Why Mali was attacked
马里缘何被袭击
So here we go again. First the tragic slaughter of innocents in Paris, followed by that tense, bloodstained hunt for the murderers. Now 170 largely-foreign hostages have been seized by gunmen in an upmarket hotel in the Malian capital of Bamako.
一而再、再而三。首先是无辜巴黎人民遭受悲惨屠杀，然后是紧张而又血腥的追凶。现在，170名主要为外国人的人质，又被武装分子扣押在马里首都巴马科的一所高档酒店里。
The 140 guests being held reportedly include people from France, China and Turkey, along with 30 hotel staff; at least we can give thanks that members of Western air crews along with many others escaped amid the chaos of the assault. There are reports of deaths, while special forces are moving in.
据报道，与30名酒店工作人员一同被扣押的140名房客来自法国、中国和土耳其。值得庆幸的是，“西部航空”的职员以及其他一些人借着袭击时的混乱而得以逃脱。报道称，特种部队进入时，有死亡消息传出。
There are strong chances, sadly, that this is instant blowback from the shocking events in France. The rather soulless Radisson Blu hotel is a well-known landmark in the dusty Malian capital; a British journalist who interviewed one of the country’s famous musical bands told me he stayed there just weeks ago. The capital felt secure when I was last there a couple of years ago, yet sadly it is no surprise to see that the jihadists have struck back in this beautiful yet battered nation.
令人沮丧的是，这次事件很可能是之前震惊世人的巴黎事件的即时反弹。那座没有灵魂的丽笙酒店是灰蒙蒙的马里首都的知名地标建筑，一个曾经采访过该国最著名乐队的英国记者告诉我，仅在两周前他还住在那里。几年前我在那里时，这座都城还能让人感到安全，但是令人伤感的是，伊斯兰圣战者杀回这个美丽而又饱受折磨的国度并不让人感到意外。
For two decades Mali was seen as a model democracy, with many analysts ignoring its corrosion through corruption and drug trafficking across the desert. Then it collapsed three years ago following an almost-accidental coup led by a disgruntled army captain, which was seized immediately by Toureg rebels seeking independence in the north.
二十年来，许多分析人士忽略腐败和穿越沙漠的贩毒活动对马里的侵蚀，一直视其为民主政治的模范。三年前，在一场由一位心怀不满的陆军上尉发动的近乎偶然的政变中，这个国家倒下了，之后她迅速被一直寻求北部独立的图阿雷格反抗军掌握。
They were well-armed after returning from fighting for their long-term supporter Muammar Gaddafi in Libya, and one key figure had fallen under the spell of Islamic radicals; soon, moderates were forced aside and the huge desert areas fell under the control of fundamentalists.
他们曾为其长期支持者——利比亚的穆哈迈尔·卡扎菲——作战，归来之后就变得武装精良。而且他们的一位核心人物已经中了伊斯兰激进分子的魔咒。很快，温和派被迫让位，这片广阔的沙漠地区落入原教旨主义者之手。
Islamist groups allied to al Qa’ida had grown rich exploiting traditional Saharan smuggling routes as cocaine began to carve its way through west Africa en route to Europe, then boosted their income by kidnapping tourists visiting cities such as the wondrous Timbuktu. Having captured the region, foreign fighters poured in to create a caliphate in the desert.
与基地组织关系密切的各种伊斯兰组织，先是抓住可卡因开始经西非由空运输往欧洲的机会，利用传统的撒哈拉走私线路大发横财，之后又通过绑架古城（例如神奇的廷巴克图城）的游客来增收。在控制这个地区之后，来自其他国家的伊斯兰武装分子涌入当地，在沙漠中建立了一个哈里发国。
Yet it is important to note their imposition of hardline sharia law – with women forced to cover up, tombs destroyed, adulterers stoned and thieves having hands cut off – was alien to both Tuareg tradition and the sufistic Islam of the south. The banning of music in a nation famous worldwide for so many of its astonishing artists was especially shocking.
值得注意的是，他们强制推行的强硬伊斯兰教法——强迫妇女裹紧全身，毁坏墓穴，对通奸者施以石刑，砍掉偷窃者的手——既非图阿雷格传统，也和南部苏菲派伊斯兰格格不入。在一个因杰出艺术家层出不穷而蜚声国际的民族中禁止音乐，这种做法尤为令人震惊。
So there was immense popular support when a 4,000-strong French force invaded in support of the inept and poorly-equipped Malian army two years ago. They took rapid action when it looked like the bustling trading port of Mopti with its population of 120,000 people was about to fall to the militants.
因此，两年前一支4000人的法国部队进入马里，支援作战力弱、装备差的马里部队时，受到了热烈的欢迎和支持。当莫普提这一繁华的贸易港口和当地12万人口即将落入武装分子之手时，他们采取了快速行动。
Yet while they drove away Islamist militias and re-imposed a veneer of democracy, the fissures in this alluring country remained close to the surface. The new president has done little to restore faith in politics, while tensions remain between Tuaregs and southerners.
然而，尽管他们把伊斯兰武装分子驱逐了出去，并再次扶持建立起名义上的民主，但这个美丽国度的裂痕依旧呼之欲出。新总统没能重建民众对政治的信任，图阿雷格人和南部人民之间的紧张关系依旧持续。
In Mali, as elsewhere in parts of Africa, Muslim fanatics tapped into faultlines created through corruption, discrimination and poverty. And as we see again today, the jihadists may have been defeated but never disappeared. It was easy for them to melt back into the desert, surfacing again and again to strike back at their enemies.
就像非洲的其他地方一样，马里的穆斯林狂热分子利用了腐败、歧视和贫穷所造成的社会裂痕。正如我们今天再次看到的一样，圣战分子可以被打败，但是绝不会消失。对于他们来说，藏身沙漠，然后再次出来回击他们的敌人相当轻松。
United Nations blue helmets have been attacked so often it was seen as the most dangerous of their missions around the world, with 53 peacekeepers killed. There have also been deadly attacks on hotels and restaurants popular with foreigners, even in Bamako.
联合国维和部队多次被袭，53名维和人员丧生，使得驻防此地被看作全世界最危险的。即使在巴马科，针对外国人经常光顾的酒店和餐馆的致命袭击也时有发生。
These depressing events in Bamako prove two things. First, there are huge hurdles ahead in the fight to restore stability in the Sahel, many of which policymakers blinkered by the past have barely begun to understand. And second, that the worldwide war with Islamic militants has few boundaries. This is perhaps the most terrifying aspect of the latest attack.
在巴马科发的这些令人沮丧的事件证明了两件事：第一，想要重建萨赫勒地区的稳定局势的话，还有很多巨大的障碍亟待破除，然而许多眼光局限于过去的决策者尚未意识到这个问题；第二，伊斯兰激进分子在世界范围内发起的战争没有边界。这可能是最近这次袭击最令人恐惧的地方。
翻译：黑色枪骑兵（@忠勇仁义诚实可靠小郎君）
校对：沈沉（@你在何地-sxy）
编辑：辉格@whigzhou