美国国家公共电台 NPR--The 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq brought terrorism to my country, Iraqi author says

The 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq brought terrorism to my country, Iraqi author says

Transcript¹

NPR's Leila Fadel speaks with Iraqi novelist and poet Sinan Antoon about the legacy² of the invasion of Iraq which happened 20 years ago.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Many Americans regard the U.S. invasion of Iraq as a costly³ foreign policy mistake. But for Iraqis, that so-called mistake meant a war and occupation that brought one tragedy after the next, the consequences of which they still live with today. Iraqi poet and novelist Sinan Antoon has written extensively about the invasion 20 years ago that changed so many lives. I started by asking him about the war's legacy.

SINAN ANTOON: The legacy, to me, is massive destruction of human life and of the human spaces. That is the legacy of the invasion and of the occupation. Of course, some of that was caused by al-Qaida and by ISIS, but we did not have terrorism in Iraq before 2003. Yes, we did have a dictatorship that I wrote against and stood against. But the legacy of 2003 invasion is that it actually brought terrorism to Iraq, and Iraqis had to pay a very high price for the war on terrorism that was fought in their cities and on their land and left its scars and traces in their daily life and in their future.

FADEL: You called it American terrorism in an article you recently wrote on the anniversary - the 20th anniversary - of the U.S. invasion. When you say American terrorism, is that what you're referring to?

ANTOON: If you take the definitions of terrorism, it's about acquiring political objectives by violence against innocent civilians⁴. And that's what happened in Iraq - because if we go back to the rationale, you know, the initial phase of the war was supposedly about weapons of mass destruction, right? But it's important for listeners to understand that in 2002, it was obvious, and it was confirmed that there were no weapons of mass destruction. So the war basically was waged based on a lie. And then when there were no weapons of mass destruction, there was a shift in the discourse⁵ saying, well, this is about democracy and about building a new country.

Using depleted⁶ uranium weapons back in 1991 in the first Gulf⁷ War and then using them again in 2003 - and the research is all out there for listeners to go and look into it - what depleted uranium does to the bodies of Iraqi infants and men and women and how children are born in Fallujah with birth defects because of the illegal weapons that were used there. And yet there is no accountability. There is no acknowledgement. And this, to my mind, amounts to terrorism.

FADEL: It's been over a year now since Russia invaded Ukraine in that large-scale invasion. And much of the rhetoric⁸ was, this is unprecedented⁹ since World War II, to invade a sovereign nation like this, including from people who were involved in the U.S. invasion of Iraq. And I wondered what you thought. I mean, I'll play you a clip from Biden on this issue.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN: The idea that over 100,000 forces would invade another country after a war - since World War II - nothing like that has happened.

FADEL: Nothing like that has happened. I just wondered what you were thinking when you heard these types of things being said by U.S. officials not even 20 years after that invasion.

ANTOON: With the Russia and Ukraine issue, of course, there is the - you know, the narrative¹⁰ of the Cold War is playing in the background, and it makes it so easy for so many Americans - irrespective of moral or ethical¹¹ concerns, it's very easy to condemn¹² Russia. But I think it says something also about the hypocrisy¹³ and the double standard of the politicians and the elite¹⁴.

FADEL: You mention the word accountability, and I do wonder what you would want to see. It's been 20 years. You describe this moment as a time of lack of reflection when looking back on what happened and what was done. What does accountability look like?

ANTOON: It looks like the folks who planned this war and who pushed for it and who later benefited from it have to stand up, or they have to be, you know, taken to court, or they have to answer for what they did. Listeners should realize that there was a consensus¹⁵ in this country between right and left and that so many of the liberal outlets¹⁶ also supported the war. So I guess there should be a question that a lot of American citizens have to think about, is that, why was the country so easily led to this war, and why were all those lies disseminated¹⁷ so easily through the media? These are questions that we have to confront.

FADEL: Now, Sinan, you are of both of these places. You are American. You are also Iraqi. So you come from the country that was invaded, but also, you come from the country that was the invader¹⁸. What is it like to be of both of those places as you think about the last 20 years and the legacy of both of these countries?

ANTOON: Well, it's painful because, frankly¹⁹, being in this country - and in 2002, I went around the East Coast with a group of an Afghani American woman, a Hiroshima survivor²⁰ and two relatives of 9/11 victims, speaking at synagogues and churches and universities and saying why there shouldn't be a war and yet seeing the war take place and the apathy²¹ of fellow citizens as to what was happening abroad in their name and with their tax dollars. And it's a catastrophe²² that's ongoing²³. And, you know, as a citizen here, I always think that someone should be responsible, wherever they live, to what is being done in their name and with their resources. Yet we live in a country where the infrastructure²⁴ is crumbling²⁵; the education is suffering. And so one has to think about this war culture.

And lastly, I'm sure you read in the news that the Navy decided²⁶ to name its new warrior²⁷ ship Fallujah, after the city where some of the war's crimes took place. But then again, going back to this country's history - and now I am a citizen of this country - a lot of the weapons and the fighters are named after the Native American tribes that were decimated in the history of this country. So it's, you know, being haunted by the ghosts of the past.

And who pays the cost for empire? Who pays the costs? Whose lives are devalued so that other lives are valued and to continue? It's a global question. But I think in this country, it's a very serious, very important question.

FADEL: Sinan Antoon, poet, novelist. Thank you for taking the time and joining us.

ANTOON: Thank you for inviting²⁸ me.

(SOUNDBITE OF RAHIM ALHAJ'S "QASSAM")

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

3 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

4 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。

5 discourse   

n.论文，演说；谈话；话语；vi.讲述，著述

参考例句：

• We'll discourse on the subject tonight.我们今晚要谈论这个问题。
• He fell into discourse with the customers who were drinking at the counter.他和站在柜台旁的酒客谈了起来。

6 depleted   

adj. 枯竭的, 废弃的 动词deplete的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• Food supplies were severely depleted. 食物供应已严重不足。
• Both teams were severely depleted by injuries. 两个队都因队员受伤而实力大减。

7 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。

8 rhetoric   

n.修辞学，浮夸之言语

参考例句：

• Do you know something about rhetoric?你懂点修辞学吗？
• Behind all the rhetoric,his relations with the army are dangerously poised.在冠冕堂皇的言辞背后，他和军队的关系岌岌可危。

9 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

10 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

11 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

12 condemn   

vt.谴责，指责；宣判(罪犯)，判刑

参考例句：

• Some praise him,whereas others condemn him.有些人赞扬他，而有些人谴责他。
• We mustn't condemn him on mere suppositions.我们不可全凭臆测来指责他。

13 hypocrisy   

n.伪善，虚伪

参考例句：

• He railed against hypocrisy and greed.他痛斥伪善和贪婪的行为。
• He accused newspapers of hypocrisy in their treatment of the story.他指责了报纸在报道该新闻时的虚伪。

14 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

15 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

16 outlets   

n.出口( outlet的名词复数 )；经销店；插座；廉价经销店

参考例句：

• The dumping of foreign cotton blocked outlets for locally grown cotton. 外国棉花的倾销阻滞了当地生产的棉花的销路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They must find outlets for their products. 他们必须为自己的产品寻找出路。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

17 disseminated   

散布，传播( disseminate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。
• Berkovitz had contracted polio after ingesting a vaccine disseminated under federal supervision. 伯考维茨在接种了在联邦监督下分发的牛痘疫苗后传染上脊髓灰质炎。

18 invader   

n.侵略者，侵犯者，入侵者

参考例句：

• They suffered a lot under the invader's heel.在侵略者的铁蹄下，他们受尽了奴役。
• A country must have the will to repel any invader.一个国家得有决心击退任何入侵者。

19 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

20 survivor   

n.生存者，残存者，幸存者

参考例句：

• The sole survivor of the crash was an infant.这次撞车的惟一幸存者是一个婴儿。
• There was only one survivor of the plane crash.这次飞机失事中只有一名幸存者。

21 apathy   

n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡

参考例句：

• He was sunk in apathy after his failure.他失败后心恢意冷。
• She heard the story with apathy.她听了这个故事无动于衷。

22 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

23 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

24 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

25 crumbling   

adj.摇摇欲坠的

参考例句：

• an old house with crumbling plaster and a leaking roof 一所灰泥剥落、屋顶漏水的老房子
• The boat was tied up alongside a crumbling limestone jetty. 这条船停泊在一个摇摇欲坠的石灰岩码头边。

26 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

27 warrior   

n.勇士，武士，斗士

参考例句：

• The young man is a bold warrior.这个年轻人是个很英勇的武士。
• A true warrior values glory and honor above life.一个真正的勇士珍视荣誉胜过生命。

28 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。