英国卫报：萨达姆雕像的倒塌：美军如何制造神话(8)

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Iraqi spokesman Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf's lively press briefings claimed that Saddam was winning, but it was pretty easy to tell that his attempt to create a simulation of victory was not reality.

伊拉克发言人穆罕默德·赛义德·萨哈夫在生动的新闻发布会上宣称萨达姆即将获胜，但不难看出，他模拟胜利的企图是不现实的。

"Baghdad is safe. The battle is still going on. Their infidels are committing suicide by the hundreds on the gates of Baghdad. Don't believe those liars," he told international camera crews on the roof of the Palestine Hotel.

“巴格达是安全的，战斗仍在继续，他们的异教徒正在巴格达的大门上自杀，不要相信那些骗子，”他在巴勒斯坦酒店的屋顶上对国际摄影师们说。

Behind him, viewers could see Iraqi troops fleeing from American tanks on the other side of the river.

在他身后，观众可以看到伊拉克军队正在河的另一边躲避美军的坦克。

Al-Sahaf became something of a celebrity¹, nicknamed Comical Ali (a play on Chemical Ali, Saddam's intelligence chief Ali Hassan al-Majid, who had ordered the use of chemical weapons against the Kurds in the 1980s).

萨哈夫在某种程度上成了名人，绰号“滑稽的阿里”(“化学阿里”是萨达姆的情报主管阿里·哈桑·马吉德的绰号，他曾在20世纪80年代下令对库尔德人使用化学武器)。

Bringing down Saddam's statue was a greater feat² of hyperreality.

推翻萨达姆的雕像是超现实主义的伟大壮举。

It would be presented to the world as a climax³: the triumph of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

它将作为高潮呈现给世界：伊拉克自由行动的胜利。

The coalition⁴ forces were cast as liberators, allowing the Iraqi people to rise up at last and tear down the most powerful symbol of the dictator who had oppressed them.

联军被塑造为解放者，最终让伊拉克人民站起来，推翻了压迫他们的独裁者最强大的象征。

But the reality was not so simple.

但现实并非如此简单。

Since they had invaded Iraq on 20 March, coalition forces had been pulling down dozens of statues of Saddam.

自3月20日入侵伊拉克以来，联军已经推倒了几十座萨达姆雕像。

For example, on 29 March, British forces had blown up a cast-iron statue of him in Basra.

例如，3月29日，英军在巴士拉炸毁了他的一座铸铁雕像。

"The purpose of that is psychological," said a military spokesperson, "to show the people … he does not wield⁵ influence, and we will strike at any representative token of that eroding⁶ influence".

一位军方发言人表示：“这样做的目的是心理上的，是为了向人民表明……他没有影响力，我们将打击任何有代表性的削弱影响力的象征。”

But no one filmed this event, so – while it was reported by the BBC and other news organisations – it made little impact outside Basra itself.

但是没有人拍摄到这一事件，所以，尽管BBC和其他新闻机构报道了这一事件，但它在巴士拉以外几乎没有影响。

On 7 April, the day that the fall of Baghdad began, US soldiers seized the Republican Palace.

4月7日，巴格达开始沦陷的那一天，美国士兵占领了共和宫。

Their commander ordered his troops to find a statue that could be destroyed, and to wait until Fox News arrived before they began to destroy it.

他们的指挥官命令他的部队去寻找一个可以被摧毁的雕像，并等到福克斯新闻到达后才开始摧毁它。

Soon enough, they found an equestrian⁷ statue of Saddam.

很快，他们发现了萨达姆骑马的雕像。

The television crew turned up, and the soldiers duly fired a shell.

电视摄制组出现了，士兵们适时地发射了一枚炮弹。

The footage was not exciting – just Americans destroying stuff, no crowd of grateful Iraqis – so it did not get much play.

这段录像并不令人兴奋——只有美国人在破坏东西，没有感激涕零的伊拉克人——所以播放量并不高。

That same day, US Marines and Iraqi civilians⁸ brought down another Saddam statue in Karbala.

同一天，美国海军陆战队和伊拉克平民推倒了卡尔巴拉的另一座萨达姆雕像。

The next day, British troops took out another one in Basra.

第二天，英军在巴士拉又推倒了一座。

There were so many statues of Saddam in Iraq that they were being felled on a daily basis.

在伊拉克，每天都有很多萨达姆的雕像被推倒。

1 celebrity   

n.名人，名流；著名，名声，名望

参考例句：

• Tom found himself something of a celebrity. 汤姆意识到自己已小有名气了。
• He haunted famous men, hoping to get celebrity for himself. 他常和名人在一起, 希望借此使自己获得名气。

2 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。

3 climax   

n.顶点；高潮；v.(使)达到顶点

参考例句：

• The fifth scene was the climax of the play.第五场是全剧的高潮。
• His quarrel with his father brought matters to a climax.他与他父亲的争吵使得事态发展到了顶点。

4 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

5 wield   

vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等)

参考例句：

• They wield enormous political power.他们行使巨大的政治权力。
• People may wield the power in a democracy.在民主国家里，人民可以行使权力。

6 eroding   

侵蚀，腐蚀( erode的现在分词 )； 逐渐毁坏，削弱，损害

参考例句：

• The coast is slowly eroding. 海岸正慢慢地被侵蚀。
• Another new development is eroding the age-old stereotype of the male warrior. 另一个新现象是，久已形成的男人皆武士的形象正逐渐消失。

7 equestrian   

adj.骑马的；n.马术

参考例句：

• They all showed extraordinary equestrian skills.他们的骑术都很高超。
• I want to book two equestrian tickets.我想订两张马术比赛的票。

8 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。