西方不能對ISIS袖手旁觀 恐坐大後貽害全球

Sinjar, a Kurdish border area that has seen more prosperous times as a trading and farming hub famed for its figs, olives and Syrian-influenced cuisine, is suddenly on the world map as a genocide unfolds before our eyes.

位於伊拉克邊境、庫爾德人聚居的辛賈爾(Sinjar)歷史上曾經歷過更爲繁榮的時期。這裏曾是一個貿易和農業中心，以無花果、橄欖和受敘利亞影響的美食而聞名於世。突然之間，這個地區因爲在衆目睽睽之下上演了一場種族屠殺，而出現在世人的視線中。

As a Kurd whose family comes from Sinjar, I find it wrenching to see the suffering of our people as yet another genocide is committed against us. We had thought the dark days were behind us as we rebuilt the 4,000 villages, and the physical and social infrastructure, that were destroyed by Saddam Hussein.

作爲家族來自辛賈爾的庫爾德人，我痛苦地看到又一場針對我族的屠殺正在讓我的族人受難。當我們重建了曾被薩達姆•侯賽因(Saddam Hussein)摧毀的4000個村莊以及物質和社會基礎設施時，我們曾經以爲，黑暗的日子已被我們拋在身後。

Kurdistan has a tradition of peaceful coexistence, with Muslims, Christians, Yazidis, Turkmen, Kurds and Arabs all living side by side. The first school my Muslim mother attended in Sinjar was run by Christian nuns. Religious festivals, she told me, were always celebrated by neighbours of different faiths, too.

庫爾德斯坦有着各民族和平共處的傳統，穆斯林、基督教徒、雅茲迪人、土庫曼人、庫爾德人和阿拉伯人都生活在一起。身爲穆斯林的母親在辛賈爾就讀的第一所學校，就是由信仰基督教的修女管理的。她告訴我，不同信仰的鄰居們也總是會慶祝各種宗教節日。

This is still the norm in Kurdistan, and that is what the terrorists of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) want to destroy. Their ideology is not Islamic; it is simply an ideology of violence, hatred and conquest. Their reputation for murder, crucifixion, rape and slaughter of children goes before them. No wonder the Yazidis and Christians fled en masse, most of them into the Kurdistan region.

庫爾德斯坦現在仍然如此，但“伊拉克與黎凡特伊斯蘭國”（Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant，簡稱Isis）的恐怖分子們希望破壞這一現狀。他們的意識形態並非伊斯蘭主義；他們的意識形態無非就是暴力、憎恨和征服。他們謀殺、酷刑、強姦以及屠殺兒童的名聲盡人皆知。因此雅茲迪人和基督教徒大規模逃亡就毫不奇怪了，多數人逃往庫爾德斯坦地區。

Who is not moved by the plight of the tens of thousands of people stranded on Mount Sinjar without food or water in the oppressive August heat? Who is not horrified by the stories of barbarism the Kurdish Yazidis have recounted after making their escape? But being moved and horrified is not enough. The world, particularly the US, Britain and France, must intervene with force and speed. This is a matter of preventing a brutal and murderous organisation from killing civilians, and solidifying a state from which to terrorise the region – and, without a shadow of a doubt, the west as well. All Isis assets and positions should be considered legitimate targets.

在這個悶熱難耐的8月，數萬人被困在辛賈爾山中，沒有食物和水，誰不爲他們的處境動容？誰不爲庫爾德雅茲迪人逃出後講述的發生在那裏的野蠻行徑而感到震驚？然而，動容和震驚是不夠的。國際社會——尤其是美國、英國和法國——必須堅決、迅速地進行干預。這是要阻止一個野蠻且殘忍的組織殺害平民、阻止它將一種使得該地區恐怖化（西方毫無疑問也不會倖免）的狀態鞏固下來。Isis所有的資產和陣地都應被視爲合法的打擊目標。

The American and British air drops are vital. But Britain and other allies also need to consider airlifting the refugees beyond the terrorists’ grasp before any more die of starvation, dehydration and heat. The international community must help the Kurdistan government with the flood of refugees, now numbering almost 2m. In some areas, refugees outnumber locals. They have no shelter, and many sleep in half-completed construction sites, on pavements and in parks.

美國和英國的空投至關重要。但英國和其他盟國還必須考慮將難民空運出來、逃離恐怖主義分子的魔爪，不讓更多的人死於飢餓、脫水和高溫。國際社會必須幫助庫爾德斯坦政府解決大量難民涌入的問題，現在難民總數已達到近200萬人。在一些地區，難民的數量超過了當地人。他們沒有避難所，很多人睡在尚未完工的建築工地、人行道和公園裏。

The US and France are supplying arms to Kurds; Britain and other countries should do the same. Kurdish peshmerga forces have been fighting terrorists armed with heavy US weaponry captured when they seized Mosul. The peshmerga are fighting on behalf of the entire world, and they need modern weapons, air support, intelligence and logistical help right away. As Winston Churchill said, give us the tools and we will finish the job.

美國和法國正向庫爾德人提供武器；英國和其他國家也應這麼做。庫爾德“自由鬥士”(Peshmerga)武裝力量一直在抗擊擁有美國重型武器的恐怖分子，恐怖分子是在奪取摩蘇爾時繳獲這些武器的。“自由鬥士”正代表整個世界戰鬥，他們現在亟需現代武器、空中支持、情報和後勤支持。正如溫斯頓•邱吉爾(Winston Churchill)說過的那樣，給我們工具，我們就會完成任務。

Some have expressed concern about mission creep. Others say this is not our problem, just another Middle East war. They are wrong. Residents of London, New York or Madrid may think they are not at war with these terrorists, but the terrorists are certainly at war with you. The conflict in Syria illustrates the price of non-intervention. We in Kurdistan and Iraq are paying that price today; and, if it is not stopped, the carnage will spread.

一些國家表示擔心干預行爲逐步擴大化，以致無法按預定計劃脫身。還有一些國家表示，這與自己無關，只是另一場中東戰爭。他們說錯了。倫敦、紐約或馬德里的居民可能認爲，他們與這些恐怖分子之間不存在戰爭，但恐怖分子戰爭的矛頭絕對指向他們。敘利亞的衝突就說明了不干預的代價。在庫爾德斯坦和伊拉克，我們今天正爲此付出代價；如果不加阻止的話，屠殺範圍將擴大。

The US must be fairer in its diplomacy regarding Kurdish oil sales. Washington had clung to the idea that supporting Nouri al-Maliki during his disastrous two terms as prime minister of Iraq would keep the country together. But the Baghdad government has withheld Kurdistan’s budget for eight months this year. At the same time, the US worked to prevent the sale of Kurdish oil on the international market, leaving our government dependent on foreign loans.

美國必須在其有關庫爾德石油銷售的外交政策中更爲公平。美國政府一直秉持這種觀點：在努裏•馬利基(Nouri al-Maliki)擔任伊拉克總理的災難性的兩任任期期間支持他，可能令伊拉克實現團結。但伊拉克政府今年扣留了庫爾德斯坦8個月的預算。同時，美國致力於阻止庫爾德石油在國際市場上銷售，這使得我們的政府依賴於外國貸款。

The peshmerga have protected oil installations, and production and exports have been uninterrupted, with order books looking healthy. Yet, without an end to the economic blockade, how can we cope with the humanitarian crisis and an all-out war?

“自由鬥士”武裝一直保護石油設施，生產和出口一直沒有中斷，訂單狀況看上去令人放心。然而，在經濟封鎖沒有結束的情況下，我們怎麼能應對這場人道主義危機以及一場殊死大戰呢？

Our enemies are the world’s richest and most heavily armed terrorists. Kurdistan needs a holistic response from the west that includes immediate humanitarian and military aid, and the removal of obstacles to our economy. If we are to prevail against the barbarism of the terrorists, we need support.

我們的敵人是全球最富有、且裝備最精良的恐怖分子。庫爾德斯坦需要來自西方的全面迴應，其中包括緊急人道主義和軍事援助、以及消除阻礙我們經濟的障礙。我們需要支持，才能制止這些恐怖分子的野蠻行徑。