France goes it alone
单打独斗
Jan 14th 2013, 12:55 by S.P. | PARIS
FRANCE’S decision on January 11th to begin air strikes against Islamist rebel positions in northern Mali, designed to prevent “the establishment of a terrorist state” in the African Sahel, contained elements of both surprise and familiarity.
法国决定1月11日对马里北部伊斯兰叛军武装据点进行空袭，以防止其在非洲撒赫勒地区建立恐怖主义国家，这一决定让人惊讶但又有点司空见惯。
The surprise was that François Hollande, the president, a Socialist leader not known for decisive action and untried in foreign policy, moved so swiftly to order French fighter jets and attack helicopters into action. Using warplanes based both in France and at a permanent base in nearby Chad, the French struck rebel columns advancing out of Islamist-held territory and towards Bamako, the Malian capital. Such groups, with ties to Al-Qaeda, have ruled a big chunk or the north of the country since March last year.
众所周知，法国总统兼社会党领导人弗朗索瓦•奥朗德在外交政策上不会果断决策和进行尝试性行动，而这次却迅速下令法国战机和武装直升机采取行动，这一反差让人感到惊讶。从法国开赴的战机以及乍得长期基地的战机击败驻在伊斯兰教领土至马里首都巴尔科地区的叛军部队。自去年3月以来，这个与基地组织联系的团伙占领马里大部分地区或北部地区。
The French government said that the weekend air strikes, part of what it is calling Operation Serval, had stopped the rebel advance, and helped Malian troops to regain control of the town of Konna; one French helicopter pilot was killed, as well as a dozen Malian soldiers. On the third day of air attacks, the French struck deeper into Islamist-held territory, targeting training camps and logistics centres, according to Jean-Yves Le Drian, the defence minister.
法国政府称周末进行的“薮猫行动”空袭打击已阻止叛军进攻，帮助马里军队收复了孔纳镇，已有一位法国直升机飞行员和十二位马里士兵丧生。法国国防部长Jean-Yves Le Drian称，空袭的第三天，法军深入挺进伊斯兰教地区，重点打击叛军训练营和物流中心，
France has certainly been in the lead in pushing for intervention in Mali. It drafted a United Nations Security Council resolution authorising a regional African force to retake rebel-held territory, which was unanimously passed last October. In a speech to a gathering of French-speaking countries in Senegal last year, Mr Hollande spoke of a “reign of terror” in Islamist-held Mali, where sharia law has been applied in the furthest north.
法国在马里军事干预中的确是有着主导作用。法国向联合国安理会起草的一份授权非洲当地军队收复叛军占据领土的决议在去年10月一致通过。去年在塞内加尔举行的法语国家会议中，奥朗德谈到在伊斯兰教为主的马里的恐怖统治，伊斯兰教反政府已深入马里最北方地区。
France is particularly worried that the Sahel is becoming an “Afrighanistan”—a breeding ground for terrorists—thanks in part to modern weaponry that has spilled over the Libyan border after the war there. France itself has been named as a target by groups based in the north; this weekend, as the airstrikes began, the country raised its terrorism-security alert. France also has strong commercial links in the region, and there are currently eight French hostages in the region.
法国特别担心萨赫勒会成为另外一个“阿富汗”—恐怖分子的温床—部分原因是自利比亚边境爆发的内战来，先进武器的使用向周边国家扩展。法国已成为马里北部的基地叛军报复目标，当空袭开始之时，法国在上周末提高反恐预警方案级别。法国在该地区拥有强大经济联系，反叛组织目前仍挟持8名法国人质。
Mr Hollande had also made clear that it was no longer his intention for France to play the role of regional gendarme, stepping in to prop up African rulers, as has been the post-colonial tradition under the Fifth Republic. “Françafrique”, the opaque mesh of military, political and commercial ties, was over, he claimed. Until now, he had insisted that France would offer no more than logistical support to a regional African force, which was laboriously being put together for this autumn.
奥朗德也明确表示，他不会采取像法兰西第五共和国的后殖民主义传统以往的做法，让法国充当该地区军队进行军事干预帮助非洲统治者已不再是他的意愿。他称，政治与商业相交织的不透明网即“法国非洲”已成过去式。他至今仍坚称法国将只对非洲地区军队提供后勤支持，并在今年秋季全力付诸实施。
Which is where the element of familiarity comes in. The reality, acknowledged privately by French sources, is that the Malian army was in no position to defend itself, and that the regional African force was going to take too long to assemble. Mr Hollande stressed that France was acting with a legal international mandate, and responding to a request from the Malian president, Dioncounda Traoré, for help. In a diplomatic breakthrough of sorts, Algeria granted France permission for fighter jets to fly over its airpace. Laurent Fabius, the French foreign minister, said on French radio on January 13th that France had little choice but to intervene urgently or Islamist forces might have made it to Bamako, with “appalling consequences”.
让人司空见惯的是：法国媒体私下报道马里军队没有能力进行自卫，而且非洲地区部队要花很多时间组建军队，这都是现实情况。奥朗德强调法国是在国际合法授权下采取行动，以及对马里总统迪翁昆达•特拉奥雷请求支援做出的回应。阿尔及利亚准许法国战机飞越其领空，这是外交上的一大突破。法国外交部长洛朗-法比尤斯在1月13日通过法国电台表示法国别无选择，只能迅速采取军事干预，否则伊斯兰叛军可能会在巴马科造成可怕的后果。
However much successive French presidents say that they want to put an end to post-colonial intervention in Africa, with few other takers for the job it usually proves irresistible at some point. Nicolas Sarkozy, Mr Hollande’s predecessor, had also promised a new era, only to end up sending the French army to help Côte d’Ivoire forcibly evict Laurent Gbagbo, the loser of that country’s presidential election, from office.
尽管法国总统连续强调法国想要结束在非洲的后殖民主义干预，而对于其他少数国家来说，这种干预在某些情况下通常是不可抗拒的，法国前任总统尼古拉-萨科奇曾许诺开辟一个新的时代，结果只是派遣法国军队帮助科特迪瓦共和国强迫总统竞选落选者洛朗•巴博下台。
The question now is how long the French are prepared to intervene, and how fast a decent African ground force can realistically be put in place. Mr Fabius has talked of “a question of weeks” for the French intervention. He insists that its main contribution is air power, with the few hundred special forces on the ground essentially picking out and verifying targets.
现在的问题是法国准备多长时间进行干预以及训练尚可的非洲陆军多快实现真正作战。法比尤斯表示法国干预是数周以来一直讨论的问题。他坚称空军以及主要辨认和确认袭击目标的几百地面特种部队是作战的主力。
It is the West African force that is supposed to carry out the operation to retake the north from Islamists, and there is a regional meeting on this now set for January 19th. Initial contingents of troops from Senegal, Niger, Burkina Faso, Nigeria and Togo are now due to arrive within days. But a properly manned force will still take time to assemble. France, in short, is likely to find itself involved for a while. Mr Hollande himself has stated that the French operation would last “as long as necessary”.
据称西非军队将采取行动从“伊斯兰教支持者”手中夺取北部地区，1月19号将对此问题举行地区会议。塞内加尔，尼日尔，布基纳法索，尼日利亚以及多哥首次派遣军队，将在几天之内到达北部地区作战。但是组建一支组织严密的军队仍需时日。总之，法国可能还将继续进行干预。奥朗德本人也表示只要有需要，法国将会一直采取行动。