PBS高端访谈:叙利亚政权应用最新确认的化学武器

 　　RAY SUAREZ: For more on the possible chemical attack, I'm joined by Jeffrey White, a former senior analyst¹ at the Defense² Intelligence Agency, now at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, and Amy Smithson, a senior fellow at the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.

　　Jeffrey White, the images are terrible. What does this tell you about the state of the civil war in Syria?

　　JEFFREY WHITE, Washington Institute for Near East Policy: Well, unbelievably, it continues to escalate³, right?

　　And it looks like the regime conducted this operation using a fairly significant amount of chemical weapon. And it demonstrates once again that the regime will go as far as it needs to, to win this war.

　　RAY SUAREZ: What's the significance of the location, so close to Damascus?

　　JEFFREY WHITE: These were areas, east Guta and western Guta in the Damascus suburbs, that the rebels have held and controlled for a long time.

　　The regime has been conducting a series of extended offensives to get the rebels out of these areas, unsuccessfully. It's also been losing troops, personnel, tanks, and so on in these offenses⁴. So it looks to me like the regime is trying to make a decisive action here and force the rebels out.

　　RAY SUAREZ: Amy Smithson, several European foreign ministers today said they're going to wait until there's verification of what they saw in that video. The Turkish foreign minister spokesman said he saw all he needed to see, this was clearly a chemical attack.

　　When video like this arrives of uncertain provenance⁵, you don't know who shot it, you don't know who the people are in the video, how do you determine whether it's the real thing?

　　AMY SMITHSON, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies: Well, the last incident that the world saw where there were chemical casualties on this scale was Halabja, which was Saddam Hussein's attack in 1988 against a small town, Kurdish village.

　　There weren't cell phones around then to record all these types of images. The only pictures I have ever seen of that are still photographs. And I have heard of no reports anywhere else in the world of an incident of this magnitude.

　　So all signs are pointing toward Damascus and this is something that happened within the last 24 hours.

　　RAY SUAREZ: But when a government has policy decisions may hinge on the verifiability, the authenticity⁶ of these images, how do you satisfy yourself that you know what you're seeing, where it happened, how many casualties there are?

　　AMY SMITHSON: Well, I think the casualty toll⁷ will become clearer with the passage of time. These people were taken to several different hospitals and even makeshift facilities.

　　And it's really impossible to know from just video images what specific chemical was involved. These symptoms that you're seeing, the twitching⁸, the pinpoint⁹ pupils, sometimes convulsing, are consistent with exposure to toxic¹⁰ chemicals, not necessarily just sarin or V.X., the classic warfare¹¹ agents.

　　And the inspectors¹² that are there have sampling equipment and will be able to determine that if they're let out of the hotel.

　　RAY SUAREZ: Well, that's a good point.

　　The inspection¹³ regime often involves negotiations¹⁴ before the team arrives about what they're going to be able to see, where they're going to be able to go. When an incident happens once they're already on the ground, can you renegotiate the terms when they're in-country?

　　JEFFREY WHITE: You can try.

　　The Syrian government certainly has demonstrated over the past several years that in any negotiations over any access like this, it's a very difficult partner in those negotiations. It tries to circumscribe¹⁵ as much as possible the activity of any human team operating inside Syria.

　　It puts conditions on what they can do. It rejects proposals that they make to take out -- take inspection-type actions when it feels like it doesn't want that to happen. So there's no guarantee that the U.N. inspectors will be able to see anything outside of their hotel room.

　　The regime clearly has a significant interest in denying access to this area. If they do, it will be a sign that they are, in fact, guilty of this particular action.

　　RAY SUAREZ: Amy Smithson, is Syria a signatory of any treaties that limit the production and use of chemical weapons?

　　MY SMITHSON: Syria is not a member of the chemical weapons convention, which does just that. But 188 other nations are.

　　And this is the treaty that outlaws¹⁶ the use not just of sarin and V.X., but of any toxic chemical for military purposes. And I agree with Mr. White that it looks like a concentrated predawn attack. This is something that a commander who is knowledgeable¹⁷ in ideal conditions for having a gas hang in the same area.

　　If you did this in the middle of the day, the wind is likely to blow it away. In these predawn hours, it's cool, the winds are very low and the gas will just stay where it's fired.

　　RAY SUAREZ: So it sounds like you have no doubt that it's a fairly small number of players in Syria who would even be able to carry out an attack like this?

　　AMY SMITHSON: The scale of this attack is very different from previous incidents, which the casualty tolls¹⁸ were rather small and maybe one device was used to deliver it.

　　This is coordinated¹⁹ in the predawn hours in a quantity of material that's probably inconsistent with anything other than somebody who's been making this stuff and has a delivery capability²⁰ that can put that much on the target in that short period of time.

　　RAY SUAREZ: So, Syria is not a signatory, but the world is full of them, including some of the most able nations on the planet. Are they on the hook for some kind of response if a non-signatory violates the terms of that treaty?

　　JEFFREY WHITE: I think they're on the hook in terms of the morality of the situation and the -- and the circumstances of what's going on there.

　　I don't know if they're required to do anything by any of the -- any of the protocols²¹ or whatever they have signed. But certainly there's a moral obligation to take action here. This is a horrific act, probably by the Syrian government.

　　So there's going to be pressure to take action, not just to punish for what happened here, but to prevent any further action along these lines.

　　RAY SUAREZ: Amy?

　　JEFFREY WHITE: The chemical weapons convention requires every state that signs it to agree to provide assistance in the event that any other member is threatened with or understood goes an attack.

　　Now, Syria's not a member, but we are talking about basic human decency²² here, which is one of the reasons why I have encouraged countries to provide defensive²³ equipment not just to the Syrian rebels, but to the Syrian civilians²⁵.

　　RAY SUAREZ: It's pretty hard to defend against this kind of thing, isn't it?

　　AMY SMITHSON: Well, a gas mask will go a long way to help.

　　And it's not ideal. Ideally, you would be able to provide them with a defensive garb²⁶ that covers you all over. But prior to the 1991 war, Israel equipped its entire civilian²⁴ population with gas masks. And what you could see in these films was that the Syrian civilians were trying to decontaminate the victims, to wash their skin, which would help reduce the possible effects there.

　　So gas masks and some serious coaching about how to decontaminate and decontaminate fast will reduce the amount of casualties. It won't eliminate it.

　　RAY SUAREZ: Amy Smithson, Jeffrey White, thank you both.

　　JEFFREY WHITE: Thank you.

　　AMY SMITHSON: Thank you.

1 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

2 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。

3 escalate   

v.(使)逐步增长(或发展)，(使)逐步升级

参考例句：

• It would tempt Israel's neighbors to escalate their demands.它将诱使以色列的邻国不断把他们的要求升级。
• Defeat could cause one side or other to escalate the conflict.失败可能会导致其中一方将冲突升级。

4 offenses   

n.进攻( offense的名词复数 )；（球队的）前锋；进攻方法；攻势

参考例句：

• It's wrong of you to take the child to task for such trifling offenses. 因这类小毛病责备那孩子是你的不对。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Thus, Congress cannot remove an executive official except for impeachable offenses. 因此，除非有可弹劾的行为，否则国会不能罢免行政官员。 来自英汉非文学 - 行政法

5 provenance   

n.出处；起源

参考例句：

• Kato was fully aware of the provenance of these treasures.加藤完全清楚这些珍宝的来源。
• This plant's provenance is Asiadj.这种植物原产于亚洲。

6 authenticity   

n.真实性

参考例句：

• There has been some debate over the authenticity of his will. 对于他的遗嘱的真实性一直有争论。
• The museum is seeking an expert opinion on the authenticity of the painting. 博物馆在请专家鉴定那幅画的真伪。

7 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

8 twitching   

n.颤搐

参考例句：

• The child in a spasm kept twitching his arms and legs. 那个害痉挛的孩子四肢不断地抽搐。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• My eyelids keep twitching all the time. 我眼皮老是跳。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

9 pinpoint   

vt.准确地确定；用针标出…的精确位置

参考例句：

• It is difficult to pinpoint when water problems of the modern age began.很难准确地指出，现代用水的问题是什么时候出现的。
• I could pinpoint his precise location on a map.我能在地图上指明他的准确位置。

10 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

11 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

12 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

14 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

15 circumscribe   

v.在...周围划线，限制，约束

参考例句：

• Please circumscribe the words which are wrongly spelled.请将拼错的词圈出来。
• The principal has requested all teachers to circumscribe failures in red on the report cards.这项规定要求，所有老师均要在报告卡用红笔上标出错误所在。

16 outlaws   

歹徒，亡命之徒( outlaw的名词复数 )； 逃犯

参考例句：

• During his year in the forest, Robin met many other outlaws. 在森林里的一年，罗宾遇见其他许多绿林大盗。
• I didn't have to leave the country or fight outlaws. 我不必离开自己的国家，也不必与不法分子斗争。

17 knowledgeable   

adj.知识渊博的；有见识的

参考例句：

• He's quite knowledgeable about the theatre.他对戏剧很有心得。
• He made some knowledgeable remarks at the meeting.他在会上的发言颇有见地。

18 tolls   

（缓慢而有规律的）钟声( toll的名词复数 )； 通行费； 损耗； （战争、灾难等造成的）毁坏

参考例句：

• A man collected tolls at the gateway. 一个人在大门口收通行费。
• The long-distance call tolls amount to quite a sum. 长途电话费数目相当可观。

19 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

20 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

21 protocols   

n.礼仪( protocol的名词复数 )；（外交条约的）草案；（数据传递的）协议；科学实验报告（或计划）

参考例句：

• There are also protocols on the testing of nuclear weapons. 也有关于核武器试验的协议。 来自辞典例句
• Hardware components and software design of network transport protocols are separately introduced. 介绍系统硬件组成及网络传输协议的软件设计。 来自互联网

22 decency   

n.体面，得体，合宜，正派，庄重

参考例句：

• His sense of decency and fair play made him refuse the offer.他的正直感和公平竞争意识使他拒绝了这一提议。
• Your behaviour is an affront to public decency.你的行为有伤风化。

23 defensive   

adj.防御的；防卫的；防守的

参考例句：

• Their questions about the money put her on the defensive.他们问到钱的问题，使她警觉起来。
• The Government hastily organized defensive measures against the raids.政府急忙布置了防卫措施抵御空袭。

24 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

25 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

26 garb   

n.服装，装束

参考例句：

• He wore the garb of a general.他身着将军的制服。
• Certain political,social,and legal forms reappear in seemingly different garb.一些政治、社会和法律的形式在表面不同的外衣下重复出现。