美国外交官批评奥巴马对叙利亚采取的政策

AS IT IS 2016-06-18 US Diplomats¹ Criticize Obama’s Syria Policy 美国外交官批评奥巴马对叙利亚采取的政策

A group of State Department diplomats has criticized U.S. policy in Syria and called for urgent action to end the country’s civil war.

The criticism came in a memo² signed by 51 mid- to high-level diplomats involved in U.S. Syria policy. It calls for targeted airstrikes against the Syrian government of President Bashar al-Assad.

A draft of the memo was obtained by The New York Times. State Department spokesman John Kirby confirmed the memo is real and said the State Department is reviewing it.

It came from a State Department “Dissent³ Channel” that allows employees and officials to express disagreements with U.S. policies. The channel is a way for individuals to give their opinions without fear of retaliation⁴ from superiors.

Robert Ford⁵ served as U.S. Ambassador to Syria until 2014. He said, “In my experience dating back to 1985 in the Department of State, I have never heard of a dissent channel message that had 10 signatures – much less one that had 50.”

Ford, now working as an analyst⁶ at the Middle East Institute, added that President Barack Obama is unlikely to change his Syria policy.

The memo says Syrian government forces have consistently violated ceasefire agreements. Such violations⁷ will keep making it difficult to reach a political settlement to end the war, it adds.

?Syria’s civil war began five years ago when rebel groups were formed to battle government forces. More than 500,000 people have been killed in the fighting and six million Syrians were displaced.

The memo asks the Obama administration to begin a “judicious⁸ use of stand-off and air weapons” to directly fight against the Syrian army.

“The moral rationale for taking steps to end the deaths and suffering in Syria, after five years of brutal¹⁰ war, is evident and unquestionable,” the memo reads.

“The status quo in Syria will continue to present increasingly dire⁹, if not disastrous¹¹, humanitarian¹², diplomatic and terrorism-related challenges.”

Until now, the Obama administration’s policy in Syria has mainly been limited to aiding rebels fighting against Russian-backed forces loyal to Assad. U.S. airstrikes have also targeted Islamic State fighters.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Friday he had not yet seen the memo. But he said he agrees with the process of giving employees a chance to openly express their views.

Words in This Story

memo – n. a written message

retaliation – n. striking back against someone for a harmful action

superior – n. – a person presiding over someone else

judicious – adj. having or showing good judgement

rationale – n. the reason or explanation for something

status quo – n. the current situation or the way things are now

1 diplomats   

n.外交官( diplomat的名词复数 )；有手腕的人，善于交际的人

参考例句：

• These events led to the expulsion of senior diplomats from the country. 这些事件导致一些高级外交官被驱逐出境。
• The court has no jurisdiction over foreign diplomats living in this country. 法院对驻本国的外交官无裁判权。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 memo   

n.照会，备忘录；便笺；通知书；规章

参考例句：

• Do you want me to send the memo out?您要我把这份备忘录分发出去吗？
• Can you type a memo for me?您能帮我打一份备忘录吗？

3 dissent   

n./v.不同意，持异议

参考例句：

• It is too late now to make any dissent.现在提出异议太晚了。
• He felt her shoulders gave a wriggle of dissent.他感到她的肩膀因为不同意而动了一下。

4 retaliation   

n.报复，反击

参考例句：

• retaliation against UN workers 对联合国工作人员的报复
• He never said a single word in retaliation. 他从未说过一句反击的话。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

6 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

7 violations   

违反( violation的名词复数 )； 冒犯； 违反（行为、事例）； 强奸

参考例句：

• This is one of the commonest traffic violations. 这是常见的违反交通规则之例。
• These violations of the code must cease forthwith. 这些违犯法规的行为必须立即停止。

8 judicious   

adj.明智的，明断的，能作出明智决定的

参考例句：

• We should listen to the judicious opinion of that old man.我们应该听取那位老人明智的意见。
• A judicious parent encourages his children to make their own decisions.贤明的父亲鼓励儿女自作抉择。

9 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

10 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

11 disastrous   

adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的

参考例句：

• The heavy rainstorm caused a disastrous flood.暴雨成灾。
• Her investment had disastrous consequences.She lost everything she owned.她的投资结果很惨，血本无归。

12 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。