奧巴馬嚴厲譴責(zé)ISIS斬首美國人質(zhì)

Obama Condemns Islamic State’s Killing of Peter Kassig

奧巴馬嚴厲譴責(zé)ISIS斬首美國人質(zhì)

GAZIANTEP, Turkey — President Obama on Sunday confirmed the death of the American aid worker Peter Kassig, a former Army Ranger who disappeared over a year ago at a checkpoint in northeastern Syria while delivering medical supplies.

土耳其加齊安泰普——周日，奧巴馬總統(tǒng)確認美國援助工作者、前陸軍游騎兵彼得·卡西格(Peter Kassig)已經(jīng)身亡。一年多以前，他在運送醫(yī)療用品時，在敘利亞東北部的一個檢查站失蹤。

The president’s midafternoon statement came hours after the Islamic State released a video showing a black-clad executioner standing over the severed head of a man it identified as Mr. Kassig.

奧巴馬是在下午三點左右發(fā)布的這項聲明。幾小時之前，伊斯蘭國(Islamic State)公布了一段視頻顯示，一名身穿黑衣的劊子手兩腳分開站在一個砍下的人頭旁，伊斯蘭國稱此人正是卡西格。

Mr. Kassig “was taken from us in an act of pure evil by a terrorist group,” Mr. Obama said in a statement from aboard Air force One that was read to the news media in Washington.

卡西格“被一個恐怖組織，以極端罪惡的行徑，從我們身邊帶走了”，奧巴馬在空軍一號(Air Force One)上宣讀的一份聲明中寫道。在場的聽眾是華盛頓的新聞媒體。

In recent days, American intelligence agencies received strong indications that the Islamic State had killed Mr. Kassig. The president’s announcement was the first official confirmation of his death.

近日，美國情況機構(gòu)得到了具有說服力的線索，表明伊斯蘭國已經(jīng)殺害了卡西格。總統(tǒng)的聲明首次正式確定了他的死亡。

“Today we offer our prayers and condolences to the parents and family of Abdul-Rahman Kassig, also known to us as Peter,” Mr. Obama’s statement said. The president used the Muslim name Mr. Kassig had adopted, making the point that the Islamic State had killed one of its own. He acknowledged the “anguish at this painful time” felt by Mr. Kassig’s family.

奧巴馬在聲明中稱，“現(xiàn)在，我們?yōu)榘⒉范爬?拉赫曼·卡西格(Abdul-Rahman Kassig)，也就是我們所知的彼得的父母和親屬祈禱，并向他們表示慰問。”總統(tǒng)使用了卡西格起的穆斯林名字，說明伊斯蘭國殺害了自己的一名成員。他表示理解卡西格家人“在這個痛苦時刻的悲痛之情”。

The video footage circulated by the Islamic State, the violent jihadist group also known as ISIS or ISIL, was significantly different from the execution videos of four other Western hostages, whose televised deaths were carefully choreographed.

伊斯蘭國是一個殘暴的圣戰(zhàn)組織，又稱ISIS或ISIL。它這次發(fā)布的視頻與此前其他四名西方人質(zhì)被處決的視頻明顯不同，后者通過視頻呈現(xiàn)的死亡場景都經(jīng)過了精心安排。

Those videos were shot with several cameras from different vantage points to give the appearance of a professional production. By contrast, the footage of Mr. Kassig’s death is shot with a single camera and appears amateurish, with the harsh lighting obscuring the executioners’ visage.

那些視頻是通過幾臺放置在不同位置的攝像機拍攝的，所以看起來像是專業(yè)制作。然而，記錄卡西格之死時，只用了一臺攝像機，而且似乎很業(yè)余，在強烈的光照下，劊子手的面容顯得模糊不清。

While in the earlier videos the hostages are seen kneeling in orange jumpsuits and are forced to make speeches before the executioner lifts the knife to their throats, in the one released Sunday, the moments leading up to Mr. Kassig’s death are not shown. The change in format — combined with the lower production quality of the clip — may suggest that the Islamic State is on the run and unable to pull off the same cinematic production as before.

在早前的視頻當中，可以看到人質(zhì)穿著橙色連體服，被迫在劊子手把刀刺向他們的脖子之前發(fā)表講話，而周日發(fā)布的視頻沒有表現(xiàn)卡西格臨死前的最后場景。形式的變化，以及視頻質(zhì)量降低或許表明，伊斯蘭國正在逃亡，無法制作出像以往那樣具有電影效果的視頻。

The camera pans across the boots of the hooded killer. Between his feet, a decapitated head is seen, blood smearing the cheek.

攝像機從蒙面殺手的一只靴子搖到另一只靴子。在他的兩腳之間，能看到一個砍下來的人頭，臉頰上沾滿了血。

“This is Peter Edward Kassig, a U.S. citizen of your country. Peter, who fought against the Muslims in Iraq while serving as a soldier under the American Army doesn’t have much to say. His previous cellmates have already spoken on his behalf,” says the fighter who speaks with a British accent, appeared in the previous beheading videos and has been nicknamed Jihadi John by the British news media. “You claim to have withdrawn from Iraq four years ago. We said to you then that you are liars.”

“這是彼得·愛德華·卡西格，你們美國的公民。彼得曾服役于美國陸軍，在伊拉克與穆斯林作戰(zhàn)，他沒有什么好說的。他以前的獄友已經(jīng)替他求過情了，” 一名帶英國口音的武裝分子說。此人也曾出現(xiàn)在以前的斬首錄像中，英國媒體給他起的綽號是“圣戰(zhàn)約翰”(Jihadi John)。“你們聲稱四年前就已從伊拉克撤軍。我們那時就對你們說過，你們是騙子。”

An Indianapolis native, Mr. Kassig turned to humanitarian work after a tour in Iraq in 2007, where he served as an Army Ranger. He was certified as an emergency medical technician, and in 2012, he returned to the battlefield — this time helping bandage the wounded in Tripoli, Lebanon. Later that year he moved to Lebanon’s capital, Beirut, where he founded a small aid group and initially used his savings to buy supplies, like diapers, which he distributed to the Syrian refugees who were flooding into Lebanon.

卡西格來自印第安納波利斯，他2007年作為陸軍游騎兵在伊拉克服役后，開始從事人道主義工作。他獲得了急救醫(yī)務(wù)人員的資格，并于2012年返回戰(zhàn)場，這次是在黎巴嫩的黎波里為傷員包扎傷口。當年晚些時候，他搬到了黎巴嫩首都貝魯特，并在那里組建了一個小型援助團隊，最初還用自己的積蓄購買尿布等物資，然后將物資分發(fā)給大量涌入黎巴嫩的敘利亞難民。

In the summer of 2013, he relocated to Gaziantep, this city in southern Turkey roughly one hour from the Syrian border, and began making regular trips into Syria to offer medical care to the wounded. His friend Emma Beals, a freelance journalist, described in an article how Mr. Kassig helped care for a government sniper, despite the fact that the fighter had been taking shots at anyone who passed over the single bridge into the town.

2013年夏天，他搬到加齊安泰普，這個位于土耳其南部的城市距離敘利亞邊境大概一小時車程。他開始定期前往敘利亞，為傷者提供醫(yī)護。他的朋友、自由撰稿記者艾瑪·比爾斯(Emma Beals)在一篇文章中講述了卡西格照料一名政府軍狙擊手的過程，盡管此前不論誰經(jīng)過唯一的一座橋進出城鎮(zhèn)，這名槍手都會開槍。

When the sniper was himself injured, he was taken to the hospital where Mr. Kassig worked in the city of Deir al-Zour. The medical team worked silently to amputate the man’s leg, even though some of the doctors had lost family members to the sniper.

后來，這名狙擊手自己受了傷，被送到卡西格在代爾祖爾(Deir al-Zour)工作的醫(yī)院。醫(yī)療隊安靜地對這名男子進行了截肢，雖然有些醫(yī)生的家人就死在這名狙擊手槍下。

It was to this same town that Mr. Kassig was headed in an ambulance loaded with medical supplies when he was abducted on Oct. 1, 2013. He was transferred late last year to a prison beneath the basement of the Children’s Hospital in Aleppo, and then to a network of jails in Raqqa, the capital of the extremist group’s self-declared caliphate, where he became one of at least 23 Western hostages held by the group.

2013年10月1日，卡西格乘坐滿載醫(yī)療物資的救護車前往這座城鎮(zhèn)時，但卻遭到了綁架。去年年底，他被轉(zhuǎn)移到了阿勒頗兒童醫(yī)院 (Children’s Hospital in Aleppo)的地下室改造成的監(jiān)獄中，之后又被關(guān)押在拉卡市幾個不同的監(jiān)獄中，拉卡是該極端組織自行宣告成立的哈里發(fā)國的首都。他是被該極端組織綁架的至少23名西方人質(zhì)之一。

His cellmates included two American journalists James Foley andSteven J. Sotloff, as well as the British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning, who were beheaded in roughly two-week increments starting this August.

他的獄友包括兩名美國記者詹姆斯·弗利(James Foley)和史蒂芬·J·索托洛夫(Steven J. Sotloff)，以及英國援助工作者戴維·海恩斯(David Haines)和艾倫·亨寧(Alan Henning)，他們從今年8月開始相繼被斬首，時間大約相隔兩周。

Each video appeared to be filmed in the same location, identified by analysts using geo-mapping as a hill outside the city of Raqqa. Each video was relatively short — under five minutes on average — and included a speech by the hostage, in which he is forced to accuse his government for alleged crimes against Muslims as the masked killer stands by holding the knife.

視頻似乎都是在同一地點拍攝的，分析人士通過地理制圖技術(shù)確認出，拍攝地點位于拉卡城外的一座山丘。視頻都相對較短，平均不到五分鐘，內(nèi)容包括人質(zhì)的講話。蒙面的劊子手持刀站在人質(zhì)身邊，人質(zhì)被迫譴責(zé)他所在國家的政府對穆斯林犯下的所謂罪行。

In contrast, Mr. Kassig’s death appears in the final two minutes of a nearly 16-minute video, which traces the history of the Islamic Statefrom its origins in Iraq as a unit under the control of Osama bin Laden to its modern-day incarnation in the region straddling Iraq and Syria.

相比之下，卡西格被殺的片段出現(xiàn)在視頻的最后兩分鐘里。視頻全長16分鐘，大部分是追溯伊斯蘭國的歷史，從它一開始作為奧薩馬·本·拉登(Osama bin Laden)控制下的一個伊拉克小組，到今日成為橫跨伊拉克和敘利亞的實體組織的歷程。

In one extended sequence, a mass beheading of captured Syrian soldiers is shown. Over the sound of Quranic chants, the handcuffed victims are shown being led out in a line, held by the scruffs of their necks. Each fighter is seen grabbing a knife from a bowl. Then the victims are forced to kneel. They are beheaded at the same moment.

有一段很長的鏡頭還顯示了，大批被俘敘利亞士兵遭斬首的場面。視頻顯示，在念誦《古蘭經(jīng)》的聲音中，帶著手銬的受害者被揪著脖領(lǐng)拉過來排成一行。每一名作戰(zhàn)人員都從一個大容器里抽出一把刀。然后，受害者被迫跪下。他們在同一時刻遭到斬首。

In the middle is Jihadi John. Just after killing his victim, he looks up. Through the slits in his black mask, the viewer can see his eyes. Defiantly, he stares at the camera.

站在中間的是那個被稱為“圣戰(zhàn)約翰”的男子。就在殺死面前的受害者之后，他把頭抬了起來。通過他黑色面罩上的縫隙，觀眾可以看到他的眼睛。他用挑釁的目光直視著攝像機。

The footage of Mr. Kassig’s head is markedly less professional and comes at the tail end of this footage, as if to force viewers to watch thescenes that come before, said a terrorism expert, Jean-Charles Brisard, whose study on Bin Laden was published by the French National Assembly.

反恐專家讓-夏爾·布里薩爾(Jean-Charles Brisard)表示，卡西格被斬首的鏡頭明顯不怎么專業(yè)，出現(xiàn)在視頻最后部分，仿佛是要迫使觀眾看完此前的場景。法國國民議會(National Assembly)出版了布里薩爾有關(guān)本·拉登的研究報告。

“This is why I am pretty sure that the real focus is not on Peter Kassig,” Mr. Brisard said, but on the mass killing of Syrian soldiers and the statements on the genesis of the group.

布里薩爾說，“因此，我十分確定真正的重點不是彼得·卡西格，”而是為了展示大批敘利亞士兵被殺的場面，以及講述該組織的發(fā)展歷程。

“Obviously there was something that happened during the filming” of the Kassig execution, Mr. Brisard said, adding, “We know that the past executions were filmed from multiple perspectives, so perhaps something happened here that prevented them from doing so.”

布里薩爾說，“在拍攝卡西格被斬首的過程中，明顯發(fā)生了一些事情。”他還表示，“我們知道以前的斬首視頻都是從多個角度拍攝的，或許當時發(fā)生了一些事情，使得他們沒辦法這樣做。”

Mr. Brisard said that it is possible that Mr. Kassig resisted, and tried to oppose his executioner, which would have made the filming impossible. It could also suggest that the group is on the move and unable to carry out the same open-air scenario as it did in Raqqa.

布里薩爾表示，卡西格可能進行了反抗，試圖與劊子手對抗，使得他們無法拍攝視頻。這也可能說明，該組織正在逃亡，無法像在拉卡一樣，在同樣的露天場所實施斬首。

The executioner states that the killing is taking place in Dabiq, a village in Aleppo Province, which has symbolic significance because it is mentioned in Islamic scripture as the place where an epic battle occurred between Muslims and infidels.

劊子手稱，斬首地點是阿勒頗省的達比克(Dabiq)。這個村莊具有象征意義，因為伊斯蘭教經(jīng)文中提到了這個地方，稱穆斯林與異教徒曾在這里開展了史詩般的戰(zhàn)斗。

The killer ends by saying, “Here we are burying the first American Crusader in Dabiq – eagerly waiting for the rest of your armies to arrive.”

劊子手最后說道，“我們要在達比克埋葬第一名美國十字軍士兵，我們急切地等待其他美國士兵的到來。”

Former hostages held alongside Mr. Kassig described how he worried that his past as an Iraq war veteran might doom him. His record of service was quickly discovered by their extremist captors, who forced the hostages to hand over the passwords to their email and social media accounts, then scanned their emails, Facebook timelines and private chats for evidence of collusion with foreign governments.

與卡西格曾一同被關(guān)押的前人質(zhì)表示，卡西格說過，擔(dān)心自己參加伊拉克戰(zhàn)爭的經(jīng)歷會招致災(zāi)禍。該極端組織的綁匪很快發(fā)現(xiàn)了他服役的記錄。他們迫使人質(zhì)交出郵箱和社交網(wǎng)站賬號的密碼，然后查閱人質(zhì)的電子郵件、Facebook時間軸，以及私人聊天記錄，從而尋找他們與外國政府勾結(jié)的證據(jù)。

“One day, the guards burst in, and they said: ‘Peter?'? ?" recalled one of Mr. Kassig’s cellmates, who was released for ransom this year. “He said, ‘Yes, sir.’ And then the guard said, ‘Are you a soldier?'? ?“

“有一天，看守破門而入，他們喊道：‘彼得?’”一名因為繳納了贖金于今年獲釋的前人質(zhì)回憶道，“他回答說，‘是，先生。’然后看守問道，‘你是軍人?’”

There was a pause. And then Mr. Kassig answered, “Yes, sir,” said the former hostage, who like others spoke on the condition of anonymity in order to discuss a sensitive matter.

那位前人質(zhì)透露，片刻的沉默后，卡西格回答說，“是的，先生。”由于討論的是敏感事件，這名人質(zhì)跟其他人一樣，要求匿名。

In the months leading up to his death, Mr. Kassig seemed to know the end was near.

在死前的幾個月，卡西格似乎感覺到末日即將來臨。