英国卫报：美国如何创造了一个无尽战争的世界(1)

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How the US created a world of endless war

美国如何创造了一个无尽的战争世界

In 2008, many of Barack Obama’s supporters hoped he would bring the global war on terror to a close.

2008年，巴拉克-奥巴马的许多支持者都希望他能结束全球反恐战争。

Instead, he expanded it – and his successors have done nothing to change course.

但相反，他扩大了战争--他的继任者没有采取任何措施来调整策略。

On 23 May 2013, the peace activist¹ Medea Benjamin attended a speech by President Barack Obama at Fort McNair in Washington DC, where he defended his administration’s use of armed drones in counter-terrorism.

2013年5月23日，和平活动家梅地亚-本杰明出席了巴拉克-欧巴马总统在华盛顿特区麦克奈尔堡的演讲，他在演讲中为其政府在反恐中使用武装无人机做了辩护。

During his speech, Benjamin interrupted the president to criticise² him for not having closed Guantánamo Bay and for pursuing military solutions over diplomatic ones.

在演讲中，本杰明打断了总统的讲话，批评他没有关闭关塔那摩湾，以及追求军事解决方案而不是外交解决方案。

She was swiftly ejected by military police and the Secret Service.

她被军警和特勤局迅速赶了出去。

The Washington Post later dismissed her as a “heckler”.

《华盛顿邮报》后来认为她是"找茬儿"的。

Obama himself had been more reflective at the event, engaging with her criticisms, which led to even deeper self-criticism of his own.

奥巴马本人在活动中更多地进行了反思，提到了她的批评，从而导致他对自己进行了更深刻的自我批评。

It was the moment of greatest moral clarity about war during a presidency³ that did more than any other to bring its endless and humane⁴ American form fully⁵ into being.

这是奥巴马在担任总统期间对战争有最清晰的道德认识的时刻，他比任何其他总统都更有能力使其无休止的、人性化的美国形式完全形成。

For all its routine violence, the American way of war is more and more defined by a near complete immunity⁶ from harm for the American side and unprecedented⁷ care when it comes to killing⁸ people on the other.

就其所有的常规暴力而言，美国的战争方式越来越多地被定义为：美方几乎完全免于伤害，而在杀害另一方的人时则会空前谨慎。

Today, there are more and more legal obligations to make war more humane – meaning, above all, the aim of minimising collateral⁹ harm.

今天，有越来越多的法律义务让战争更加人道化--这意味着，首先要将附带伤害降到最低。

Countries like the US have agreed to obey those obligations, however permissively they interpret them and inadequately¹⁰ apply them in the field.

像美国这样的国家已经同意遵守这些义务，无论他们如何放任地解释这些义务，并在战场上不适当地应用这些义务。

Absolutely and relatively¹¹, fewer captives are mistreated and fewer civilians¹² die than in the past.

与过去相比，无论是绝对还是相对而言，受虐待的俘虏和死亡的平民都减少了。

Yet, at the same time, the US’s military operations have become more expansive in scope and perpetual in time by virtue¹³ of these very facts.

然而，与此同时，凭借这些事实，美国的军事行动在范围上变得更广，在时间上也更持久。

The very idea of more humane war may seem a contradiction in terms.

更为人道的战争听起来似乎很矛盾。

The US’s conflicts abroad remain brutal¹⁴ and deadly, but what’s frightening about them is not just the violence they inflict¹⁵.

美国在海外的冲突仍然是残酷和致命的，但它们的可怕之处不仅仅是它们造成的暴力。

This new kind of American war is revealing that the most elemental face of war is not death.

这种新型的美国战争揭示了战争的最基本面不是死亡。

Instead, it is control by domination and surveillance.

相反，它是通过统治和监视来控制。

1 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

2 criticise   

v.批评，评论；非难

参考例句：

• Right and left have much cause to criticise government.左翼和右翼有很多理由批评政府。
• It is not your place to criticise or suggest improvements!提出批评或给予改进建议并不是你的责任！

3 presidency   

n.总统(校长，总经理)的职位(任期)

参考例句：

• Roosevelt was elected four times to the presidency of the United States.罗斯福连续当选四届美国总统。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency.两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。

4 humane   

adj.人道的，富有同情心的

参考例句：

• Is it humane to kill animals for food?宰杀牲畜来吃合乎人道吗？
• Their aim is for a more just and humane society.他们的目标是建立一个更加公正、博爱的社会。

5 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

6 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

7 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

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 collateral   

adj.平行的；旁系的；n.担保品

参考例句：

• Many people use personal assets as collateral for small business loans.很多人把个人财产用作小额商业贷款的抵押品。
• Most people here cannot borrow from banks because they lack collateral.由于拿不出东西作为抵押，这里大部分人无法从银行贷款。

10 inadequately   

ad.不够地；不够好地

参考例句：

• As one kind of building materials, wood is inadequately sturdy. 作为一种建筑材料，木材不够结实。
• Oneself is supported inadequately by the money that he earns. 他挣的钱不够养活自己。

11 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

12 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。

13 virtue   

n.德行，美德；贞操；优点；功效，效力

参考例句：

• He was considered to be a paragon of virtue.他被认为是品德尽善尽美的典范。
• You need to decorate your mind with virtue.你应该用德行美化心灵。

14 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。

15 inflict   

vt.(on)把…强加给，使遭受，使承担

参考例句：

• Don't inflict your ideas on me.不要把你的想法强加于我。
• Don't inflict damage on any person.不要伤害任何人。