时代周刊 叙利亚已经演变为全球战场(3)

That presents an issue for the U.S., which helped train and arm the YPG to fight ISIS,

这给美国带来了一个问题，因为美国曾经帮助训练和武装YPG对抗ISIS，

an operation that it says is their sole mission inside Syria.

而美国称这是他们在叙利亚境内唯一的使命。

Yet the Pentagon says, it will keep troops on the ground despite ISIS’s being pushed to a sliver¹ of land along the Iraqi border.

然而，五角大楼表示，尽管ISIS已经被赶到了伊拉克边境，但美国仍将保留其位于叙利亚境内的兵力。

The prospect² of direct clashes between the U. S. and Turkey—two NATO allies— now looks worryingly real.

现在看来，美国和土耳其这两个北约盟国之间发生直接冲突的可能性令人担忧。

Amid all this, Assad and his allies are attempting to obliterate³ the rebel holdouts of eastern Ghouta and Idlib.

与此同时，阿萨德和他的盟友也在试图消灭东古塔区和伊德利卜省的反叛势力。

The U. N. said on Feb. 6 that Syria is facing “some of the worst fighting of the entire conflict,” with reports of hundreds of civilian⁴ deaths.

联合国2月6日表示，叙利亚正面临“整个冲突中最激烈的战斗”，据报道，有数百名平民死亡。

Its proposals for de-escalation zones have gone nowhere.

其关于“冲突降级区”的提议也已经不了了之。

U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson will be in the region until Feb. 16 to discuss issues including the conflict in Syria,

美国国务卿雷克斯·蒂勒森将在该地区停留至2月16日，讨论叙利亚冲突等事宜，

but the U. S. is not the country best positioned to pull Syria back from its various fronts.

但美国并不是那个处在最佳地位而能够把叙利亚从各个前线拉回来的国家。

That would be Russia, the sole party that has open communications with every player involved.

俄罗斯才是，因为俄罗斯是唯一与所有参与方都开放了沟通的国家。

The prospect of losing its foothold in the Middle East—

失去其中东地位的可能性 -

and the reality of Russian citizens’ colliding with U. S.-backed forces on the battlefield—

加上俄罗斯公民在战场上与美国支持的部队发生冲突的现实 -

may prompt Vladimir Putin to try to rein⁵ in the situation.

可能会促使弗拉基米尔·普京出面控制该地区的局势。

But at this point, it may be beyond even his means to draw out the disease.

但在这一点上，可能连他都无法根除这一顽疾。

1 sliver   

n.裂片，细片，梳毛；v.纵切，切成长片，剖开

参考例句：

• There was only one sliver of light in the darkness.黑暗中只有一点零星的光亮。
• Then,one night,Monica saw a thin sliver of the moon reappear.之后的一天晚上，莫尼卡看到了一个月牙。

2 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

3 obliterate   

v.擦去，涂抹，去掉...痕迹，消失，除去

参考例句：

• Whole villages were obliterated by fire.整座整座的村庄都被大火所吞噬。
• There was time enough to obliterate memories of how things once were for him.时间足以抹去他对过去经历的记忆。

4 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。

5 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。