you go to war with the allies you have, not the ones you wish for, to paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld. President Barack Obama’s war on the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) is a good example. His Middle East coalition comprises five autocracies, four of which are monarchies. To one degree or another, each represses dissent. Each, indirectly or inadvertently, has helped spawn groups such as Isis, Khorasan, Jabhat al-Nusra and, of course, al-Qaeda. Each will reap longer-term profit from assisting the US in its hour of emergency. Things have worked this way in the Middle East for decades. At a moment like this, it would be naive to expect Mr Obama to change that.
唐纳德•拉姆斯菲尔德(Donald Rumsfeld)说过，上战场时，你只能带上你所拥有的盟友，不能带上你想要的盟友。美国总统巴拉克•奥巴马(Barack Obama)对“伊拉克与黎凡特伊斯兰国”(ISIS)的战争就是个很好的例子。他在中东的联盟由五个独裁国家组成，其中四个是君主制国家。这五个国家或多或少都怀有异心。它们要么间接、要么无意地，帮助了ISIS、呼罗珊(Khorasan)、Jabhat al-Nusra——当然还有基地(al-Qaeda)——等组织的诞生和发展。在美国处于紧要关头之际对它施以援手，会让它们每个国家都从中获得更长远的利益。几十年来，中东的套路一直是这样的。如今，如果你认为奥巴马会改变这种模式，那你就太幼稚了。