关于美英法空袭叙利亚,你需要了解的七大问题

London — The United States, in coordination with France and Britain, carried out a series of predawn airstrikes on Saturday in Syria in response to what it said was a chemical weapons attack this month in the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma.

伦敦——周六，美国联同法国和英国，在黎明前对叙利亚进行了一连串空中打击，以回应本月在大马士革郊区杜马发生的所谓化学武器袭击事件，那里是反对派的地盘。

The strikes were the latest development in a long-running and complex conflict with consequences far beyond Syria itself — including in the United States, Iran, Russia and other parts of Europe.

这次空袭是一场旷日持久的复杂冲突之最新进展，其后果远超叙利亚本身——还会将美国、伊朗、俄罗斯和欧洲其他地区包括在内。

Here are seven takeaways from the airstrikes and their aftermath:

以下是本次空袭及其后果的七个要点：

The strikes were intense, limited.

本次袭击是猛烈的、有限度的。

The United States and its allies tried to walk a fine line with the airstrikes, sending a strong message to President Bashar Assad of Syria without provoking a military response from Russia and Iran, Assad’s two strongest allies.

美国及其盟友小心把握本次空袭的分寸，既要向叙利亚总统巴沙尔·阿萨德(Bashar al-Assad)发出强有力的信息，又不能激起阿萨德最强大的两位盟友——俄罗斯和伊朗的军事反击。

The operation on Saturday was more powerful than an airstrike ordered by President Donald Trump last year — this time there were three targets, rather than one, requiring twice as many weapons. But it was limited to one night, at least for the moment; was specifically aimed at chemical weapons facilities’ and steered clear of Russian soldiers and bases.

与唐纳德·特朗普总统去年下令发动的那次空袭相比，周六的行动更加有力——这一次，目标不是一个，而是三个，需要的武器达两倍之多。但只局限于一晚——至少目前如此；并且专门针对化武设施，避开了俄罗斯的士兵和军事基地。

“Right now this is a one-time shot, and I believe it has sent a very strong message to dissuade him, to deter him from doing it again,” Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said of Assad, although Trump suggested there might be more to come. “We are prepared to sustain this response,” he said, until Syria abandons its use of chemical weapons.

“目前这是一次性打击，我相信它已经传递了十分强硬的信息来阻止他，防止他再这么做，”国防部长吉姆·马蒂斯(Jim Mattis)在谈到阿萨德时说道，尽管特朗普表示可能还会有更多行动。“我们准备维持这一反应，”他说，直到叙利亚放弃使用化学武器。

The U.S. chose not to wait.

美国选择不再等待。

The United States and its allies went ahead with the airstrikes in the face of several developments that suggested they could be delayed.

尽管一些事态发展表明可以推迟打击行动，美国及其盟友还是继续实施了空袭。

Inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons arrived in Damascus, Syria, on Saturday to investigate the attack in Douma, the group said in a post on Twitter.

禁止化学武器组织(Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons)在Twitter上表示，该组织的检查人员已在周六抵达叙利亚大马士革，对本次发生在杜马的袭击展开调查。

Mattis was working to slow the move toward a military response, concerned that a missile strike could spArk a wider conflict between Russia, Iran and the West.

马蒂斯曾努力减缓军事回应的进程，担心导弹袭击将引发俄罗斯、伊朗和西方之间更大范围的冲突。

And Trump sent mixed signals about timing. On Wednesday, he warned Russia on Twitter that missiles “will be coming, nice and new and ‘smart!'” But the next day, he added: “Never said when an attack on Syria would take place. Could be very soon or not so soon at all!”

而关于时机，特朗普发出了混乱信号。周三，他在Twitter上警告俄罗斯，称导弹“会来的，又好又新又智能”。但第二天，他又说：“从没说过什么时候会对叙利亚发动袭击。可能很快，也可能不是很快！”

At a news conference Saturday morning, Prime Minister Theresa May of Britain said that the strikes had been “the right thing to do,” in part for the “operational security” of those carrying them out.

英国首相特丽莎·梅(Theresa May)在周六上午的新闻发布会上表示，本次袭击是“一件正确的事”，部分是出于确保袭击执行者的“行动安全”。

Assad absorbed another blow.

阿萨德再受打击。

The airstrikes sent an unambiguous message to Assad, and it was not clear that it would change his thinking. He remained firmly in power thanks to the support of Russia and Iran.

本次空袭向阿萨德传递了明确信息，但是否会改变他的想法目前尚不清楚。由于有着俄罗斯和伊朗的支持，他仍然权力稳固。

Assad has essentially been under siege since the Syrian civil war began more than seven years ago. In that time, he has dealt with the war, airstrikes, sanctions, Islamic State militants, a variety of rebel groups and a crumbling economy.

自叙利亚内战于七年多前开始以来，阿萨德基本上一直深陷困境。在这段时间里，他应对过战争、空袭、制裁、伊斯兰激进分子、各种反抗组织以及崩溃的经济。

As Syrian state media reported that many of the missiles had been intercepted, the Syrian presidency’s Twitter account posted a video that appeared to show Assad showing up for just another day at the office.

叙利亚的官方媒体报道称许多导弹已被拦截，叙利亚的总统Twitter账号也同时发布了一段视频，显示阿萨德照常出现在了办公室。

The events depicted could not be independently verified.

所称事件未能得到独立核实。

Capitol Hill remained divided.

美国国会仍然处于分裂状态。

The reaction in Washington was divided along party lines, with the strikes bringing praise from Republicans and criticism from Democrats like Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., the House minority leader.

华盛顿的反应依党派泾渭分明，军事打击引起共和党人赞扬，亦招致加州民主党议员、众议院少数党领袖南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)等民主党人的批评。

“The Butcher of Damascus learned two lessons tonight the hard way,” Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Ark., said in a statement. “Weapons of mass destruction won’t create a military advantage once the United States is done with you and Russia cannot protect its clients from the United States.”

“大马士革屠夫今晚以残酷的方式得到了两个教训，”阿肯色州共和党参议员汤姆·科顿(Tom Cotton)在一份声明中说。“一旦美国打算对付你，大规模杀伤性武器也不会产生军事优势；还有，俄罗斯也无法保护其委托人不受美国威胁。”

Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., complained that Trump had not sought permission from Congress. Proceeding with the strikes, he said, was “illegal and — absent a broader strategy — it’s reckless.”

弗吉尼亚州民主党参议员蒂姆·凯恩(Tim Kaine)抱怨特朗普没有向国会申请许可。他说，军事打击是“非法的——而且缺乏更大的战略，是鲁莽的做法。”

Russia deploys angry rhetoric.

俄罗斯愤怒喊话。

Russia called for an urgent meeting of the U.N. Security Council, and offered some harsh warnings before the attack. (At the meeting, the Security Council rejected a Russian resolution condemning the missile strikes.) But the speed and the tone of the Russian reaction on Saturday, stressing that the attack had not resulted in a direct confrontation and was rather limited, suggested almost relief on the part of the Kremlin.

俄罗斯要求联合国安理会召开紧急会议，并在袭击发生前，发出了严厉警告。（在会上，安理会拒绝了俄罗斯关于谴责导弹袭击的决议。）但周六俄罗斯反应的速度和口气——强调此次袭击没有导致直接对抗，而且后果相当有限——表明克里姆林宫几乎是松了一口气。

According to Russian state news media, President Vladimir Putin condemned the missile strikes as an “act of aggression against a sovereign state” and against the United Nations Charter.

据俄罗斯国家新闻媒体报道，弗拉基米尔·普京(Vladimir Putin)总统谴责导弹袭击是“侵略主权国家的行为”，违背了《联合国宪章》。

May avoided a conflict at home.

梅避免了一场国内冲突。

May has said she believed there was a need to send a strong message about the use of chemical weapons, but she also had compelling diplomatic and political reasons to support the United States — and to carry out the strikes as soon as possible.

梅说，她认为有必要发出关于使用化学武器的强烈信息，但她也有令人信服的外交和政治理由来支持美国，并尽快实施空袭。

One imperative was the desire to reciprocate the support London has received from the United States in the dispute with Russia over the poisoning of a former spy, Sergei V. Skripal, and his daughter, Yulia S. Skripal, on British soil.

英国与俄罗斯就前英国间谍谢尔盖·V·斯克里帕尔(Sergei V. Skripal)及其女儿尤莉亚·S·斯克里帕尔(Yulia S. Skripal)在英国领土被下毒一事产生争端，在这个过程中，英国获得了美国的支持，现在它急欲对此做出回报。

May, who made an explicit connection between the airstrikes in Syria and the poisoning of the Skripals, benefited from the timing of the airstrikes, two days before lawmakers were to return from vacation. While not obligated to consult Parliament, she may have felt constrained to do so and could easily have lost a vote on a strike, as her predecessor David Cameron did in 2013.

梅在对叙利亚的空袭和斯克里帕尔父女被下毒这两件事之间建立起明确的联系；此外，空袭发生在议员们休假归来的两天前，这个时机也令她从中受益。尽管她没有义务与议会商讨，但她可能觉得最好还是不要这样做，空袭投票恐怕难以通过，她的前任戴维·卡梅伦(David Cameron)在2013年就是这样。

Britain also wants to prove its use as an ally to Trump at a time when its international influence is under question because of its withdrawal from the European Union, and when it hopes to strengthen trade ties with the United States.

英国也希望证明自己身为特朗普盟友的作用，因为目前它的国际影响力因退出欧盟而受到质疑，而它也希望加强与美国的贸易关系。

For France, a red line was crossed.

对法国来说，化学武器越过了红线。

President Emmanuel Macron had prepared his nation for this moment: He had discussed the possibility of airstrikes and made clear early in his presidency that the use of chemical weapons was a red line.

埃马纽埃尔·马克龙(Emmanuel Macron)总统早已令法国为这一刻做好了准备：他曾讨论过空袭的可能性，并在担任总统之初就明确表示过，使用化学武器是一条红线。