新闻周刊:巴沙尔·阿萨德的争议得到了解释(3)（在线收听）

In 2015, just as the U.S. began realigning its alliances away from an increasingly Islamist opposition and toward a mostly Kurdish group of militias, Russia joined Iran in directly supporting Assad, allowing his armed forces and their allies to turn the tides of the conflict. As the Syrian armed forces and their supporters began to retake the country through 2016, Gabbard voted against an anti-Assad House resolution she described as "a War Bill—a thinly veiled attempt to use the rationale of 'humanitarianism' as a justification for overthrowing the Syrian government of Assad," whom she referred to as "a brutal dictator."

2015年，正当美国开始重新调整盟友关系，从日益伊斯兰化的反对派转向主要由库尔德人组成的民兵组织时，俄罗斯加入了伊朗的行列，直接支持阿萨德，允许他的武装部队及其盟友扭转冲突的局势。随着叙利亚武装部队及其支持者开始在2016年之前重新夺回这个国家，加巴德投票反对一项反阿萨德的众议院决议，她称该决议是“一项战争法案”——她几乎毫不掩饰地试图以“人道主义”为理由推翻阿萨德的叙利亚政府，她称阿萨德是“一个残暴的独裁者”。

A month later, Republican Virginia State Senator Richard Black traveled to Damascus to meet with Assad, whom he had sent a warm letter in 2014 thanking him for defending Syria's Christians and small Jewish community against the jihadis of the Islamic State militant group (ISIS), Al-Qaeda and other organizations. Shortly after President Donald Trump's election in November 2016, Gabbard met with the Republican leader-to-be who shared her skepticism about U.S. support for Syrian insurgents and would go on to end it.

一个月后，维吉尼亚州共和党参议员理查德·布莱克前往大马士革与阿萨德会面。2014年，他给阿萨德写了一封热情洋溢的信，感谢他保护叙利亚的基督徒和小型犹太社区，对抗伊斯兰国武装组织、基地组织和其他组织的圣战分子。2016年11月唐纳德·特朗普当选美国总统后不久，加巴德就会见了这位共和党未来领导人。她对美国支持叙利亚叛乱分子的做法表示怀疑，并表示将继续结束这种做法。

Just days into Trump's term, Gabbard's revelation that she met Assad during a secret trip to Lebanon and Syria sparked an instant controversy that has yet to abate in the U.S. She has since turned on the president's Syria policy as his more hawkish tendencies manifested themselves in strikes on government targets and an expansion of the anti-ISIS mission there to also include ensuring Assad's departure and beating back Iranian influence, but as she enters the domestic political arena she has so far struggled to make a name for herself—until now.

就在特朗普上任几天后，加巴德透露她在一次秘密访问黎巴嫩和叙利亚期间会见了阿萨德，这一消息立即引发了一场争议，目前美国国内的争议尚未平息。自那以后，她转而支持总统的叙利亚政策，因为他对政府目标的打击，以及扩大在那里的反伊斯兰国任务，包括确保阿萨德下台，击退伊朗的影响力，都显示出他更加强硬的倾向，但是，当她进入国内政治舞台时，她一直在努力为自己赢得声誉——直到现在。