East Room, Washington, D.C.
My fellow Americans, tonight I want to talk to you about Syria -- why it matters, and where we go from here.
Over the past two years, what began as a series of peaceful protests against the repressive regime of Bashar al-Assad has turned into a brutal civil war. Over 100,000 people have been killed. Millions have fled the country. In that time, America has worked with allies to provide humanitarian support, to help the moderate opposition, and to shape a political settlement. But I have resisted calls for military action, because we cannot resolve someone else’s civil war through force, particularly after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
过去两年来，最初为反对巴沙尔阿萨德专制政权举行的一系列和平示威演变成一场残酷的内战。有100,000多人被杀害。数百万人逃离这个国家。在此期间，美国与各盟国一起提供人道主义援助，帮助温和的反对派，并努力促成政治解决。但是我拒绝了关于采取军事行动的要求，因为我们无法通过武力解决别国的内战问题，特别是在伊拉克和阿富汗经过了10年战争之后。
The situation profoundly changed, though, on August 21st, when Assad’s government gassed to death over a thousand people, including hundreds of children. The images from this massacre are sickening: Men, women, children lying in rows, killed by poison gas. Others foaming at the mouth, gasping for breath. A father clutching his dead children, imploring them to get up and walk. On that terrible night, the world saw in gruesome detail the terrible nature of chemical weapons, and why the overwhelming majority of humanity has declared them off-limits -- a crime against humanity, and a violation of the laws of war.
8月21日，局势出现了巨大的变化。当时，阿萨德政府使用毒气杀害了一千多民众，其中包括数百名儿童。这场大屠杀的情景令人惨不忍睹：男子、妇女、儿童横尸遍地，都是因为中毒身亡。另一些人口吐白沫，呼吸窒息。一位父亲搂着死去的孩子们，还在哀求他们站起来走走。在那个可怕的夜晚，全世界通过惨绝人寰的详尽画面亲眼目睹化学武器的恐怖性质。这也说明为什么人类绝大多数宣布禁止使用这类武器——使用这类武器属于反人类的罪行，也违反了战争法。
This was not always the case. In World War I, American GIs were among the many thousands killed by deadly gas in the trenches of Europe. In World War II, the Nazis used gas to inflict the horror of the Holocaust. Because these weapons can kill on a mass scale, with no distinction between soldier and infant, the civilized world has spent a century working to ban them. And in 1997, the United States Senate overwhelmingly approved an international agreement prohibiting the use of chemical weapons, now joined by 189 governments that represent 98 percent of humanity.
事情往往没有那么简单。在第一次世界大战期间，数以千万计的人在欧洲的战壕中被致命的毒气杀害，美国士兵也在其中。在第二次世界大战期间，纳粹使用毒气制造了大屠杀的惨剧。由于这类武器可以大规模杀人害命，不论他们是士兵还是婴儿，文明世界花了一个世纪的时间努力禁止这类武器。1997年，美国参议院以压倒多数批准禁止使用化学武器的国际公约，现已有代表全人类98%的189个政府参加这项国际公约。
On August 21st, these basic rules were violated, along with our sense of common humanity. No one disputes that chemical weapons were used in Syria. The world saw thousands of videos, cell phone pictures, and social media accounts from the attack, and humanitarian organizations told stories of hospitals packed with people who had symptoms of poison gas.
8月21日，这些基本准则受到破坏，我们关于共同人性的信念被践踏。对于化学武器在叙利亚已经被使用一事，已没有人提出质疑。全世界从数千份视频、手机摄像和社会媒体条目上都看到这次袭击事件的情景。人道主义组织也提供了有关报道，指出一些医院人满为患，患者出现毒气中毒的症状。
Moreover, we know the Assad regime was responsible. In the days leading up to August 21st, we know that Assad’s chemical weapons personnel prepared for an attack near an area where they mix sarin gas. They distributed gasmasks to their troops. Then they fired rockets from a regime-controlled area into 11 neighborhoods that the regime has been trying to wipe clear of opposition forces. Shortly after those rockets landed, the gas spread, and hospitals filled with the dying and the wounded. We know senior figures in Assad’s military machine reviewed the results of the attack, and the regime increased their shelling of the same neighborhoods in the days that followed. We’ve also studied samples of blood and hair from people at the site that tested positive for sarin.
此外，我们知道阿萨德政权应为此负责。在8月21日前的几天，我们知道阿萨德的化学武器人员为了准备发动袭击，在邻近地区配制沙林毒气。他们向自己的军队发放了防毒面具。然后他们从该政权控制的地区向附近的11个小区发射火箭，该政权正企图在这些地区清除反对派武装。火箭落地后不久，毒气就开始蔓延，医院里到处都是死伤的人员。我们知道阿萨德军事机器的高级要员察看了袭击的结果，此后几天该政权加强了对这些小区进行炮击的火力。我们还检验了从现场人员身上取得的血液和毛发样品，结果发现呈沙林阳性。
When dictators commit atrocities, they depend upon the world to look the other way until those horrifying pictures fade from memory. But these things happened. The facts cannot be denied. The question now is what the United States of America, and the international community, is prepared to do about it. Because what happened to those people -- to those children -- is not only a violation of international law, it’s also a danger to our security.
当独裁者采取罪恶行动时，他们期待全世界对此不闻不问，直到这些惨无人道的景象从记忆中渐渐消失。但这些情况千真万确。事实不可否认。现在的问题是，美利坚合众国和国际社会准备对此采取什么行动。因为这些民众—这些儿童—的遭遇不仅仅涉及违反国际法的行为，而且也对我国安全造成威胁。
Let me explain why. If we fail to act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons. As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have no reason to think twice about acquiring poison gas, and using them. Over time, our troops would again face the prospect of chemical warfare on the battlefield. And it could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons, and to use them to attack civilians.
请让我说明这是为什么。如果我们不采取行动，阿萨德政权就会认为没有理由停止使用化学武器。一旦禁止使用这类武器的禁令受到侵蚀，其他专制暴君也会毫不犹豫地获得毒气并投入使用。长此以往，我国军队在战场上将再次面临化学战的局面。恐怖主义组织也更容易获得这类武器并使用这些武器袭击平民。
If fighting spills beyond Syria’s borders, these weapons could threaten allies like Turkey, Jordan, and Israel. And a failure to stand against the use of chemical weapons would weaken prohibitions against other weapons of mass destruction, and embolden Assad’s ally, Iran -- which must decide whether to ignore international law by building a nuclear weapon, or to take a more peaceful path.
如果战火蔓延到叙利亚边境之外，这些武器会对土耳其、约旦和以色列等盟国造成威胁。如果不制止使用化学武器的行为，对其他大规模毁灭性武器的禁令也会被削弱，使阿萨德的盟国伊朗更胆大妄为--伊朗必须作出抉择，是以制造核武器对抗国际法，还是走上更和平的道路。
This is not a world we should accept. This is what’s at stake. And that is why, after careful deliberation, I determined that it is in the national security interests of the United States to respond to the Assad regime’s use of chemical weapons through a targeted military strike. The purpose of this strike would be to deter Assad from using chemical weapons, to degrade his regime’s ability to use them, and to make clear to the world that we will not tolerate their use.
这不是我们应接受的世界。这是利害攸关所在。 正因为如此，在经过审慎研究后，我断定，以有针对性的军事打击回应阿萨德政权动用化学武器的行径符合美国国家安全利益。打击是为了制止阿萨德使用化学武器，削弱该政权使用化学武器的能力，并向世界表明，我们决不容使用化学武器。
That’s my judgment as Commander-in-Chief. But I’m also the President of the world’s oldest constitutional democracy. So even though I possess the authority to order military strikes, I believed it was right, in the absence of a direct or imminent threat to our security, to take this debate to Congress. I believe our democracy is stronger when the President acts with the support of Congress. And I believe that America acts more effectively abroad when we stand together.
这是我作为全军统帅的判断。然而我也是世界最悠久的宪政民主国家的总统。因此，虽然我有权下令进行军事打击，但我认为，在我们的安全没有受到直接和紧迫威胁的情况下，应该将此提交国会辩论。我认为，总统的行动得到国会支持会使我们的民主制更有力。我认为，我们的团结一致会使美国能够更有效地在海外展开行动。
This is especially true after a decade that put more and more war-making power in the hands of the President, and more and more burdens on the shoulders of our troops, while sidelining the people’s representatives from the critical decisions about when we use force.
由于十年来总统的战争决定权越来越大，我们军队的负担越来越多，而在事关我们何时动武的重大决定中人民代表作用旁落，这一点尤其如此。
Now, I know that after the terrible toll of Iraq and Afghanistan, the idea of any military action, no matter how limited, is not going to be popular. After all, I’ve spent four and a half years working to end wars, not to start them. Our troops are out of Iraq. Our troops are coming home from Afghanistan. And I know Americans want all of us in Washington -- especially me -- to concentrate on the task of building our nation here at home: putting people back to work, educating our kids, growing our middle class.
我知道，在付出伊拉克和阿富汗的沉重代价后，任何有关军事行动的设想，无论多么有限，都不会受欢迎。毕竟，我已经用了四年半的时间努力结束战争，而不是开始战争。我们的军队现在已经撤出伊拉克。我们的军队正在从阿富汗返回家园。而且我知道，美国人民希望我们在华盛顿的所有人——特别是我——集中精力进行国内建设：让人们重返工作岗位，让我们的孩子受教育，壮大我们的中产阶层。
It’s no wonder, then, that you’re asking hard questions. So let me answer some of the most important questions that I’ve heard from members of Congress, and that I’ve read in letters that you’ve sent to me.
所以，毫不奇怪，你们提出了尖锐的问题。 那么就让我来回答一些我从国会议员那里听到和从你们给我的来信中读到的最重要的问题。
First, many of you have asked, won’t this put us on a slippery slope to another war? One man wrote to me that we are “still recovering from our involvement in Iraq.” A veteran put it more bluntly: “This nation is sick and tired of war.”
首先，你们许多人问，这样做不是将导致我们跌入另一场战争吗？一位给我来信的人写道，我们“还在从对伊拉克的介入的恢复中”。一位退伍军人更直截了当地写道：“这个国家厌倦战争。”
My answer is simple: I will not put American boots on the ground in Syria. I will not pursue an open-ended action like Iraq or Afghanistan. I will not pursue a prolonged air campaign like Libya or Kosovo. This would be a targeted strike to achieve a clear objective: deterring the use of chemical weapons, and degrading Assad’s capabilities.
我的回答简单明了：我不会向叙利亚派遣美国地面军队。我不会开展像在伊拉克或阿富汗的那种无限期行动。我不会进行像在利比亚或科索沃那样的长期空中行动。这将是为达到一个明确目标而进行的有针对性的打击：防止使用化学武器，削弱阿萨德的能力。
Others have asked whether it’s worth acting if we don’t take out Assad. As some members of Congress have said, there’s no point in simply doing a “pinprick” strike in Syria.
还有些人质疑，如果我们不推翻阿萨德，这种行动是否值得。正像一些国会成员所说，对叙利亚给予“轻扎”的一击毫无意义。
Let me make something clear: The United States military doesn’t do pinpricks. Even a limited strike will send a message to Assad that no other nation can deliver. I don’t think we should remove another dictator with force -- we learned from Iraq that doing so makes us responsible for all that comes next. But a targeted strike can make Assad, or any other dictator, think twice before using chemical weapons.
请让我明确一点：美国军队不作轻扎之举。即使是有限打击也将对阿萨德传递任何其他国家都无法传递的信息。我不认为我们应该用武力再去推翻一个独裁者——我们从伊拉克懂得，这样做意味着我们要承担随后的所有一切。但是，有限的打击能够让阿萨德，或任何其他独裁者，在动用化学武器前三思。
Other questions involve the dangers of retaliation. We don’t dismiss any threats, but the Assad regime does not have the ability to seriously threaten our military. Any other retaliation they might seek is in line with threats that we face every day. Neither Assad nor his allies have any interest in escalation that would lead to his demise. And our ally, Israel, can defend itself with overwhelming force, as well as the unshakeable support of the United States of America.
其他一些提问涉及报复的危险。我们不排除任何威胁，但是阿萨德政权没有能力对我们的军队构成严重威胁。 他们有可能图谋的任何报复手段与我们每天面临的威胁并无两样。阿萨德和他的同伙都不会希望加剧导致自身灭亡。我们的盟友以色列能够依靠其压倒性的军事力量和美利坚合众国坚定不移的支持实现自卫。
Many of you have asked a broader question: Why should we get involved at all in a place that’s so complicated, and where -- as one person wrote to me -- “those who come after Assad may be enemies of human rights?”
你们许多人提出了一个更宏观的问题：我们到底为什么要介入一个如此复杂的地方，在那里——就像一位人士写给我的——“接替阿萨德的人也许与人权为敌？”
It’s true that some of Assad’s opponents are extremists. But al Qaeda will only draw strength in a more chaotic Syria if people there see the world doing nothing to prevent innocent civilians from being gassed to death. The majority of the Syrian people -- and the Syrian opposition we work with -- just want to live in peace, with dignity and freedom. And the day after any military action, we would redouble our efforts to achieve a political solution that strengthens those who reject the forces of tyranny and extremism.
确实，在阿萨德的反对派中有些是极端主义分子。但是，如果人们看到世界对防止无辜平民遭毒气杀害无动于衷，那只会使“基地”组织（al Qaeda）在变得更加混乱的叙利亚得势。大多数叙利亚人——以及我们与之合作的叙利亚反对派——仅希望过和平、有尊严和自由的生活。在任何军事行动过后，我们都将加倍努力实现政治解决，增强那些抵制暴政与极端主义的力量。
Finally, many of you have asked: Why not leave this to other countries, or seek solutions short of force? As several people wrote to me, “We should not be the world’s policeman.”
最后，你们很多人都问道：为什么不把这个问题留给其他国家，为什么不寻求不使用武力的解决方式？有些人致信给我时写道：“我们不应充当世界警察。”
I agree, and I have a deeply held preference for peaceful solutions. Over the last two years, my administration has tried diplomacy and sanctions, warning and negotiations -- but chemical weapons were still used by the Assad regime.
我对此表示赞同，而且我深信应优先考虑和平解决。两年来，本届政府采用过外交方式、实施过制裁、发出过警告并进行过谈判——但阿萨德政权却依然使用了化学武器。
However, over the last few days, we’ve seen some encouraging signs. In part because of the credible threat of U.S. military action, as well as constructive talks that I had with President Putin, the Russian government has indicated a willingness to join with the international community in pushing Assad to give up his chemical weapons. The Assad regime has now admitted that it has these weapons, and even said they’d join the Chemical Weapons Convention, which prohibits their use.
不过，我们在最近几天看到了一些积极迹象。在一定程度上由于美国要采取军事行动的有力威慑，以及我与普京总统进行的建设性会谈，俄罗斯政府已表示愿意加入国际社会的行列，迫使阿萨德放弃其化学武器。阿萨德政权现已承认拥有这类武器，甚至表示要加入禁止使用这类武器的《禁止化学武器公约》。
It’s too early to tell whether this offer will succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps its commitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat of chemical weapons without the use of force, particularly because Russia is one of Assad’s strongest allies.
确定这个方案是否可行现在还为时过早，而且任何一项协议都必须核实阿萨德政权遵守承诺的情况。但这项提案有可能在不使用武力的情况下消除化学武器的威胁，尤其是因为俄罗斯是阿萨德最牢靠的盟友之一。
I have, therefore, asked the leaders of Congress to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force while we pursue this diplomatic path. I’m sending Secretary of State John Kerry to meet his Russian counterpart on Thursday, and I will continue my own discussions with President Putin. I’ve spoken to the leaders of two of our closest allies, France and the United Kingdom, and we will work together in consultation with Russia and China to put forward a resolution at the U.N. Security Council requiring Assad to give up his chemical weapons, and to ultimately destroy them under international control. We’ll also give U.N. inspectors the opportunity to report their findings about what happened on August 21st. And we will continue to rally support from allies from Europe to the Americas -- from Asia to the Middle East -- who agree on the need for action.
因此，在我们探求这个外交途径的同时，我已要求国会领袖推迟就授权使用武力进行投票。我将派国务卿约翰·克里于本周四同俄罗斯外长见面，我也将继续同普京总统进行商谈。我已同我们最亲密的两个盟国——法国和英国——的领导人交谈过，我们将与俄罗斯和中国磋商，共同努力在联合国安理会提出一项决议，要求阿萨德必须放弃化学武器，并在国际监控下最终销毁它们。我们还将让联合国核查人员有机会报告他们对8月21日所发生的一切的调查结果。我们也将继续争取同样认为有必要采取行动的盟友的支持——从欧洲到美洲、从亚洲到中东。
Meanwhile, I’ve ordered our military to maintain their current posture to keep the pressure on Assad, and to be in a position to respond if diplomacy fails. And tonight, I give thanks again to our military and their families for their incredible strength and sacrifices.
与此同时，我已命令我军保持他们目前的态势，以便继续向阿萨德施压，并在外交失效的情况下能够作出应对。今晚，我再次感谢我军军人及其家属的无比坚强以及他们付出的巨大牺牲。
My fellow Americans, for nearly seven decades, the United States has been the anchor of global security. This has meant doing more than forging international agreements -- it has meant enforcing them. The burdens of leadership are often heavy, but the world is a better place because we have borne them.
我的美国同胞们，近70年来，美国一直是全球安全的支柱。这不仅意味着缔结国际协定——而且意味着严格执行国际协定。发挥领导作用的担子往往是沉重的，但正因为我们已承担起这个重担，这个世界才变得更加美好。
And so, to my friends on the right, I ask you to reconcile your commitment to America’s military might with a failure to act when a cause is so plainly just. To my friends on the left, I ask you to reconcile your belief in freedom and dignity for all people with those images of children writhing in pain, and going still on a cold hospital floor. For sometimes resolutions and statements of condemnation are simply not enough.
因此，我要请右翼的朋友们想一想，以你们对美国强大军力的承诺，能否容许不为如此显而易见的正义事业采取行动。我要请左翼的朋友们想一想，以你们对所有人民的自由和尊严的信念，能否对那些痛苦挣扎的儿童在医院冰冷的地板上奄奄一息的画面无动于衷。有时仅仅拿出决议及发表谴责声明是远远不够的。
Indeed, I’d ask every member of Congress, and those of you watching at home tonight, to view those videos of the attack, and then ask: What kind of world will we live in if the United States of America sees a dictator brazenly violate international law with poison gas, and we choose to look the other way?
是的，我要请每一位国会议员以及今晚在家中收看讲话的每一个人都去看一看有关那次袭击的视频并扪心自问：如果美国看到一名独裁者动用毒气肆无忌惮地践踏国际法却视而不见，那我们的这个世界会变成什么样子？
Franklin Roosevelt once said, “Our national determination to keep free of foreign wars and foreign entanglements cannot prevent us from feeling deep concern when ideals and principles that we have cherished are challenged.” Our ideals and principles, as well as our national security, are at stake in Syria, along with our leadership of a world where we seek to ensure that the worst weapons will never be used.
富兰克林·罗斯福曾说：“我国不介入国外战争和国外纠葛的决心不能阻止我们在我们所珍视的理念和原则受到挑战的时候深深地感到关切。” 我们的理念和原则，以及我们的国家安全，都在叙利亚问题上面临利害攸关的时刻，此外还有我们在全世界为确保最残酷的武器绝不被使用而发挥的领导作用。
America is not the world’s policeman. Terrible things happen across the globe, and it is beyond our means to right every wrong. But when, with modest effort and risk, we can stop children from being gassed to death, and thereby make our own children safer over the long run, I believe we should act. That’s what makes America different. That’s what makes us exceptional. With humility, but with resolve, let us never lose sight of that essential truth.
美国不是世界警察。全球到处都有可怕的事情发生，我们没有能力去纠正每一桩恶行。但当我们付出适度的努力并承担适度的风险就能阻止用毒气杀害儿童的行径，并从长远来看能以此进一步保障我们本国儿童的安全，我便坚信我们应当采取行动。正是这一点让美国独树一帜。正是这一点让我们出类拔萃。让我们以谦和为怀，同时下定决心，永远牢记这个至关重要的真理。
Thank you. God bless you. And God bless the United States of America.
谢谢你们。愿上帝保佑你们。愿上帝保佑美利坚合众国。
