Biden’s debacle 拜登大溃败 | 经济学人中英双语对照精读笔记
文 / 王不留（微信公众号：王不留）
本文选自《经济学人》20210821期
Biden’s debacle
拜登的惨败
The fiasco in Afghanistan is a huge and unnecessary blow to America’s standing.
(美国)在阿富汗的惨败是对美国地位的一个巨大且不必要的打击。
debacle [dɪˈbɑːkl] 彻底失败
fiasco [fiˈæskəʊ] 惨败，彻底的失败
deal a blow to sb/sth 令…震惊；给…以打击；使…受到伤害；给…一击；打击
If the propagandists of the Taliban had scripted the collapse of America’s 20-year mission to reshape Afghanistan, they could not have come up with more harrowing images. As insurgents swept into Kabul, desperate Afghans, terrified about what the victorious zealots might do, chased departing American cargo planes down the runway, trying to clamber into the landing gear and inevitably falling to their deaths. The American-backed government had surrendered without a fight—something that American officials were insisting would not happen only days before. Afghans were left in such a horrifying bind that clinging to the wheels of a hurtling aircraft seemed their best option.
如果塔利班的宣传者编写美国20年重塑阿富汗使命失败的剧本，他们可能无法想到如此悲惨的画面。当叛军席卷喀布尔，绝望的阿富汗人害怕获胜的狂热分子可能会干些事情，他们沿着跑道追赶正在离开的美国运输机，试图爬上起落架，最后不可避免地摔死。美国支持的政府不战而降 — 几天前，美国官员还坚称这种情况不会发生。阿富汗人陷入如此可怕的困境，抓住急驰的飞机轮子似乎是他们最好的选择。
propagandist: 鼓吹者；宣传者
script: 为（电影或戏剧等）写剧本
come up with 想出，提出(计划、想法等)
harrowing: making you feel very upset because you are very shocked or frightened 恐怖的；使人十分难过的
insurgent: one of a group of people fighting against the government of their own country, or against authority 起义者；暴动者；叛乱者
sweep into: to move, especially quickly and powerfully（尤指快速有力地）移动，冲
zealot: （尤指宗教或政治的）狂热分子
clamber into: to climb sth with difficulty, using your hands and feet （手脚并用费力地）攀登；爬
landing gear: （飞机的）起落架
fall to their deaths 跌落致死；摔死
in such a horrifying bind 处于异常可怕的境地
bind 窘境；困境；
in a bind (N AmE) 陷于困境；进退维谷
hurtling: to move or fall very fast 猛冲; 快速落下
America has spent $2trn in Afghanistan; more than 2,000 American lives have been lost, not to mention countless Afghan ones. And yet, even if Afghans are more prosperous now than when America invaded, Afghanistan is back to square one. The Taliban control more of the country than they did when they lost power, they are better armed, having seized the weapons America showered on the Afghan army, and they have now won the ultimate affirmation: defeating a superpower.
美国在阿富汗已花费了2万亿美元；两千多名美国人丧生，更不用说无数的阿富汗人了。然而，即使阿富汗人现在比美国入侵时更富有，阿富汗还是回到了起点。塔利班控制了比以前失去权力时还要多的地区，他们的武器更加精良，还缴获了美国向阿富汗军队赠送的武器，他们现在赢得了最终的肯定：击败一个超级大国。
not to mention 更不必说
back to square one: 回到了起点；(因行动失败而)重新开始
shower: to give sb a lot of things 大量给予
affirmation: a definite or public statement that sth is true or that you support sth strongly 申明；断言；肯定属实
The insurgents have made a show of magnanimity, pledging that they will not take revenge on those who worked for the toppled government and insisting that they will respect women’s rights, within their interpretation of Islamic law. But that interpretation kept most girls out of school and most women confined to their homes when the group was last in power, in the 1990s. Brutal punishments—floggings, stonings, amputations—were common. The freedoms that urban Afghans took for granted over the past 20 years have just gone up in smoke. It is an appalling outcome for Afghanistan’s 39m people, and deeply damaging for America.
叛乱分子者表现出宽宏大量，保证他们不会报复那些为被推翻的政府工作过的人，并坚持在伊斯兰法律的解释范围内尊重女性权利。但在20世纪90年代他们掌权时，这种解释让大多数女孩无法上学，大部分妇女不能离出家门。残酷的惩罚（比如鞭打，石刑，截肢）很常见。过去20年里，阿富汗城市居民本该享有的自由化为泡影。对阿富汗390万人民来说，这是一个令人震惊的结果；对美国来说，这是一个巨大的伤害。
make a show of 展现；装作……（show 装出的样子；虚假的外观；假象）
make a great show of sth. 使显眼，刻意(故意)做某事
make a show of oneself 出丑，出洋相
magnanimity: behaviour that is kind, generous and forgiving, especially towards an enemy or competitor 宽宏；大度（尤指对敌人或对手）
toppled: 被推翻的
flogging: a punishment in which somebody is hit many times with a whip or stick（作为惩罚的）鞭笞；棒打
stoning: 向…扔石头
amputation: 截肢
take for granted 认为…是理所当然的；（因视作理所当然而）不把…当回事，对…不予重视（或不知感激）过去在
go up in smoke: fail completely 告吹；成泡影；破灭
appalling: very unpleasant and shocking 骇人听闻的；令人震惊的；可怕的
It is not surprising that America failed to turn Afghanistan into a democracy. Nation-building is difficult, and few imagined that it could become Switzerland. Nor was it unreasonable for Joe Biden, America’s president, to want to draw the conflict to a close. America has spent 20 years in a place of only modest strategic importance about which most American voters have long since ceased to care. The original reason for the invasion—to dismantle al-Qaeda’s main base of operations—was largely achieved, though that achievement could now be reversed.
美国未能将阿富汗变成民主国家并不奇怪。国家建设是困难的，很少有人认为它会变成瑞士。美国总统拜登想要结束这场冲突也不是没有理由的。美国花了20年在一个只有适度战略重要性的地方，大多数美国选民早就不再关心这个地方了。入侵的最初动机 — 摧毁基地组织的主要行动基地 — 很大程度上已经完成，虽然这个成就现在可能会出现反转。
王不留（wbliu85）注：America has spent 20 years in a place of only modest strategic importance about which most American voters have long since ceased to care.
可以拆成两句话：America has spent 20 years in a place of only modest strategic importance.
Most American voters have long since ceased to care about the place.其中，long since表示“早就”，care about表示“关心；在意”。
draw to a close: to end 结束
draw the conflict to a close 结束冲突
long since 早就，早已；很久以前
dismantle: to gradually get rid of a system or organization （逐渐地）废除（某种制度或组织）
al-Qaeda “基地”组织（又译卡达或凯达）
main base of operations 主要作战基地，大本营
The claim that America is showing itself to be a fickle ally by allowing the Afghan government to fall is also overblown, given the duration, scale and expense of the American deployment. The defunct regime in Kabul was not an ally in the way that Germany or Japan is. It was far weaker, more corrupt and completely dependent on America for its survival.
考虑到美军部署的持续时间、规模和费用，美国允许阿富汗政府垮台是个靠不住的盟友这一说法言过其实了。喀布尔倒下的政权不像德国或日本那种盟友。它更加弱小，更加腐败，完全依赖美国生存。
fickle ally 靠不住的盟友（fickle (of a person 人) 反复无常的 ）
fickle: (of a person人) often changing their mind in an unreasonable way so that you cannot rely on them 反复无常的；三心二意的；靠不住的
ally: 盟友
overblown: that is made to seem larger, more impressive or more important than it really is 过分的；夸张的；虚饰过度的
deployment: the act of moving soldiers or weapons into a position where they are ready for military action 部署，调度（军队或武器）
defunct [dɪˈfʌŋkt] 不再存在的; 不再起作用的
But none of that absolved America of the responsibility to withdraw in an orderly fashion. Mr Biden failed to show even a modicum of care for the welfare of ordinary Afghans. The irony is that America had a plan to do just that, which had been in the works for several years. It had hugely scaled down its garrison, from around 100,000 troops in 2011 to fewer than 10,000 by 2017, along with a similar number from other NATO countries. They were not supposed to defeat the Taliban, but prevent the Afghan army’s collapse, largely through air power, and so force the Taliban to the negotiating table.
但这些都不能免除美国有序撤军的责任。拜登甚至没有对普通阿富汗人的生活表现出一丝关心。具有讽刺意味的是，美国有一个这样做的计划，这个计划已经实施了好几年。它大幅缩减了驻军规模，从2011年的约10万军队到2017年的不到1万人，与其它北约国家的驻军人数差不多。他们并不指望击败塔利班，而主要通过空中力量，防止阿富汗军队崩溃，从而迫使塔利班坐到谈判桌前。
absolve sb from/of sth: to say publicly that sb is not guilty or responsible for sth 宣布…无罪；免除…的责任
in an orderly fashion 井然有序地，有条不紊地
in (a)… fashion (formal) 以…方式
a modicum of: a small amount of sth, especially a good quality （尤指好的方面）少量的某事物
be in the works / pipeline: used to say that sth is being planned or developed 已列入计划;已开始
scale down its garrison 缩减驻军人数；
scale down/back: to reduce the amount or size of sth 缩减；缩小
garrison: a group of soldiers living in a town or fort and defending it 卫戍部队；守备部队
be supposed to 应该
negotiating table 谈判桌（指正式的谈判会议）
Apologists for Mr Biden argue that his predecessor, Donald Trump, had already scuppered this plan by trying to rush it to a conclusion before last year’s presidential election in America. It is true that Mr Trump was so desperate to strike a quick deal that he accepted preposterous terms, agreeing to end America’s deployment without even securing a ceasefire, let alone a clear plan to end the civil war. He had already reduced the American presence to little more than 2,000 soldiers by the time Mr Biden took office, and had promised to get the rest out by May 1st.
拜登的辩护者认为，前任总统唐纳德·特朗普，试图在去年美国总统选举前匆忙结束这一计划，导致计划泡汤。诚然，特朗普如此急于达成快速协议，以致于他接受了荒谬的条款，甚至没有确保停火就同意结束部署，更不用说结束内战的明确计划了。到拜登上任时，他已经将美国驻军人数减少到略多于2000人，并承诺5月1号前撤出其余人员。
scupper: to ruin sb's plans or chance of being successful – used especially in news reports 破坏；使（计划、机会等）泡汤（尤用于新闻报道）
preposterous: completely unreasonable, especially in a way that shocks or annoys you 荒唐的；极不合情理的
terms: （协议、合同、协定等的）条款
ceasefire: 停火/停战协议
strike a quick deal 迅速达成协议
strike a bargain/deal 达成（对双方都有利的）协议
let alone 同not to mention 更不用说；（通常用在否定句后）遑论
But Mr Biden did not have to stick to this agreement. In fact, he didn’t entirely, refusing to keep to the original timetable. The Taliban were clearly not holding up their end of the bargain, pressing their advantage on the battlefield instead of negotiating in good faith with the Afghan government. That could have been grounds to halt or reverse the American withdrawal. There was little political pressure within America to bring the war to a speedy conclusion. Yet Mr Biden was working to an arbitrary and flippant deadline of his own, seeking to end the war by the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Although the speed of the Afghan government’s implosion surprised most observers, including this newspaper, America’s soldiers and politicians were among the most naively optimistic, insisting that a total collapse was a vanishingly remote prospect. And when it became clear that the Afghan army was melting away, Mr Biden pressed on intransigently, despite the likely consequences.
但拜登不必遵守这个协议。事实上，他没有完全放弃，只是拒绝按照最初的时间表。塔利班显然没有履行他们的承诺，在战场上发挥他们的优势，而不是真诚与阿富汗政府谈判。这本可以成为停止或扭转美国撤军的理由。美国国内，迅速结束战争的政治压力很小。然而拜登正按照自己武断又轻率决定的最后期限开展工作，试图在911事件20周年前结束战争。尽管阿富汗政府的崩溃速度让包括本报在内的大多数观察人士感到惊讶，但美国士兵和政治家们却很天真乐观，认为完全崩溃的可能性微乎其微。当阿富汗军队明显溃散时，拜登不顾可能出现的后果，依旧坚持按计划推进。
stick to 遵守，坚持(诺言、协议、决定或原则等)
keep to the original timetable 按照原来的计划（timetable 预定计划；时间安排；时间表；时刻表 ）
hold up their end of the bargain 履行协议（同keep (up) their end of the bargain；keep their side of the bargain）
press their advantage on the battlefield 发挥战场上的优势
in good faith: 诚心诚意
bring the war to a speedy conclusion 迅速结束战争；
bring…… to a conclusion 使……结束
work to a deadline 按规定的期限完成工作
grounds: a good reason for doing, believing, or saying sth 充分的理由；根据
halt: to prevent sb or sth from continuing – used especially in news reports 阻止（尤用于新闻报道）
arbitrary: decided or arranged without any reason or plan, often unfairly 任意的；专横的，武断的
flippant: not being serious about sth that other people think you should be serious about 轻率的；轻浮的
implosion: （组织或系统）突然瓦解；崩溃
intransigently: (of people人) unwilling to change their opinions or behaviour in a way that would be helpful to others 不妥协；不愿合作；不肯让步
As a result, America’s power to deter its enemies and reassure its friends has diminished. Its intelligence was flawed, its planning rigid, its leaders capricious and its concern for allies minimal. That is likely to embolden jihadists everywhere, who will take the Taliban’s victory as evidence that God is on their side. It will also encourage adventurism on the part of hostile governments such as Russia’s , and worry America’s friends. Mr Biden has defended the withdrawal by arguing that Afghanistan was a distraction from more pressing problems. But by leaving Afghanistan in such a chaotic fashion, Mr Biden will have made those other problems harder to deal with.
结果，美国威慑敌人安抚朋友的力量减弱了。它的情报有缺陷，它的计划僵化，它的领导人反复无常，它对盟友的关心微乎其微。这可能会助长各地圣战分子的气焰，他们会把塔利班的胜利视为真主站在他们一边的证据。这也将激发像俄罗斯这样的敌对政府的冒险主义，并使美国盟友担忧。拜登为撤军辩护称，阿富汗转移了人们对更紧迫问题的注意力。但以如此混乱的方式离开阿富汗，拜登将使这些其它问题更难处理。
王不留（wbliu85）注：God，很多译文直接译为“上帝”。这是不合适的。在本文应译为“真主”。
真主是伊斯兰经典《古兰》对宇宙独一存在的最高主宰的阿拉伯语称呼。音译安拉胡，俗称安拉。通用中文的穆斯林称为真主。
上帝是犹太教、基督教、创造宇宙的神。被视为宗教信徒至高无上的信仰，在基督教中，上帝是永恒的存在，创造和治理世界。上帝是宇宙的支撑和创造者。自然神论说，上帝是宇宙的创造者。
take… as evidence that…… 将……作为……的依据；以……为证来说明……
on the part of sb/on sb's part 就……而言；由某人所为
deter: to make sb less likely to do sth bad by making it difficult or by punishing them 制止；吓阻
rigid: very strict and difficult to change 死板的；僵硬的
capricious: likely to change your mind suddenly or behave in an unexpected way 反复无常的；任性的
embolden: to make sb feel braver or more confident 使增加勇气；使更有胆量；使更有信心
jihadist: 伊斯兰圣战者
pressing: needing to be discussed or dealt with very soon 紧迫的
After the fall
倒台之后
The shambolic withdrawal does not reduce the obligation of America and its allies to ordinary Afghans, but increases it. They should use what leverage they still have to urge moderation on the Taliban, especially in their treatment of women. The displaced will need humanitarian aid. Western countries should also admit more Afghan refugees, the ranks of whom are likely to swell, and provide generous assistance to Afghanistan’s neighbours to look after those who remain in the region. The haste of European leaders to declare that they cannot take in many persecuted Afghans even as violent zealots seize control is almost as lamentable as America’s botched exit. It is too late to save Afghanistan, but there is still time to help its people.
混乱的撤军并没有减少美国和其盟友对普通阿富汗人的义务，反而增加了义务。他们应该使用他们仍然拥有的影响力敦促塔利班克制，特别是在对待女性方面。流离失所者需要人道主义援助。西方国家应当接纳更多的阿富汗难民，他们的人数可能会增加，还应该向阿富汗的邻国提供慷慨援助，以照顾那些留在该地区的人。欧洲领导人匆忙宣布，即使暴力狂热者夺取控制权，他们也无法接纳许多受迫害的阿富汗人，这几乎和美国糟糕的退出方式一样可悲。拯救阿富汗为时已晚，但帮助阿富汗人民为时不晚。
王不留（wbliu85）注：The haste of European leaders to declare that they cannot take in many persecuted Afghans even as violent zealots seize control is almost as lamentable as America’s botched exit.
这句话的主干是：The haste is almost as lamentable as America’s botched exit.
shambolic: without order or organization 混乱的；没有次序的；乱七八糟的
leverage: the ability to influence what people do 影响力
moderation: the quality of being reasonable and not being extreme 适度；适中；合理
the displaced: 流离失所的；背井离乡的
admit: 允许…进入
the ranks of: （组织或团体的）成员
swell: to increase to a much bigger amount or number 增多；增加
take in 收留，收容(尤指无家可归者或逃难者)
lamentable: very disappointing 十分令人失望的；令人遗憾的
botched: 一塌糊涂的；拙劣的
“王不留说”
2021年8月21号刊的《经济学人》杂志的PDF、其它版本及音频，已经在百度网盘。
关注 “王不留” 微信公众号，回复 “0821” ，获得本期杂志及音频。
如需要2012-2021年全套《经济学人》，可以回复“经济学人”，获得历年《经济学人》。
提供的电子版本仅供学习交流，请勿用于商业行为。
