新闻周刊:巴沙尔·阿萨德的争议得到了解释(3)

In 2015, just as the U.S. began realigning its alliances away from an increasingly Islamist opposition¹ and toward a mostly Kurdish group of militias², 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 'humanitarianism³' as a justification⁴ for overthrowing⁵ the Syrian government of Assad," whom she referred to as "a brutal⁶ 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 Christians⁷ and small Jewish community against the jihadis of the Islamic State militant⁸ 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 insurgents⁹ 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 controversy¹⁰ that has yet to abate¹¹ in the U.S. She has since turned on the president's Syria policy as his more hawkish¹² 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 arena¹³ 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。

1 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

2 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

3 humanitarianism   

n.博爱主义；人道主义；基督凡人论

参考例句：

• Humanitarianism is apt to be forgotten when the balloon goes up. 一旦战争爆发，人道主义往往就被抛到脑后了。 来自互联网
• We must heal the wounded, rescue the dying, practicing revolutionary humanitarianism. 我们要救死扶伤，实行革命的人道主义。 来自互联网

4 justification   

n.正当的理由；辩解的理由

参考例句：

• There's no justification for dividing the company into smaller units. 没有理由把公司划分成小单位。
• In the young there is a justification for this feeling. 在年轻人中有这种感觉是有理由的。

5 overthrowing   

v.打倒，推翻( overthrow的现在分词 )；使终止

参考例句：

• They succeeded in overthrowing the fascist dictatorship. 他们成功推翻了法西斯独裁统治。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I always delight in overthrowing those kinds of schemes. 我一向喜欢戳穿人家的诡计。 来自辞典例句

6 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

7 Christians   

n.基督教徒( Christian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Christians of all denominations attended the conference. 基督教所有教派的人都出席了这次会议。
• His novel about Jesus caused a furore among Christians. 他关于耶稣的小说激起了基督教徒的公愤。

8 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。

9 insurgents   

n.起义，暴动，造反( insurgent的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The regular troops of Baden joined the insurgents. 巴登的正规军参加到起义军方面来了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Against the Taliban and Iraqi insurgents, these problems are manageable. 要对付塔利班与伊拉克叛乱分子，这些问题还是可以把握住的。 来自互联网

10 controversy   

n.争论，辩论，争吵

参考例句：

• That is a fact beyond controversy.那是一个无可争论的事实。
• We ran the risk of becoming the butt of every controversy.我们要冒使自己在所有的纷争中都成为众矢之的的风险。

11 abate   

vi.(风势，疼痛等)减弱，减轻，减退

参考例句：

• We must abate the noise pollution in our city.我们必须消除我们城里的噪音污染。
• The doctor gave him some medicine to abate the powerful pain.医生给了他一些药，以减弱那剧烈的疼痛。

12 hawkish   

adj. 鹰派的, 强硬派的

参考例句：

• My staff's advice that first day was amazingly hawkish. 在第一天，我的僚属们的意见是令人吃惊的鹰派意见。
• Antiwar groups fear Barack Obama may create hawkish Cabinet. 反战团体担心巴拉克·奥巴马可以创建强硬派内阁。

13 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。