PBS高端访谈:到底是什么造成巴黎的恐怖袭击?

 　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, known as ISIS, has claimed credit for Friday's terrorist attack in Paris. And the French government also blames the Islamic militant¹ group.

　　Peter Neumann studies and teaches terrorism and radicalization at King's College in London. He joins me now from there to discuss the group and its intentions.

　　Peter, these latest attacks sort of put to rest the idea that ISIS was mostly concerned about actions in the Middle East. What do you think that they are trying to accomplish with these most recent attacks?

　　PETER NEUMANN, Director, International Center for the Study of Radicalization, King's College: I think there are three aims here. The first is classical asymmetric² warfare³ — warfare. You're hitting us. We're going to take revenge by hitting you where it hurts most, namely at home.

　　The second intention is really to polarize and to divide European societies, to create that sense of Islam against the West, and to create a lot of mess in the countries that they oppose.

　　The third intention that often gets forgotten is also internally. I think the Islamic State has been on the defensive⁴ in its core territory in Iraq and Syria.

　　And this kind of attack, I think, motivates supporters and gives them again the feeling that they are part of a winning team. And that's really important.

　　到底是什么造成巴黎的恐怖袭击?

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: So, this is part of their strategy of not just maybe scaring the West off from attacks against them, but trying to recruit more people to the cause?

　　PETER NEUMANN: Absolutely.

　　And I think it's really important to understand, in the case of ISIS, that it is important to understand the ideology⁵, but it's also important, for a lot of Western recruits, the sense that they are part of a winning team, that this is a successful, ever-expanding project. That is how it seemed last year.

　　And it hasn't seemed like that for a number of months. And this kind of attack is almost diverting attention from some of the problems that ISIS is having in Iraq and Syria. And, for — for that reason, it is very important for ISIS to have it.

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: U.S. officials in the past have been saying that the fight against ISIS might take some patience and might take some time.

　　In your opinion, is this a fight that can be hastened?

　　PETER NEUMANN: I think it's very dangerous to try to hasten it too much.

　　I think, contrary to what everyone says, the campaign that has been going on in Iraq and Syria has not been altogether unsuccessful.

　　It has contained the Islamic State. It has taken away the notion of it as a successful organization in its core territory.

　　And if you want to hasten it, of course, America can basically bomb the whole place, but the question then becomes, what happens the day after that?

　　So, you have to bring ISIS down in a way that it actually implodes⁶. That's the only way in which you can have a sustainable end to ISIS.

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: There's obviously been a connection made in the last few days between the refugees coming into Europe and these attacks.

　　And, obviously, we're torn between a humanitarian⁷ disaster going on that is sending all these people into Europe and then fears now people — very real fears of more attacks happening. How do you see that tension playing out?

　　PETER NEUMANN: It is incredibly dangerous.

　　The important thing to remember about terrorism is, it is always about — not only about killing⁸ people. It's also about creating a political effect.

　　If the political effect of these attacks is that, in the medium term, European societies are becoming more polarized, that the far right, which is already strong in a lot of countries, is trying to capitalize on that, is trying to merge⁹ the refugee issue with the terrorism issue, the effect on European societies could be terrible.

　　They could even question the idea that people of different faiths, ethnicities can live peacefully together in Europe. So, I do think we are at a fragile moment here in Europe, and we have to be really careful.

　　WILLIAM BRANGHAM: All right, Peter Neumann of King's College in London, thank you so much for being here.

　　PETER NEUMANN: Thank you.

 

1 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

2 asymmetric   

a.不对称的

参考例句：

• Most people's faces are asymmetric. 大多数人的脸不对称。
• We have made no reference to asymmetric carbon atoms. 我们未曾涉及不对称碳原子。

3 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。

4 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。

5 ideology   

n.意识形态，(政治或社会的)思想意识

参考例句：

• The ideology has great influence in the world.这种思想体系在世界上有很大的影响。
• The ideal is to strike a medium between ideology and inspiration.我的理想是在意识思想和灵感鼓动之间找到一个折衷。

6 implodes   

v.（使）向心聚爆( implode的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

7 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。

8 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。

9 merge   

v.(使)结合，(使)合并，(使)合为一体

参考例句：

• I can merge my two small businesses into a large one.我可以将我的两家小商店合并为一家大商行。
• The directors have decided to merge the two small firms together.董事们已决定把这两家小商号归并起来。