美国国家公共电台 NPR Putin Invites Trump To Help End Syrian War As Russia Bombs Civilian Targets

 

ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:

There were many astonishing moments in today's press conference with President Trump¹ and Russian President Vladimir Putin. One of them involved the way forward in Syria. Putin sent Russian forces into Syria about three years ago to support the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. Assad's forces have attacked civilian² areas, and the Russian air force is also blamed for civilian casualties. The U.S. has military forces in Syria, too. And joining us now to talk about what Putin and Trump said about Syria is NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman. Hi, Tom.

TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE³: Hey, Ari.

SHAPIRO: First describe what the two of them said about the way forward in Syria and what stood out to you about these remarks.

BOWMAN: Well, what stood out is that Putin portrayed⁴ himself as a peacemaker and invited Trump to join him. But in reality, the Russians over the past three years have enabled the Assad regime which has killed about a half million people. And both Syria and Russia have bombed hospitals, humanitarian⁵ convoys⁶, schools. And Russia supported a regime that has used of course chemical weapons on its own people. But listen to what Putin said today.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT VLADIMIR PUTIN: (Through interpreter) As far as Syria is concerned, the task of establishing peace and reconciliation⁷ in this country could be the first showcase example of this successful joint⁸ work. Russia and the United States apparently⁹ can act proactively and take leadership on this issue and organize the interaction to overcome humanitarian crises and help Syrian refugees to go back to their homes. In order to accomplish this level of successful cooperation in Syria, we have all the required components¹⁰.

BOWMAN: So he talked about overcoming a humanitarian crisis largely created by Russia and Assad. And as far as Syrian refugees going back to their homes, Ari, the Assad regime has confiscated¹¹ property from those who oppose them.

SHAPIRO: So if Russia has attacked groups that the U.S. is supporting and Russia is supporting the Assad regime that the U.S. opposes, where is there room for cooperation here? What could that look like?

BOWMAN: Well, it's hard to say. One possibility is creating cease-fire zones or zones of responsibility. A cease-fire zone was created in the southwestern part of the country between Putin and Trump just last year. That's unraveled now. Syrian and Russian aircraft are attacking rebels, killing¹² civilians¹³ as well, displacing hundreds of thousands more. Now, complicating¹⁴ all this is U.S. is supporting Syrian Democratic Forces in the northeast or the other side of the country. They're primarily focused on defeating ISIS.

But after ISIS is defeated, the U.S. wants to stabilize¹⁵ the area, create security forces, rebuild water treatment plants and so forth¹⁶. But the question is, will Assad just try to take over that whole area? So they've been trying to do that, and that was in Syria back in February. The Russian mercenaries, this force called Wagner, tried to cross into this area where the U.S. and the Kurdish forces were, and the U.S. struck back and killed 200 of them.

SHAPIRO: Wow. You talked to a lot of people at the Pentagon, military leaders. What do they say about the dream of U.S.-Russian cooperation in Syria? Is this plausible¹⁷?

BOWMAN: Well, they're very wary¹⁸ of it as a result of the Russian mercenaries...

SHAPIRO: Right.

BOWMAN: ...Attacking U.S.-Kurdish forces. What they hope to do is first defeat ISIS and then try to stabilize this area and then hopefully have some sort of a peace conference where these Kurdish and Arab allies of the U.S. can somehow be part of a new Syria. But Trump - he seems like he wants to get out rather quickly. He froze $200 million in stabilization¹⁹ aid just recently, and he may just decide, we've spent enough time and money there; let's just turn it over to Russia.

SHAPIRO: NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman - thanks, Tom.

BOWMAN: You're welcome.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

5 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。

6 convoys   

n.（有护航的）船队( convoy的名词复数 )；车队；护航（队）；护送队

参考例句：

• Truck convoys often stop over for lunch here. 车队经常在这里停下来吃午饭。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• A UN official said aid programs will be suspended until there's adequate protection for relief convoys. 一名联合国官员说将会暂停援助项目，直到援助车队能够得到充分的保护为止。 来自辞典例句

7 reconciliation   

n.和解，和谐，一致

参考例句：

• He was taken up with the reconciliation of husband and wife.他忙于做夫妻间的调解工作。
• Their handshake appeared to be a gesture of reconciliation.他们的握手似乎是和解的表示。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 apparently   

adv.显然地；表面上，似乎

参考例句：

• An apparently blind alley leads suddenly into an open space.山穷水尽，豁然开朗。
• He was apparently much surprised at the news.他对那个消息显然感到十分惊异。

10 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

11 confiscated   

没收，充公( confiscate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their land was confiscated after the war. 他们的土地在战后被没收。
• The customs officer confiscated the smuggled goods. 海关官员没收了走私品。

12 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。

13 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。

14 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

15 stabilize   

vt.（使）稳定，使稳固，使稳定平衡；vi.稳定

参考例句：

• They are eager to stabilize currencies.他们急于稳定货币。
• His blood pressure tended to stabilize.他的血压趋向稳定。

16 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

17 plausible   

adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的

参考例句：

• His story sounded plausible.他说的那番话似乎是真实的。
• Her story sounded perfectly plausible.她的说辞听起来言之有理。

18 wary   

adj.谨慎的，机警的，小心的

参考例句：

• He is wary of telling secrets to others.他谨防向他人泄露秘密。
• Paula frowned,suddenly wary.宝拉皱了皱眉头，突然警惕起来。

19 Stabilization   

稳定化

参考例句：

• The position of barycentre on plane directly impacts the stabilization and manipulation of plane. 飞机重心位置直接影响飞机的稳定和操纵特性。
• With the higher olefins, stabilization of the energetic intermediates occurs more easily. 在较高的烯烃情况下，高能的中间物稳定作用更易出现。