PBS高端访谈:聚焦伊斯兰国家的货币供应量

 　　JUDY WOODRUFF: Now, stopping the rapid rise of the Islamic State group by addressing a main engine driving the militants², money, a lot of it.

　　Chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner explains.

　　MARGARET WARNER: While media attention to the battle against the Islamic State group has focused on the U.S.-led military campaign of airstrikes and helping⁴ local forces opposing it, an equally important part of U.S. strategy has been waged beyond the scenes, targeting the group's fat pocketbook.

　　But it's tough. Islamic militant¹ groups like al-Qaida relied largely on donations from wealthy sympathizers in the Gulf⁵ and elsewhere. But I.S. largely pays its own way through criminal activities in the territories it controls in Iraq and Syria.

　　Late last month, the U.S. Treasury⁶ Department reported the group was earning $1 million a day selling oil from seized fields and refineries⁷, $20 million so far in 2014 in ransom⁸ payments for captured Westerners, millions more in extortion and theft from local populations and businesses, and millions more looting and selling antiquities⁹.

　　The point man trying to rein¹⁰ in all these sources of revenue is David Cohen, the treasury undersecretary for terrorism and financial intelligence.

　　I spoke¹¹ to him earlier today.

　　Undersecretary Cohen, thank you for having us.

　　DAVID COHEN, U.S. Undersecretary for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence: Pleasure to be here.

　　MARGARET WARNER: So, how does this Islamic State group, ISIS or ISIL, stack up financially against other independent terrorist groups that the U.S. has ever faced?

　　DAVID COHEN: Today, probably the best funded terrorist organization that we have confronted outside of state-sponsored terrorist organizations.

　　MARGARET WARNER: And have you been able to make yet a real significant dent³ in its ability to finance itself, enough that you see an impact on its ability to operate?

　　DAVID COHEN: One of the ways that ISIL has raised funds is through the sale of stolen oil. And I think we have seen over the past several months some reduction in ISIL's ability to sell oil on the black market.

　　MARGARET WARNER: Can you give me an example?

　　DAVID COHEN: Our estimate over the summer was that ISIL was earning something on the order of something around $1 million a day from these black market oil sales.

　　I think, today, in the aftermath of some of the airstrikes that have been taken, as well as some of the efforts that have been undertaken to restrict ISIL's ability to use these smuggling¹² networks, our estimate is that ISIL is now earning something on the order of a couple million dollars a week.

　　It's still an enormous amount of money, but it is movement in the right direction.

　　MARGARET WARNER: These are essentially¹³ fixed¹⁴ assets, the oil fields they have taken over, the refineries they have taken over in Iraq and Syria. Why can't you just bomb them out completely?

　　DAVID COHEN: I'm not a military targeter, so I don't…

　　MARGARET WARNER: You have enough on your plate.

　　DAVID COHEN: I have enough on my plate without selecting specific targets to hit.

　　But it is absolutely the case that we're working very closely with the Department of Defense¹⁵ and — in thinking about going after some of their oil resources.

　　MARGARET WARNER: You said in a speech that Iraqi Kurds are buying this stolen oil and then smuggling it out through Turkey. Now, the Iraqi Kurdistan regional government is our ally, supposedly, against ISIS.

　　DAVID COHEN: Right, absolutely, absolutely.

　　MARGARET WARNER: They are doing that?

　　DAVID COHEN: The point I was making is that the oil smuggling networks that ISIL has now taken over are longstanding smuggling networks that existed for many years before ISIL came into Syria, came into Iraq.

　　What we're working on is to cut off those avenues. And the Kurdish regional government is very much our ally in this and are working with us to cut off the oil sales into Kurdistan.

　　MARGARET WARNER: With any success?

　　DAVID COHEN: I think we're seeing some success there.

　　MARGARET WARNER: Now, what does I.S. spend all this money on and how rapid a rate?

　　DAVID COHEN: It's important to think not just about their funding, but their expenses, what they are spending money on.

　　So, ISIL pays its fighters upwards¹⁶ of $300 million, $400 million a year just in the fees for their fighters. They're also trying to portray¹⁷ themselves as if they were a state, and trying to the deliver social services. That is also very expensive.

　　If you just compare what the Iraq government had budgeted for social services in the area where ISIL is currently operating, it was well over $2 billion for this year. Even the effort to try and do that is going to outstrip¹⁸ the resources that ISIL has been able to amass¹⁹.

　　MARGARET WARNER: Can they do this all through a self-contained network? Don't they at some point have to have a point of access into the global financial system, where you then can sanction the institutions that do business with them?

　　DAVID COHEN: If they want to purchase whatever it is, whether it's weaponry or other material to try to continue to hold this territory, having access to the financial system is enormously important to them.

　　And we do have the ability, working with private financial institutions around the world, to isolate²⁰ ISIL and to prevent them from being able to access the international financial system. And that's one way to undermine their financial strength.

　　MARGARET WARNER: Now, what about ransom payments, obviously a big issue this week?

　　As we know, most Western European governments allow or even engage in ransom payments to get their citizens back. The U.S. and U.K. refuse. You have said it's a major source of revenue for I.S. Has there been any progress in getting the Western European governments to stop playing that game?

　　DAVID COHEN: What we have been doing is everything in our power to try and free the Americans who are held hostages — held hostage and to work with others to have their hostages free, short of paying ransom.

1 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。

2 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

3 dent   

n.凹痕，凹坑；初步进展

参考例句：

• I don't know how it came about but I've got a dent in the rear of my car.我不知道是怎么回事，但我的汽车后部有了一个凹痕。
• That dent is not big enough to be worth hammering out.那个凹陷不大，用不着把它锤平。

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

6 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

7 refineries   

精炼厂( refinery的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The efforts on closedown and suspension of small sugar refineries, small saccharin refineries and small paper mills are also being carried out in steps. 关停小糖厂、小糖精厂、小造纸厂的工作也已逐步展开。
• Hence the sitting of refineries is at a distance from population centres. 所以，炼油厂的厂址总在远离人口集中的地方。

8 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

9 antiquities   

n.古老( antiquity的名词复数 )；古迹；古人们；古代的风俗习惯

参考例句：

• There is rest and healing in the contemplation of antiquities. 欣赏古物有休息和疗养之功。 来自辞典例句
• Bertha developed a fine enthusiasm for the antiquities of London. 伯沙对伦敦的古迹产生了很大的热情。 来自辞典例句

10 rein   

n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治

参考例句：

• The horse answered to the slightest pull on the rein.只要缰绳轻轻一拉,马就作出反应。
• He never drew rein for a moment till he reached the river.他一刻不停地一直跑到河边。

11 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

12 smuggling   

n.走私

参考例句：

• Some claimed that the docker's union fronted for the smuggling ring.某些人声称码头工人工会是走私集团的掩护所。
• The evidence pointed to the existence of an international smuggling network.证据表明很可能有一个国际走私网络存在。

13 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

14 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

15 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

16 upwards   

adv.向上，在更高处...以上

参考例句：

• The trend of prices is still upwards.物价的趋向是仍在上涨。
• The smoke rose straight upwards.烟一直向上升。

17 portray   

v.描写，描述；画(人物、景象等)

参考例句：

• It is difficult to portray feelings in words.感情很难用言语来描写。
• Can you portray the best and worst aspects of this job?您能描述一下这份工作最好与最坏的方面吗？

18 outstrip   

v.超过，跑过

参考例句：

• He can outstrip his friend both in sports and in studies.他能在体育和学习方面胜过他的朋友。
• It is possible for us to outstrip the advanced countries in the world.我们能超过世界上先进的国家。

19 amass   

vt.积累，积聚

参考例句：

• How had he amassed his fortune?他是如何积累财富的呢？
• The capitalists amass great wealth by exploiting workers.资本家剥削工人而积累了巨额财富。

20 isolate   

vt.使孤立，隔离

参考例句：

• Do not isolate yourself from others.不要把自己孤立起来。
• We should never isolate ourselves from the masses.我们永远不能脱离群众。