taliban pledged not to harbor extremists and that their territory wouldn't be used to carry out attacks. But Zawahiri's presence in Kabul strongly suggests that there still is this very close relationship. He couldn't have been there if at least some members of the Taliban leadership weren't aware of this. And it also means that the U.S. and the Taliban are going to continue to have real differences and not move forward on other issues, like the humanitarian⁵ crisis. This will continue to be a big obstacle.

MART?NEZ: So where do you think the United States then rates al-Qaida as a threat at the moment?

MYRE: The U.S. is still very wary⁶ of al-Qaida but sees it as a much more limited threat now than what it was. The U.S. believes al-Qaida wants to regroup in Afghanistan, that it has affiliates⁷ that can still be dangerous in places like Yemen and west and north Africa. But it's just not the force that it was. The Islamic State is considered much more dangerous, and it's also present in Afghanistan and many other places. But the focus really has moved on. The U.S. is focused on Russia right now and looking to the Chinese threat in the longer term.

MART?NEZ: So should we expect more of these kinds of U.S. strikes in the future?

MYRE: Yes, I think they're likely, but I think they'll be relatively⁸ rare, nothing like we saw at the height of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. We should recall the U.S. took out an Islamic State leader in Syria in February. So the U.S. still sees a need to keep tabs on these groups and not letting them become too strong. But it's really just become a secondary issue to larger U.S. security concerns.

MART?NEZ: NPR national security correspondent Greg Myre. Greg, thanks a lot.

MYRE: My pleasure.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

7 affiliates   

附属企业( affiliate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She affiliates with an academic society. 她是某学术团体的成员。
• For example, these security affiliates participated in the floating of 19,000,000,000 of issues in 1927. 例如，这些证券发行机构在1927年的流通证券中，就提供了一百九十亿美元的证券。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。