经济学人293:关塔那摩战俘营迎来十周年纪念日

 　　GEORGE BUSH wanted to close it. So did John McCain. And Barack Obama promised to do so within a year of taking office. But nearly three years since then, and ten years after the first inmates¹ stepped through its barbed-wired gates in January 2002, the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay remains² stubbornly open.

　　关塔那摩战俘营。乔治.布什曾想关闭它，约翰.麦凯恩也想这样做。奥巴马更是许诺在上任第一年内就将其废弃。而现在，他的总统任期已过了近三年；而自2002年一月，第一批战犯踏入铁丝网包裹的大门起，都已经过了十年。位于关塔那摩海湾的战俘营却依旧存在，照常运行。

　　It is, perhaps, the most glaring failure of Mr Obama’s first term. On his second full day in office, surrounded by 16 retired³ generals and admirals, he signed the order to close the facility that he said had probably created more terrorists than it ever detained. With majorities in both chambers⁴ of Congress he looked set to make good on his pledge. There was just one problem: the president had a timetable, but no plan.

　　或许没有关闭关塔那摩战俘营就是奥巴马第一任期内最大的败笔。在他正式行使总统职权的第二天，在16位退休将军和海军上将的注视下，他签署命令关闭关塔那摩战俘营，他曾表示由于这座战俘营的存在而引发出的恐怖分子有可能比在押者还要多。此时在国会两院中民主党都享有多数票优势，一切都与他许诺的也一般无二，看上去他就要关闭关塔那摩战俘营了。问题只有一个：总统有的只是张时间表，却没有任何操作计划。

　　“Where are we going to send them?” asked Mr McCain after the order was signed. His Republican colleagues warned that dangerous terrorists could end up in local jails. In fact, Mr Obama had in mind a facility in Illinois similar to America’s “supermax” prisons, from which no one has ever escaped. But right-wingers stoked public dread⁵ and polls soon showed significant disapproval⁶ of the closure. In the face of such opposition⁷, and with little support from a White House distracted by health-care reform, the Democrats⁸ quickly backed down. In a series of votes, both parties signalled their displeasure with the president’s policy, blocking funds for Guantánamo’s closure and banning the transfer of detainees to American soil.

　　命令签署后，麦凯恩先生提出了个问题：“我们该把这些战俘送到那儿？”他的共和党同僚预计这些危险的恐怖分子可能会最终投入到当地的监狱。事实上，奥巴马对此曾有设想，想在伊利诺伊州设置一所类似美国“超级监房”那样的设施，战犯一旦被投入监牢，就插翅难飞。但右翼分子煽动公众的畏惧情绪，投票结果也表明公众对关闭战俘营怀有极大的不满情绪。面对反对声浪，当时正被医疗保险改革搞得焦头烂额的白宫当局无暇他顾，对奥巴马提议的支持更是少之又少。见势不妙，民主党人随即就打了退堂鼓。在此后一系列涉及关塔那摩战俘营的投票中，两党都发出对总统关于关闭战俘营决策不满的呼声，进而要求对关闭战俘营的相关资金加以封锁，禁止将在押人员转到美国本土。

　　The White House fought back, defeating an effort aimed at stopping the government from putting the alleged⁹ architects of 9/11 on trial in federal court. Then came its boldest move. In November 2009 Eric Holder¹⁰, the attorney general, announced that Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and his four co-conspirators would face justice in Manhattan. The trial would show that America’s civilian¹¹ courts could handle even Guantánamo’s worst. But just two months later, amid mounting security concerns and rising political pressure, the effort fell apart. Once again, the administration had underestimated the political and logistical challenges posed by its policies.

　　白宫开始进行反击。在对被指控参与谋划9/11恐怖袭击的恐怖分子是否应该在联邦法庭上就审这个问题上，一举击败企图阻挠的势力。紧接着的举动震惊了所有人。在2009年9月，总检察官埃里克.赫德宣布哈立德?谢赫?穆罕默德和他的四名同谋者将在麦哈顿接受正义的审批。它将向世人表明，即使是关塔那摩战俘营中最棘手的案件，美国民政法庭也有能力处理。但仅仅两个月后，出于安全考虑的巨大忧虑以及不断增长政治压力，这一设想不得不草草收场，不了了之。又一次，政府当局对自己制定的政策没有充分考量，低估了在政治上的挑战和移交转移的难度。

　　Succumbing¹² to the obstacles placed in his path, in March last year the president lifted his moratorium¹³ on new military-commission trials at Guantánamo and instituted a system for holding some detainees indefinitely. Civil-liberties groups called it an admission of defeat. PolitiFact, an outfit¹⁴ that assesses the accuracy of statements made by politicians, declared Mr Obama’s campaign promise “broken”.

　　许下承诺，无法实现；面对阻力，被迫让步；在去年三月，总统自食其言，重新允许在关塔那摩的特别军事法庭对在押战俘进行新一轮审判，并拟定相关条例无限期扣押某些战俘。民权解放组织称总统此举为承认失败。一家由政界人士创建，旨在评价政令履行程度的团队PolitiFact则宣称奥巴马先生在竞选期间做出的承诺已“随风逝去”。

1 inmates   

n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• One of the inmates has escaped. 被收容的人中有一个逃跑了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The inmates were moved to an undisclosed location. 监狱里的囚犯被转移到一个秘密处所。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

3 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

4 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

5 dread   

vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧

参考例句：

• We all dread to think what will happen if the company closes.我们都不敢去想一旦公司关门我们该怎么办。
• Her heart was relieved of its blankest dread.她极度恐惧的心理消除了。

6 disapproval   

n.反对，不赞成

参考例句：

• The teacher made an outward show of disapproval.老师表面上表示不同意。
• They shouted their disapproval.他们喊叫表示反对。

7 opposition   

n.反对，敌对

参考例句：

• The party leader is facing opposition in his own backyard.该党领袖在自己的党內遇到了反对。
• The police tried to break down the prisoner's opposition.警察设法制住了那个囚犯的反抗。

8 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

10 holder   

n.持有者，占有者；(台，架等)支持物

参考例句：

• The holder of the office of chairman is reponsible for arranging meetings.担任主席职位的人负责安排会议。
• That runner is the holder of the world record for the hundred-yard dash.那位运动员是一百码赛跑世界纪录的保持者。

11 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。

12 succumbing   

不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的现在分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死

参考例句：

• Mrs. Smith washed and ironed clothes for him, succumbing to him. 史密斯太太被他迷住了，愿意为他洗衣烫衣。
• They would not in the end abandon their vital interests by succumbing to Soviet blandishment. 他们最终决不会受苏联人的甜言蜜语的诱惑，从而抛弃自己的切身利益。

13 moratorium   

n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付

参考例句：

• The government has called for a moratorium on weapons testing.政府已要求暂停武器试验。
• We recommended a moratorium on two particular kinds of experiments.我们建议暂禁两种特殊的实验。

14 outfit   

n.（为特殊用途的）全套装备，全套服装

参考例句：

• Jenney bought a new outfit for her daughter's wedding.珍妮为参加女儿的婚礼买了一套新装。
• His father bought a ski outfit for him on his birthday.他父亲在他生日那天给他买了一套滑雪用具。