俄羅斯增兵敘利亞 表明強硬立場

Russia has sent a dozen or more warships to patrol waters near its naval base in Syria, a buildup that U.S. and European officials are taking as an aggressive stance meant partly to warn the West and Israel not to intervene in Syria's bloody civil war.

俄羅斯已經派出10多艘戰艦在俄駐敘利亞海軍基地附近水域巡邏，歐美官員認爲俄羅斯此舉是爲顯示強硬的立場，部分意在警告西方和以色列不要干涉敘利亞的血腥內戰。

Russia's expanded presence in the eastern Mediterranean, which raised attention among U.S. officials starting three months ago, represents one of its largest sustained naval deployments since the Cold War. While Western officials say they don't fear an impending conflict with Russia's aged fleet, the presence adds a new source of potential danger for miscalculation in an increasingly combustible region.

俄羅斯在地中海東部地區擴大影響力三個月前開始引起美國官員的關注，這是冷戰以來俄羅斯最大規模的持續性海軍部署行動之一。儘管西方官員說，他們不擔心與俄羅斯日漸老化的艦隊即將發生的衝突，但在一個局勢日益緊張的地區，俄羅斯的舉動增加了各方可能出現誤判的危險。

'It is a show of force. It's muscle flexing. It is about demonstrating their commitment to their interests,' a senior U.S. defense official said of the Russian deployments.

一位美國國防部高級官員在談到俄羅斯的軍事部署時說，這是在摩拳擦掌地顯示力量，是在顯示俄羅斯致力於保護自己的利益。

The military buildup is seen as Moscow's way of trying to strengthen its hand in any talks over Syria's future and buttress its influence in the Middle East. It also provides options for evacuating tens of thousands of Russians still in Syria.

俄羅斯的舉動被認爲是莫斯科試圖在任何有關敘利亞未來的談判中增加籌碼、增強在中東影響力的手段。這也爲撤離目前仍留在敘利亞的數萬名俄羅斯人提供了多種選擇。

Russian Navy and foreign ministry officials didn't respond to requests for comment.

俄羅斯海軍和外交部官員沒有回覆記者的置評請求。

Russia supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, while the U.S. has called for his removal. Moscow and Washington have worked to assemble an international conference involving Damascus amid low expectations that it could lead to a political transition.

俄羅斯支持敘利亞總統阿薩德(Bashar al-Assad)，而美國則呼籲阿薩德下臺。莫斯科和華盛頓一直努力讓敘利亞參與國際會談，外界預計此舉不太可能導致敘利亞政權交接。

But tensions have heightened around the region, with the West backing rebels as Moscow arms Mr. Assad. Russian President Vladimir Putin signaled this week that he would push ahead with the sale of an advanced air-defense system to Syria, according to U.S. intelligence reports, over Israeli and U.S. objections.

不過，這一地區的緊張局勢一直在升溫，西方支持反對派，而莫斯科爲阿薩德提供武裝。據美國情報報告顯示，俄羅斯總統普京(Vladimir Putin)本週不顧以色列和美國的反對，表示將推進向敘利亞出售一種先進的防空系統的交易。

Hezbollah and its chief sponsor, Iran, also have rallied around Mr. Assad, sharing Russia's interest in keeping the regime in place. Recent Israeli airstrikes inside Syria have targeted missiles en route from Tehran to Hezbollah, Western intelligence officials have alleged.

真主黨(Hezbollah)及其主要資助者伊朗也支持阿薩德，它們和俄羅斯一樣，如果阿薩德政權倒掉，其利益將受損。西方情報官員稱，最近以色列對敘利亞的空襲針對的是從德黑蘭運到真主黨的導彈。

U.S. officials said in interviews Thursday that another round of Israeli airstrikes could target a new transfer of advanced missiles in the near future. Israeli and Western intelligence services believe the missiles could be transferred to the militant Hezbollah group within days. Russia has strongly protested previous Israeli strikes in Syria.

美國官員週四接受採訪時說，以色列有可能針對不久之後伊朗將向真主黨新運送的一批先進導彈展開另一輪空襲。以色列和西方情報機構認爲，這批導彈有可能在幾天之內被運送給真主黨武裝分子。俄羅斯一直對以色列此前在敘利亞實施空襲表示強烈抗議。

Amid the strategic turmoil, U.S. and European defense officials say Russia appears to be trying to project power to deter outside intervention in Syria, which Russia sees as its foothold in the Middle East.

在當前的對敘戰略呈現混亂之際，美國和歐洲的防務官員說，俄羅斯似乎正努力向敘利亞投送自己的力量，以阻止外部勢力干預敘利亞局勢。俄羅斯將敘利亞視爲自己在中東的一個立足點。

U.S. and European officials believe Mr. Putin wants to prevent the West from contemplating a Libya-style military operation inside Syria. President Barack Obama doesn't want to intervene militarily, but he has said the calculation could be changed by suspected use of chemical weapons by Mr. Assad's forces. Likewise, the Pentagon has stepped up military contingency planning in the event of spillover of fighting into neighboring Turkey and Jordan, both close U.S. allies.

美國和歐洲官員認爲，普京想阻止西方在敘利亞境內策劃一場類似於當年在利比亞那樣的軍事行動。雖然美國總統奧巴馬(Barack Obama)不想對敘利亞進行軍事幹預，但他已表態說，阿薩德的部隊涉嫌使用化學武器，美國的原有想法可能發生改變。與此同時，美國國防部已在加緊制定軍事應急計劃，以便在敘利亞境內發生的戰鬥蔓延至土耳其和約旦境內的情況下做出應對。土耳其和約旦都是美國的親密盟友。

Mr. Obama held out some hope Thursday that the coming conference with Russia would help the major powers reach a consensus on how to end the bloodshed in Syria.

奧巴馬週四仍然抱有一些希望，認爲即將與俄羅斯舉行的會議有助於幾個大國在如何結束敘利亞流血衝突的問題上達成共識。