Statement
on Syria 关于叙利亚的讲话
Secretary of State John Kerry 约翰·克里国务卿
Treaty Room, Washington, D.C. 条约厅，华盛顿特区
August 30, 2013 2013年8月30日
President Obama has spent many
days now consulting with Congress and talking with leaders around the world
about the situation in Syria. And last night, the President asked all of us on
his national security team to consult with the leaders of Congress as well,
including the leadership of the Congressional national security committees. And
he asked us to consult about what we know regarding the horrific chemical
weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs last week. I will tell you that as
someone who has spent nearly three decades in the United States Congress, I
know that that consultation is the right way for a president to approach a
decision of when and how and if to use military force. And it’s important to
ask the tough questions and get the tough answers before taking action, not
just afterwards.
欧巴马总统连日来在就叙利亚局势与国会磋商，并同世界各地领导人通了话。昨晚，总统要求国家安全班子的所有成员也与国会领袖交换意见，包括与国会负责国家安全事务的有关委员会领袖。他要我们就我们所了解的上星期在大马士革郊区发生的骇人听闻的化学武器攻击交换情况。我可以告诉各位，作为一个曾在美国国会供职近30年的人，我知道，磋商是总统决定何时、何种方式以及是否使用武力的正确途径。必须在采取行动之前，而不是之后，提出各种难题并作出相应回答。
And I believe, as President Obama
does, that it is also important to discuss this directly with the American
people. That’s our responsibility, to talk with the citizens who have entrusted
all of us in the Administration and the Congress with the responsibility for
their security. That’s why this morning’s release of our government’s
unclassified estimate of what took place in Syria is so important. Its findings
are as clear as they are compelling. I’m not asking you to take my word for it.
Read for yourself, everyone, those listening. All of you, read for yourselves
the evidence from thousands of sources, evidence that is already publicly
available, and read for yourselves the verdict reached by our intelligence
community about the chemical weapons attack the Assad regime inflicted on the
opposition and on opposition-controlled or contested neighborhoods in the Damascus
suburbs on the early morning of August 21st.
我认为，欧巴马总统同样认为，也必须直接与美国人民讨论这个问题。与将安全托付给本政府和国会所有成员的公民进行沟通是我们的责任。正因为如此，我们今天早上必须将政府对叙利亚所发生的情况的非机密评估公布于众。这些结论清楚而有力。我不是要你们只听我说，请正在听讲的各位亲自去读。所有各位，请去读一读有数千个来源的证据，已经公开可见的证据，请去读一读我们的情报机构得出的关于 8月21日凌晨阿萨德政权向反对派和反对派控制和争夺的大马士革郊外一些小区发动化学武器攻击的结论。
Our intelligence community has
carefully reviewed and re-reviewed information regarding this attack, and I
will tell you it has done so more than mindful of the Iraq experience. We will
not repeat that moment. Accordingly, we have taken unprecedented steps to
declassify and make facts available to people who can judge for themselves. But
still, in order to protect sources and methods, some of what we know will only
be released to members of Congress, the representatives of the American people.
That means that some things we do know we can’t talk about publicly.
我们的情报机构对有关这次袭击的信息进行了仔细的审视、再审视，我可以说，在这点上伊拉克的经历令人极其小心。我们不会重蹈覆辙。因此，我们采取了前所未有的解密步骤，将事实摆出来，由人们自己作判断。但是，为了保护来源和所用方式，我们只能将有些已知情况告诉国会成员，即美国人民的代表。这意味着，我们无法公开地谈论我们确实掌握的有些情况。
So what do we really know that we
can talk about? Well, we know that the Assad regime has the largest chemical
weapons program in the entire Middle East. We know that the regime has used
those weapons multiple times this year and has used them on a smaller scale,
but still it has used them against its own people, including not very far from
where last Wednesday’s attack happened. We know that the regime was
specifically determined to rid the Damascus suburbs of the opposition, and it
was frustrated that it hadn’t succeeded in doing so.
那么，什么是我们能够谈论的我们确实知道的情况呢？
我们知道，阿萨德政权拥有全中东地区最大的化学武器项目。我们知道，这个政权今年曾多次以较小规模使用过那些武器，但这仍是针对着自己的人民，其中包括发生在距离上星期三攻击不远的地方。我们知道，这个政权尤其执意要在大马士革郊区清除反对派，对始终未能如愿躁怒不安。
We know that for three days
before the attack the Syrian regime’s chemical weapons personnel were on the
ground in the area making preparations. And we know that the Syrian regime
elements were told to prepare for the attack by putting on gas masks and taking
precautions associated with chemical weapons. We know that these were specific
instructions. We know where the rockets were launched from and at what time. We
know where they landed and when. We know rockets came only from
regime-controlled areas and went only to opposition-controlled or contested
neighborhoods.
我们知道，在发生攻击的前三天，叙利亚政权的化学武器人员曾在当地进行准备。我们知道，叙利亚政权的一些成员被告知，要为预防攻击戴上防毒面具和采取与化学武器相关的防范措施。我们知道，这些是具体的指示。我们知道，火箭从何地何时发射。我们知道，它们落在何地何时。我们知道，火箭只来自政府控制的地区，只发向反对派控制或争夺的小区。
And we know, as does the world,
that just 90 minutes later all hell broke loose in the social media. With our
own eyes we have seen the thousands of reports from 11 separate sites in the
Damascus suburbs. All of them show and report victims with breathing
difficulties, people twitching with spasms, coughing, rapid heartbeats, foaming
at the mouth, unconsciousness and death.
我们知道，全世界也知道，仅仅在90分钟后，社交媒体一片鼎沸。我们亲眼看到来自大马士革11个地方的数以千计的报道。所有报道都显示和叙述遭攻击的人呼吸困难，抽搐痉挛，咳嗽，心跳加速，口吐白沫，丧失知觉，死亡。
And we know it was ordinary
Syrian citizens who reported all of these horrors. And just as important, we
know what the doctors and the nurses who treated them didn’t report – not a
scratch, not a shrapnel wound, not a cut, not a gunshot wound. We saw rows of
dead lined up in burial shrouds, the white linen unstained by a single drop of
blood. Instead of being tucked safely in their beds at home, we saw rows of
children lying side by side sprawled on a hospital floor, all of them dead from
Assad’s gas and surrounded by parents and grandparents who had suffered the
same fate.
而且我们知道，所有这些可怕的报道是来自普通的叙利亚公民。同样重要的是，我们知道，
救治这些人的医生护士没有提到某些状况——没有擦伤，没有弹片伤，没有破口，没有枪伤。我们看到一排排裹在尸布中的尸体，上面没有一点血迹。我们看到，本应安详睡在家中的儿童，一行行并排躺在医院的地上，被阿萨德的毒气夺走了生命，在他们四周是遭遇相同命运的爸爸妈妈、爷爷奶奶。
The United States Government now
knows that at least 1,429 Syrians were killed in this attack, including at
least 426 children. Even the first responders, the doctors, nurses, and medics
who tried to save them, they became victims themselves. We saw them gasping for
air, terrified that their own lives were in danger.
美国政府现在知道，这次攻击造成至少1429名叙利亚人死亡，其中至少有426名儿童。
就连那些一线急救人员——医生、护士和卫生员，也沦为遇难者。我们看到他们呼吸艰难，惊恐地意识到自己也生命危急。
This is the indiscriminate,
inconceivable horror of chemical weapons. This is what Assad did to his own
people.
这是化学武器的滥杀和令人难以置信的恐怖。这是阿萨德对待自己人民的行径。
We also know many disturbing
details about the aftermath. We know that a senior regime official who knew
about the attack confirmed that chemical weapons were used by the regime,
reviewed the impact, and actually was afraid that they would be discovered. We
know this.
我们也知道有关后果的许多令人不安的细节。我们知道，一位知晓此次攻击的政府高官证实该政权用了化学武器，审视了其影响，而且还担心情况会被发现。我们知道这点。
And we know what they did next. I
personally called the Foreign Minister of Syria and I said to him, “If, as you
say, your nation has nothing to hide, then let the United Nations in immediately
and give the inspectors the unfettered access so they have the opportunity to
tell your story.” Instead, for four days they shelled the neighborhood in order
to destroy evidence, bombarding block after block at a rate four times higher
than they had over the previous 10 days. And when the UN inspectors finally
gained access, that access, as we now know, was restricted and controlled.
我们还知道他们下一步做了什么。我亲自打电话给叙利亚外长，我对他说：“如果像你所说，贵国没有任何东西需要隐藏，那么让联合国立即进入，让检查人员能够畅通无阻地准入，以便他们有机会替你们说话。”然而，他们连续4天轰炸小区以销毁证据，一个街区一个街区地轰炸，频率是前10天的4倍。当联合国检查人员终于能够进入当地时，如我们现在所知，他们的行动受到了限制和控制。
In all of these things that I
have listed, in all of these things that we know, all of them, the American
intelligence community has high confidence, high confidence. This is common
sense. This is evidence. These are facts.
美国情报界对我上述列举的这一切、我们所知道的这一切，对这一切，有高度信心，高度信心。这是常识。这是证据。这些是事实。
So the primary question is really
no longer: What do we know? The question is: What are we – we collectively –
what are we in the world going to do about it?
所以，主要的问题不再是：我们都知道什么？问题是：我们——我们一起——到底应当怎样作出反响？
As previous storms in history
have gathered, when unspeakable crimes were within our power to stop them, we
have been warned against the temptations of looking the other way. History is
full of leaders who have warned against inaction, indifference, and especially
against silence when it mattered most. Our choices then in history had great
consequences and our choice today has great consequences. It matters that
nearly a hundred years ago, in direct response to the utter horror and
inhumanity of World War I, that the civilized world agreed that chemical
weapons should never be used again.
如同过去历史风暴显示，当我们有能力制止不可言喻的罪行时，我们被警告，不要视而不见。历史上有无数领袖人物发出过警告，在最重要关头不得无所作为，无动于衷，尤其不能保持沉默。我们那时的历史抉择产生了重大后果，我们今天的抉择也会产生重大后果。将近100年前，作为对第一次世界大战的惨烈和非人道的直接回应，文明世界一致同意永远不得再使用化学武器。
That was the world’s resolve
then, and that began nearly a century of effort to create a clear redline for
the international community. It matters today that we are working as an
international community to rid the world of the worst weapons. That’s why we
signed agreements like the START Treaty,
the New START Treaty, the Chemical Weapons Convention, which more
than 180 countries, including Iran, Iraq, and Lebanon, have signed on to.
那是世界当时的决心，并由此开始了近一个世纪的努力，在国际社会划出一条清晰的红线。今天，我们有必要作为一个整体国际社会，一道努力消除世界上最恶毒的武器。这就是为什么我们签署了《削减战略武器条约》，《削减战略武器新条约》，《禁止化学武器公约》等协议，包括伊朗、伊拉克和黎巴嫩在内的180多个国家签署了《禁止化学武器公约》。
It matters to our security and
the security of our allies. It matters to Israel. It matters to our close
friends Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon – all of whom live just a stiff breeze away
from Damascus. It matters to all of them where the Syrian chemical weapons are.
And if unchecked, they can cause even greater death and destruction to those
friends. And it matters deeply to the credibility and the future interests of
the United States of America and our allies.
这对我们和我们盟友的安全至关重要。这对以色列至关重要。这对我们的亲密朋友——与大马士革近在咫尺的约旦、土耳其和黎巴嫩——至关重要。这对叙利亚化学武器所在地的所有人至关重要。如果放任不管，它们会对那些朋友造成更大的伤亡和损害。这对美国及其盟友的信誉和长远利益极其重要。
It matters because a lot of other
countries, whose polices challenges these international norms, are watching.
They are watching. They want to see whether the United States and our friends
mean what we say. It is directly related to our credibility and whether
countries still believe the United States when it says something. They are
watching to see if Syria can get away with it, because then maybe they too can
put the world at greater risk.
它之所以重要，还因为有其他不少以其政策挑战国际准则的国家正在观望。他们在观望。他们想知道美国和我们的朋友是否言出必行。这直接关系到我们的信誉，关系到美国是否仍在其他国家面前言而有信。他们在观望叙利亚是否能够逃脱，因为如果真能如此，那么他们或许也可以让世界陷入更大险境。
And make no mistake, in an
increasingly complicated world of sectarian and religious extremist violence,
what we choose to do or not do matters in real ways to our own security. Some
cite the risk of doing things, but we need to ask, what is the risk of doing
nothing?
毋庸置疑，在一个充满教派和宗教极端主义暴力的日趋复杂的世界里，我们选择有所作为或是无所作为直接关系到我们自身的安全。有些人举出了有作为的风险，但我们要问，无作为的风险又是什么？
It matters because if we choose
to live in a world where a thug and a murderer like Bashar al-Assad can gas
thousands of his own people with impunity, even after the United States and our
allies said no, and then the world does nothing about it, there will be no end
to the test of our resolve and the dangers that will flow from those others who
believe that they can do as they will.
这一点之所以重要是因为，如果我们选择生活在这样一个世界中——巴沙尔•阿萨德这样的无赖和刽子手即使在美国和我们的盟友警告之后，仍可以用毒气杀害自己数以千计的人民而不受惩罚，那么，对我们决心的挑战将没有底线，那些认为他们可以为所欲为的人会无止境地把世界置于危险之中。
This matters also beyond the
limits of Syria’s borders. It is about whether Iran, which itself has been a
victim of chemical weapons attacks, will now feel emboldened, in the absence of
action, to obtain nuclear weapons. It is about Hezbollah, and North Korea, and
every other terrorist group or dictator that might ever again contemplate the
use of weapons of mass destruction. Will they remember that the Assad regime
was stopped from those weapons’ current or future use, or will they remember
that the world stood aside and created impunity?
这一点的重要性超出了叙利亚边界。它关系到面对这种无所作为，伊朗是否会更嚣张地获取核武器，尽管其本身曾经是化学武器攻击的受害者。它还关系到真主党，北韩，以及所有其他恐怖主义组织或独裁者是否会再度企图使用大规模毁灭性武器。他们是将记得阿萨德政权现在和未来被制止了使用这些武器，还是记得世界曾袖手旁观，令其逍遥法外？
So our concern is not just about
some far off land oceans away. That’s not what this is about. Our concern with
the cause of the defenseless people of Syria is about choices that will directly
affect our role in the world and our interests in the world. It is also
profoundly about who we are. We are the United States of America. We are the
country that has tried, not always successfully, but always tried to honor a
set of universal values around which we have organized our lives and our
aspirations. This crime against conscience, this crime against humanity, this
crime against the most fundamental principles of international community,
against the norm of the international community, this matters to us. And it
matters to who we are. And it matters to leadership and to our credibility in
the world. My friends, it matters here if nothing is done. It matters if the
world speaks out in condemnation and then nothing happens.
因此，我们所关切的绝不是远隔重洋的某一遥远国度。这不是实质所在。我们对手无寸铁的叙利亚人民的事业的关切，关系着那些将直接影响我们的国际作用和利益的选择。这也在根本上关系到我们的本色。我们是美利坚合众国。我们一直努力——虽然并非每次成功——但我们始终努力奉行一套普世价值，
我们是按照这样的普世价值来组织我们的生活和奋斗目标。这种违反良心的罪行，这种反人性的罪行，这种违反国际社会最根本的原则、违反国际社会规范的罪行，对我们非同小可。这关系到我们的本色。这关系到我们在这个世界的领导地位和信誉。朋友们，如果不采取任何行动，非同小可。如果全世界大声谴责而毫无行动，非同小可。
America should feel confident and
gratified that we are not alone in our condemnation, and we are not alone in
our will to do something about it and to act. The world is speaking out, and
many friends stand ready to respond. The Arab League pledged, quote, “to hold
the Syrian regime fully responsible for this crime.” The Organization for
Islamic Cooperation condemned the regime and said we needed, quote, “to hold
the Syrian Government legally and morally accountable for this heinous crime.”
Turkey said there is no doubt that the regime is responsible. Our oldest ally,
the French, said the regime, quote, “committed this vile action, and it is an
outrage to use weapons that the community has banned for the last 90 years in
all international conventions.” The Australian Prime Minister said he didn’t
want history to record that we were, quote, “a party to turning such a blind
eye.”
美国应该感到自信和欣慰的是，提出谴责的不仅是我们一国，愿意采取某种措施和行动的不仅是我们一国。全世界正在大声疾呼，许多盟友随时准备响应。阿拉伯联盟誓言要——用他们的话说——“追究叙利亚政权对此罪行的全部责任”。伊斯兰合作组织谴责该政权并表示我们必须——用他们的话——“从法律上和道德上追究叙利亚政府对这一令人发指的罪行的责任”
。土耳其说，毫无疑问叙利亚政权责任难逃。我们最悠久的盟国法国说，叙利亚政权——用他们的话说——“采取了这种卑鄙的行动。使用过去90年国际社会在所有国际公约中禁止的武器，令人愤慨”。澳大利亚总理说，他不愿让历史留下这样的记录，说我们是“一群人视而不见的人”。
So now that we know what we know,
the question we must all be asking is: What will we do? Let me emphasize –
President Obama, we in the United States, we believe in the United Nations. And
we have great respect for the brave inspectors who endured regime gunfire and
obstructions to their investigation. But as Ban Ki-moon, the Secretary General,
has said again and again, the UN investigation will not affirm who used these
chemical weapons. That is not the mandate of the UN investigation. They will
only affirm whether such weapons were used. By the definition of their own
mandate, the UN can’t tell us anything that we haven’t shared with you this
afternoon or that we don’t already know. And because of the guaranteed Russian
obstructionism of any action through the UN Security Council, the UN cannot
galvanize the world to act as it should.
现在，基于我们已经知道的情况，我们所有人必须问这样一个问题：我们该怎么办？我必须强调——欧巴马总统，我们美国人民——我们相信联合国。我们极为尊重那些勇敢的检查人员，他们冒着叙利亚政权的炮火，忍受了百般阻挠。但正如潘基文秘书长反复说明的那样，联合国的调查将不是确定谁使用了这些化学武器。这不是联合国调查的使命。他们只将确定是否使用了这种武器。根据他们自身使命的定义，除了今天下午我们和你们谈的内容外，联合国不能告诉我们任何别的情况，也不能告诉我们任何我们所不知的情况。由于俄罗斯必定会通过联合国安理会阻碍任何行动，联合国无法调动全世界采取应有的行动。
So let me be clear. We will
continue talking to the Congress, talking to our allies, and most importantly,
talking to the American people. President Obama will ensure that the United
States of America makes our own decisions on our own timelines based on our
values and our interests.
因此请让我明确说明。我们将继续和国会磋商，和我们的盟友磋商，最重要的是，和美国人民磋商。欧巴马总统将确保，美利坚合众国会根据我们的价值观和我们的利益，按照我们自己的时间表作出决定。
Now, we know that after a decade
of conflict, the American people are tired of war. Believe me, I am, too. But
fatigue does not absolve us of our responsibility. Just longing for peace does
not necessarily bring it about. And history would judge us all extraordinarily
harshly if we turned a blind eye to a dictator’s wanton use of weapons of mass
destruction against all warnings, against all common understanding of decency.
These things we do know.
我们知道，在10年的冲突后，美国人民厌倦了战争。请相信，我也一样。但是疲劳不能让我们开脱责任。仅渴望和平不一定能得到和平。如果某个独裁者无视各种警告，无视所有人对文明的共同理解，恣意妄为地使用大规模杀伤性武器，如果我们对其视而不见，那么历史将会极其严厉地评判我们。这些为我们所确知。
We also know that we have a President
who does what he says that he will do. And he has said very clearly that
whatever decision he makes in Syria, it will bear no resemblance to
Afghanistan, Iraq, or even Libya. It will not involve any boots on the ground.
It will not be open-ended. And it will not assume responsibility for a civil
war that is already well underway. The President has been clear: Any action
that he might decide to take will be a limited and tailored response to ensure
that a despot’s brutal and flagrant use of chemical weapons is held
accountable. And ultimately, ultimately, we are committed – we remain
committed, we believe it’s the primary objective – is to have a diplomatic
process that can resolve this through negotiation, because we know there is no
ultimate military solution. It has to be political. It has to happen at the
negotiating table, and we are deeply committed to getting there.
我们也知道，我们的总统言必信行必果。他已经非常明确地说过，无论他对叙利亚作出何种决定，它绝不会与对阿富汗、伊拉克或甚至利比亚的决定相同。它将不涉及派出地面部队。它不会旷日持久。它不会为早在进行的内战承担责任。总统已经很明确：他可能决定的任何行动都将是有限度和有针对性的反应，确保让残酷和公然使用化学武器的暴君承担后果。最终，最终，我们致力于——我们继续致力于，我们认为这是我们的主要目标——即使用外交程序，通过谈判予以解决，因为我们知道，不存在终极的军事解决方案。它必须是政治解决。它必须在谈判桌上产生，我们坚决致力于达成政治解决。
So that is what we know. That’s
what the leaders of Congress now know. And that’s what the American people need
to know. And that is at the core of the decisions that must now be made for the
security of our country and for the promise of a planet where the world’s most
heinous weapons must never again be used against the world’s most vulnerable
people.
因此，这就是我们了解的情况。这是国会领导人现在了解的情况。这是全体美国人民需要了解的情况。这就是现在必须作出决定的核心——为了我国的安全，为了我们这个星球的承诺，即世界上最为令人发指的武器将绝不再用于屠杀最易受伤害的人民。
Thank you very much.
非常感谢大家。 |
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