美国国家公共电台 NPR Trump Says He'll Target Iran's Cultural Sites. That's Illegal

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

U.S. allies and the United Nations are condemning¹ President Trump²'s threat to target cultural sites in Iran. Over the weekend, the president tweeted that if Tehran retaliates³ for the killing⁴ of a top Iranian general, the U.S. would target 52 Iranian sites. That's one for every American captured during the Iran hostage crisis. NPR's Jackie Northam reports the president's threat runs counter to international norms.

JACKIE NORTHAM, BYLINE⁵: Cultural treasures have long been collateral⁶ damage of conflict, and sometimes they've been deliberately⁷ targeted. The Taliban blew up Buddhist⁸ shrines⁹ in Afghanistan. ISIS destroyed parts of the ancient Syrian city of Palmyra. The U.S. has been involved in efforts to protect cultural sites in times of war, like those illustrated¹⁰ in the 2014 movie "Monuments Men," when art experts and historians tried to save priceless artworks from the Nazis¹¹.

(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "THE MONUMENTS MEN")

MATT DAMON: (As James Granger) You want to go into a war zone and tell our boys what they can and cannot blow up.

GEORGE CLOONEY: (As Frank Stokes) That's the idea.

HUGH BONNEVILLE: (As Donald Jeffries) If you would just read the orders...

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) I'll tell you what these orders say. Don't knock out old...

CLOONEY: (As Frank Stokes) Colonel, be fair.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Do not interrupt me, lieutenant¹³.

NORTHAM: In 1954, nations, including the U.S., signed the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the event of armed conflict. Kelly Magsamen is a former National Security Council and Pentagon official under both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations. She says the Hague Convention is one of several measures that would make it illegal for the Trump administration to target cultural sites in Iran.

KELLY MAGSAMEN: It would be a violation¹⁴ of the Geneva Convention, Protocol¹⁵ I. It would be a violation of the 1954 Hague Convention. And it would also be a violation, importantly, of U.S. law and a violation of the DoD directive on law of war.

NORTHAM: But there is a waiver in the Hague Convention which would allow a nation to target cultural property out of military necessity - in other words, if a country is camouflaging¹⁶ weapons or fighters within a cultural site. Magsamen says, then the U.S. military would have to make a broader calculation.

MAGSAMEN: I'm pretty certain that that calculation would err¹² on the side of avoiding targeting a major cultural or historical site. I mean, that is - those are the kinds of things that the Taliban does, that ISIS does. It's not what we do as the United States of America.

NORTHAM: That didn't stop President Trump from doubling down on his threat even, after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo seemed to walk it back. Here he is on ABC's "This Week" program.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THIS WEEK WITH GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS")

MIKE POMPEO: We'll behave lawfully¹⁷. We'll behave inside the system. We always have, and we always will.

NORTHAM: The U.S. military in the past has taken care with its targeting. The Defense¹⁸ Intelligence Agency has worked with the U.S. Committee of the Blue Shield to help educate troops about the obligations under the Hague Convention. The committee, a nonprofit organization, produced cards for U.S. troops on the ground in Iraq, Afghanistan and Egypt, says its president, Nancy Wilkie.

NANCY WILKIE: Some of the cards say things like, if you notice a mound¹⁹ that has pottery²⁰ coming out of it, don't collect anything; report it to the authorities - 'cause the military is often out in places where archaeologists haven't even been in an effort to do a survey of archaeological sites.

NORTHAM: Wilkie says her group hasn't been able to document the cultural sites in Iran.

WILKIE: It's just - Iran is huge. And there are so many cultural sites - anywhere between five and 10 thousand sites, I would suspect.

NORTHAM: That includes 22 UNESCO World Heritage sites, some as grand as the ancient ruins of Persepolis. Today, Iran's ambassador to UNESCO met with its general director to discuss President Trump's threats and the need to protect cultural treasures for future generations.

Jackie Northam, NPR News, Washington.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

1 condemning   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的现在分词 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• The government issued a statement condemning the killings. 政府发表声明谴责这些凶杀事件。
• I concur with the speaker in condemning what has been done. 我同意发言者对所做的事加以谴责。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 retaliates   

v.报复，反击( retaliate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Lincoln suggests Si Tan pauses, the letter that writes acrimonious of a content retaliates that fellow. 林肯建议斯坦顿，写一封内容尖刻的信回敬那家伙。 来自互联网
• If it does not, and the US imposes tariffs and China retaliates, what then? 如果它不让步，而美国开征关税，中国加以报复，接下来会怎样？ 来自互联网

4 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

5 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。

6 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

7 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

8 Buddhist   

adj./n.佛教的，佛教徒

参考例句：

• The old lady fell down in adoration before Buddhist images.那老太太在佛像面前顶礼膜拜。
• In the eye of the Buddhist,every worldly affair is vain.在佛教徒的眼里，人世上一切事情都是空的。

9 shrines   

圣地，圣坛，神圣场所( shrine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• All three structures dated to the third century and were tentatively identified as shrines. 这3座建筑都建于3 世纪，并且初步鉴定为神庙。
• Their palaces and their shrines are tombs. 它们的宫殿和神殿成了墓穴。

10 illustrated   

adj. 有插图的，列举的 动词illustrate的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• His lecture was illustrated with slides taken during the expedition. 他在讲演中使用了探险时拍摄到的幻灯片。
• The manufacturing Methods: Will be illustrated in the next chapter. 制作方法将在下一章说明。

11 Nazis   

n.（德国的）纳粹党员( Nazi的名词复数 )；纳粹主义

参考例句：

• The Nazis worked them over with gun butts. 纳粹分子用枪托毒打他们。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The Nazis were responsible for the mass murder of Jews during World War Ⅱ. 纳粹必须为第二次世界大战中对犹太人的大屠杀负责。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 err   

vi.犯错误，出差错

参考例句：

• He did not err by a hair's breadth in his calculation.他的计算结果一丝不差。
• The arrows err not from their aim.箭无虚发。

13 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

14 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。

15 protocol   

n.议定书，草约，会谈记录，外交礼节

参考例句：

• We must observe the correct protocol.我们必须遵守应有的礼仪。
• The statesmen signed a protocol.那些政治家签了议定书。

16 camouflaging   

v.隐蔽( camouflage的现在分词 )；掩盖；伪装，掩饰

参考例句：

• Camouflaging an ammunition ship with the red cross is a filthy trick. 用红十字伪装一艘弹药船是下流的勾当。 来自辞典例句
• Lecture 2: Prefrontal Cortex and the Neural Basis of Cognitive Control. 课程单元2：额前皮质与认知控制的神经基础。 来自互联网

17 lawfully   

adv.守法地，合法地；合理地

参考例句：

• Lawfully established contracts shall be protected by law. 依法成立的合同应受法律保护。 来自口语例句
• As my lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health, till death parts us. 当成是我的合法丈夫，无论疾病灾难，直到死亡把我们分开。 来自电影对白

18 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。

19 mound   

n.土墩，堤，小山；v.筑堤，用土堆防卫

参考例句：

• The explorers climbed a mound to survey the land around them.勘探者爬上土丘去勘测周围的土地。
• The mound can be used as our screen.这个土丘可做我们的掩蔽物。

20 pottery   

n.陶器，陶器场

参考例句：

• My sister likes to learn art pottery in her spare time.我妹妹喜欢在空余时间学习陶艺。
• The pottery was left to bake in the hot sun.陶器放在外面让炎热的太阳烘晒焙干。