Remarks by the President in Address to the Nation on Syria

奥巴马总统就叙利亚问题向全国发表讲话

East Room, Washington, D.C.

东厅，华盛顿哥伦比亚特区

September 10, 2013

2013年9月10日

My fellow Americans, tonight I want to talk to you about Syria -- why it matters, and where we go from here.

我的美国同胞们，今晚我想对你们谈谈叙利亚问题 -- 为什么此事很重要，从现在开始我们将做些什么。

Over the past two years, what began as a series of peaceful protests against the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad has turned into a brutal civil war.  Over 100,000 people have been killed.  Millions have fled the country.  In that time, America has worked with allies to provide humanitarian support, to help the moderate opposition, and to shape a political settlement.  But I have resisted calls for military action, because we cannot resolve someone else’s civil war through force, particularly after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.

过去两年来，最初为反对巴沙尔阿萨德专制政权举行的一系列和平示威演变成一场残酷的内战。有100,000多人被杀害。数百万人逃离这个国家。在此期间，美国与各盟国一起提供人道主义援助，帮助温和的反对派，并努力促成政治解决。但是我拒绝了关于采取军事行动的要求，因为我们无法通过武力解决别国的内战问题，特别是在伊拉克和阿富汗经过了10年战争之后。

The situation profoundly changed, though, on August 21st, when Assad’s government gassed to death over a thousand people, including hundreds of children.  The images from this massacre are sickening:  Men, women, children lying in rows, killed by poison gas.  Others foaming at the mouth, gasping for breath.  A father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk.  On that terrible night, the world saw in gruesome detail the terrible nature of chemical weapons, and why the overwhelming majority of humanity has declared them off-limits -- a crime against humanity, and a violation of the laws of war.

8月21日，局势出现了巨大的变化。当时，阿萨德政府使用毒气杀害了一千多民众，其中包括数百名儿童。这场大屠杀的情景令人惨不忍睹：男子、妇女、儿童横尸遍地，都是因为中毒身亡。另一些人口吐白沫，呼吸窒息。一位父亲搂着死去的孩子们，还在哀求他们站起来走走。在那个可怕的夜晚，全世界通过惨绝人寰的详尽画面亲眼目睹化学武器的恐怖性质。这也说明为什么人类绝大多数宣布禁止使用这类武器——使用这类武器属于反人类的罪行，也违反了战争法。

This was not always the case.  In World War I, American GIs were among the many thousands killed by deadly gas in the trenches of Europe.  In World War II, the Nazis used gas to inflict the horror of the Holocaust.  Because these weapons can kill on a mass scale, with no distinction between soldier and infant, the civilized world has spent a century working to ban them.  And in 1997, the United States Senate overwhelmingly approved an international agreement prohibiting the use of chemical weapons, now joined by 189 governments that represent 98 percent of humanity.

事情往往没有那么简单。在次世界大战期间，数以千万计的人在欧洲的战壕中被致命的毒气杀害，美国士兵也在其中。在第二次世界大战期间，纳粹使用毒气制造了大屠杀的惨剧。由于这类武器可以大规模杀人害命，不论他们是士兵还是婴儿，文明世界花了一个世纪的时间努力禁止这类武器。1997年，美国参议院以压倒多数批准禁止使用化学武器的国际公约，现已有代表全人类98%的189个政府参加这项国际公约。

On August 21st, these basic rules were violated, along with our sense of common humanity.  No one disputes that chemical weapons were used in Syria.  The world saw thousands of videos, cell phone pictures, and social media accounts from the attack, and humanitarian organizations told stories of hospitals packed with people who had symptoms of poison gas.

8月21日，这些基本准则受到破坏，我们关于共同人性的信念被践踏。对于化学武器在叙利亚已经被使用一事，已没有人提出质疑。全世界从数千份视频、手机摄像和社会媒体条目上都看到这次袭击事件的情景。人道主义组织也提供了有关报道，指出一些医院人满为患，患者出现毒气中毒的症状。

Moreover, we know the Assad regime was responsible.  In the days leading up to August 21st, we know that Assad’s chemical weapons personnel prepared for an attack near an area where they mix sarin gas.  They distributed gasmasks to their troops.  Then they fired rockets from a regime-controlled area into 11 neighborhoods that the regime has been trying to wipe clear of opposition forces.  Shortly after those rockets landed, the gas spread, and hospitals filled with the dying and the wounded.  We know senior figures in Assad’s military machine reviewed the results of the attack, and the regime increased their shelling of the same neighborhoods in the days that followed.  We’ve also studied samples of blood and hair from people at the site that tested positive for sarin.

此外，我们知道阿萨德政权应为此负责。在8月21日前的几天，我们知道阿萨德的化学武器人员为了准备发动袭击，在邻近地区配制沙林毒气。他们向自己的军队发放了防毒面具。然后他们从该政权控制的地区向附近的11个小区发射火箭，该政权正企图在这些地区清除反对派武装。火箭落地后不久，毒气就开始蔓延，医院里到处都是死伤的人员。我们知道阿萨德军事机器的要员察看了袭击的结果，此后几天该政权加强了对这些小区进行炮击的火力。我们还检验了从现场人员身上取得的血液和毛发样品，结果发现呈沙林阳性。

When dictators commit atrocities, they depend upon the world to look the other way until those horrifying pictures fade from memory.  But these things happened.  The facts cannot be denied. The question now is what the United States of America, and the international community, is prepared to do about it.  Because what happened to those people -- to those children -- is not only a violation of international law, it’s also a danger to our security.

当独裁者采取罪恶行动时，他们期待全世界对此不闻不问，直到这些惨无人道的景象从记忆中渐渐消失。但这些情况千真万确。事实不可否认。现在的问题是，美利坚合众国和国际社会准备对此采取什么行动。因为这些民众—这些儿童—的遭遇不仅仅涉及违反国际法的行为，而且也对我国安全造成威胁。

Let me explain why.  If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons.  As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas, and using them.  Over time, our troops would again face the prospect of chemical warfare on the battlefield.  And it could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons, and to use them to attack civilians.

请让我说明这是为什么。如果我们不采取行动，阿萨德政权就会认为没有理由停止使用化学武器。一旦禁止使用这类武器的禁令受到侵蚀，其他专制暴君也会毫不犹豫地获得毒气并投入使用。长此以往，我国军队在战场上将再次面临化学战的局面。恐怖主义组织也更容易获得这类武器并使用这些武器袭击平民。

If fighting spills beyond Syria’s borders, these weapons could threaten allies like Turkey, Jordan, and Israel.  And a failure to stand against the use of chemical weapons would weaken prohibitions against other weapons of mass destruction, and embolden Assad’s ally, Iran -- which must decide whether to ignore international law by building a nuclear weapon, or to take a more peaceful path.

如果战火蔓延到叙利亚边境之外，这些武器会对土耳其、约旦和以色列等盟国造成威胁。如果不制止使用化学武器的行为，对其他大规模毁灭性武器的禁令也会被削弱，使阿萨德的盟国伊朗更胆大妄为--伊朗必须作出抉择，是以制造核武器对抗国际法，还是走上更和平的道路。

This is not a world we should accept.  This is what’s at stake.  And that is why, after careful deliberation, I determined that it is in the national security interests of the United States to respond to the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons through a targeted military strike.  The purpose of this strike would be to deter Assad from using chemical weapons, to degrade his regime’s ability to use them, and to make clear to the world that we will not tolerate their use.

这不是我们应接受的世界。这是利害攸关所在。 正因为如此，在经过审慎研究后，我断定，以有针对性的军事打击回应阿萨德政权动用化学武器的行径符合美国国家安全利益。打击是为了制止阿萨德使用化学武器，削弱该政权使用化学武器的能力，并向世界表明，我们决不容使用化学武器。

That’s my judgment as Commander-in-Chief.  But I’m also the President of the world’s oldest constitutional democracy.  So even though I possess the authority to order military strikes, I believed it was right, in the absence of a direct or imminent threat to our security, to take this debate to Congress.  I believe our democracy is stronger when the President acts with the support of Congress.  And I believe that America acts more effectively abroad when we stand together.

这是我作为全军统帅的判断。然而我也是世界最悠久的宪政民主国家的总统。因此，虽然我有权下令进行军事打击，但我认为，在我们的安全没有受到直接和紧迫威胁的情况下，应该将此提交国会辩论。我认为，总统的行动得到国会支持会使我们的民主制更有力。我认为，我们的团结一致会使美国能够更有效地在海外展开行动。

This is especially true after a decade that put more and more war-making power in the hands of the President, and more and more burdens on the shoulders of our troops, while sidelining the people’s representatives from the critical decisions about when we use force.

由于十年来总统的战争决定权越来越大，我们军队的负担越来越多，而在事关我们何时动武的重大决定中人民代表作用旁落，这一点尤其如此。

Now, I know that after the terrible toll of Iraq and Afghanistan, the idea of any military action, no matter how limited, is not going to be popular.  After all, I’ve spent four and a half years working to end wars, not to start them.  Our troops are out of Iraq.  Our troops are coming home from Afghanistan.  And I know Americans want all of us in Washington -- especially me -- to concentrate on the task of building our nation here at home:  putting people back to work, educating our kids, growing our middle class.

我知道，在付出伊拉克和阿富汗的沉重代价后，任何有关军事行动的设想，无论多么有限，都不会受欢迎。毕竟，我已经用了四年半的时间努力结束战争，而不是开始战争。我们的军队现在已经撤出伊拉克。我们的军队正在从阿富汗返回家园。而且我知道，美国人民希望我们在华盛顿的所有人——特别是我——集中精力进行国内建设：让人们重返工作岗位，让我们的孩子受教育，壮大我们的中产阶层。