My fellow Americans, tonight I want to talkto you about Syria, why it matters and where we go from here. Over the past twoyears, what began as a series of peaceful protests against the repressiveregime of Bashar al-Assad has turned into a brutal civil war. Over a hundredthousand people have been killed. Millions have fled the country. In that time,America has worked with allies to provide humanitarian support, to help themoderate opposition and to shape a political settlement. （交代大背景）

But I have resisted calls for militaryaction because we cannot resolve someone else's civil war through force,particularly after a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan. （解释我以前不想管这事）

The situation profoundly changed, though,on Aug. 21st, （但是情况有变化）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 themouth, gasping for breath, a father clutching his dead children, imploring themto get up and walk. On that terrible night, the world saw in gruesome detailthe terrible nature of chemical weapons and why the overwhelming majority ofhumanity has declared them off limits, a crime against humanity and a violationof the laws of war.

This was not always the case. In World WarI, American GIs were among the many thousands killed by deadly gas in thetrenches of Europe. In World War II, the Nazis used gas to inflict the horrorof the Holocaust. Because these weapons can kill on a mass scale, with nodistinction between soldier and infant, the civilized world has spent a centuryworking to ban them. And in 1997, the United States Senate overwhelminglyapproved an international agreement prohibiting the use of chemical weapons,now joined by 189 governments that represent 98 percent of humanity. （交代化学武器违法的背景）

On Aug. 21st, these basic rules wereviolated, along with our sense of common humanity.

（论证阿萨德使用了化学武器）

No one disputes that chemical weapons wereused in Syria. The world saw thousands of videos, cellphone pictures and socialmedia accounts from the attack. And humanitarian organizations told stories ofhospitals packed with people who had symptoms of poison gas.

Moreover, we know the Assad regime wasresponsible. In the days leading up to Aug. 21st, we know that Assad's chemicalweapons personnel prepared for an attack near an area they where they mix saringas. They distributed gas masks to their troops. Then they fired rockets from aregime-controlled area into 11 neighborhoods that the regime has been trying towipe clear of opposition forces.

Shortly after those rockets landed, the gasspread, and hospitals filled with the dying and the wounded. We know seniorfigures in Assad's military machine reviewed the results of the attack. And theregime increased their shelling of the same neighborhoods in the days thatfollowed. We've also studied samples of blood and hair from people at the sitethat tested positive for sarin.

When dictators commit atrocities, theydepend upon the world to look the other way until those horrifying picturesfade from memory. But these things happened. The facts cannot be denied. （因为是否使用了化武不是今天论证的重点所以连续、简短的列出事实显得简洁而有力是最好的）

（下面提出主旨）

The question now is what the United Statesof America and the international community is prepared to do about it, because what happened to those people, tothose children, is not only a violation of international law, it's also adanger to our security.

Let me explain why.（论点1） If we failto act, the Assad regime will see no reason to stop using chemical weapons.

（讲道理来支持论点1）As the ban against these weapons erodes, other tyrants will have noreason to think twice about acquiring poison gas and using them. Over time ourtroops would again face the prospect of chemical warfare on the battlefield,and it could be easier for terrorist organizations to obtain these weapons andto use them to attack civilians.

（递进，继续讲道理，可能会伤害其他国家）

If fighting spills beyond Syria's borders,these weapons could threaten allies like Turkey, Jordan and Israel.

（递进，可能会放松其它武器的管理）

And a failure to stand against the use ofchemical weapons would weaken prohibitions against other weapons of massdestruction and embolden Assad's ally, Iran, which must decide whether toignore international law by building a nuclear weapon or to take a more peacefulpath.

（讲将采取的措施，就是要打）

This is not a world we should accept. Thisis what's at stake. And that is why, after careful deliberation, I determinedthat it is in the national security interests of the United States to respondto the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons through a targeted militarystrike. The purpose of this strike would be to deter Assad from using chemicalweapons, to degrade his regime's ability to use them and to make clear to theworld that we will not tolerate their use. That's my judgment as commander inchief.

（论点2，我还要通过国会批准）

But I'm also the president of the world'soldest constitutional democracy. So even though I possessed the authority toorder military strikes, I believed it was right, in the absence of a direct orimminent threat to our security, to take this debate to Congress（开始讲道理，为什么要通过国会）. I believe our democracy is stronger when the president acts withthe support of Congress, and I believe that America acts more effectivelyabroad when we stand together.

This is especially true after a decade thatput more and more war-making power in the hands of the president, and more andmore burdens on the shoulders of our troops, while sidelining the people'srepresentatives from the critical decisions about when we use force.

（论证完毕，开始答疑）

Now, I know that after the terrible toll ofIraq 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 workingto end wars, not to start them. Our troops are out of Iraq, our troops arecoming home from Afghanistan, and I know Americans want all of us inWashington, especially me, to concentrate on the task of building our nationhere at home, putting people back to work, educating our kids, growing ourmiddle class. It's no wonder, then, that you're asking hard questions. So letme answer some of the most important questions that I've heard from members ofCongress and that I've read in letters that you've sent to me.

（问题一，我们又要再打一场仗？）

First, many of you have asked: Won't this put us on a slippery slope toanother war? One man wrote to me that we are still recovering from ourinvolvement in Iraq. A veteran put it more bluntly: This nation is sick andtired of war.

My answer is simple. （先简单、有力地回答） Iwill not put American boots on the ground in Syria. （举反例）I willnot pursue an open-ended action like Iraq or Afghanistan. I will not pursue aprolonged air campaign like Libya or Kosovo. This would be a targeted strike toachieve a clear objective: deterring theuse of chemical weapons and degrading Assad's capabilities.

（问题二，要打为什么不把阿萨德打死？）

Others have asked whether it's worth actingif we don't take out Assad. As some members of Congress have said, there's nopoint in simply doing a pinprick (生词noun [C usually plural] something which is slightly annoying for ashort time) strike in Syria.

Let me make something clear: The UnitedStates military doesn't do pinpricks. （同样，先简单有力）

Even a limited strike will send a messageto Assad that no other nation can deliver. I don't think we should removeanother dictator with force. （举例子，做掉萨达姆把我们拖入了伊拉克）We learned from Iraq that doing so makes us responsible for all thatcomes next. But a targeted strike canmake Assad or any other dictator think twice before using chemical weapons.

（问题三：阿萨德会不会报复，会不会更危险？）

Other questions involve the dangers ofretaliation. We don't dismiss any threats, but the Assad regime does not havethe ability to seriously threaten our military. Any other — any otherretaliation 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 tohis demise. And our ally Israel can defend itself with overwhelming force, aswell as the unshakable support of the United States of America.

（问题四：最难的问题，我们为什么要管这烂摊子，尤其反阿萨德的还有基地组织？）

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 humanrights? It's true that some of Assad's opponents are extremists. （下面这句讲道理）But al-Qaida will only draw strength in a more chaotic Syria ifpeople there see the world doing nothing to prevent innocent civilians frombeing gassed to death. The majority of the Syrianpeople and the Syrian opposition we work with just want to live in peace, withdignity and freedom. And the day after any military action, we would redoubleour efforts to achieve a political solution that strengthens those who rejectthe forces of tyranny and extremism.

（问题五，为什么不用别的办法，为什么不让别人去管）

Finally, many of you have asked, why notleave this to other countries or seek solutions short of force?

（先论证，我也不想大，可是谈了两年，后来还是用了化武，所以必须打）And several people wrote to me, we should not be the world'spoliceman. I agree. And I have a deeply held preference for peaceful solutions.Over the last two years my administration has tried diplomacy and sanctions,warnings and negotiations. But chemical weapons were still used by the Assadregime.

（提出俄罗斯的提案）

However, over the last few days we've seensome encouraging signs in part because ofthe credible threat of U.S. military action （明确因为我要打才有的这个提案）aswell as constructive talks that I had with President Putin. The Russiangovernment has indicated a willingness to join with the international communityin pushing Assad to give up his chemical weapons. The Assad regime has nowadmitted that it has these weapons and even said they'd join the chemicalweapons convention, which prohibits their use.

It's too early to tell whether this offerwill succeed, and any agreement must verify that the Assad regime keeps itscommitments. But this initiative has the potential to remove the threat ofchemical weapons without the use of force, particularly because Russia is oneof Assad's strongest allies.

（要求国会推迟投票，先不打）

I have therefore asked the leaders ofCongress to postpone a vote to authorize the use of force while we pursue thisdiplomatic path. I'm sending Secretary of State John Kerry to meet his Russiancounterpart on Thursday, and I will continue my own discussions with PresidentPutin. I've spoken to the leaders of two of our closest allies, France and theUnited Kingdom. And we will work together in consultation with Russia and Chinato put forward a resolution at the U.N. Security Council requiring Assad togive up his chemical weapons and to ultimately destroy them under internationalcontrol.

We'll also give U.N. inspectors theopportunity to report their findings about what happened on Aug. 21st. And wewill continue to rally support from allies, from Europe to the Americas, fromAsia to the Middle East who agree on the need for action.

Meanwhile, I've ordered our military tomaintain their current posture, to keep the pressure on Assad and to be in aposition to respond if diplomacy fails. And tonight I give thanks again to ourmilitary and their families for their incredible strength and sacrifices.

（论证完毕，开始结尾，留下深刻印象）

My fellow Americans, for nearly sevendecades the United States has been the anchor of global security. This hasmeant doing more than forging international agreements. It has meant enforcingthem. The burdens of leadership are often heavy, but the world's a better placebecause we have borne them.

And so to my friends on the right, I askyou to reconcile your commitment to America's military might with a failure toact when a cause is so plainly just.

To my friends on the left, I ask you toreconcile your belief in freedom and dignity for all people with those imagesof children writhing in pain and going still on a cold hospital floor, forsometimes resolutions and statements of condemnation are simply not enough.

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:（反问，开始抒情）What kind of world willwe live in if the United States of America sees a dictator brazenly violateinternational law with poison gas and we choose to look the other way?（名人名言）Franklin Roosevelt once said our national determination to keep freeof foreign wars and foreign entanglements cannot prevent us from feeling deepconcern when ideals and principles that we have cherished are challenged.

（重提主旨）Our ideals and principles,as well as our national security, are at stake in Syria, along with ourleadership of a world where we seek to ensure that the worst weapons will neverbe used. America is not the world's policeman.Terrible things happen across the globe, and it is beyond our means to rightevery wrong. But when, with modest effort and risk, we can stop children frombeing gassed to death and thereby make our own children safer over the longrun, I believe we should act. That's what makes America different. That's whatmakes us exceptional.

With humility, but with resolve, let usnever lose sight of that essential truth.

Thank you. God bless you, and God bless theUnited States of America.

长按指纹，识别二维码

了解更多美国留学信息

【欢迎骚扰】小编微信：lxue19880120