Editorial丨Gaza and Ukraine extended fronts of US

 The generosity US lawmakers have displayed in approving sizable military assistance to Israel — about $32 billion over the past month — is in stark contrast with their stinginess toward Ukraine.

美国议员在批准向以色列提供大量军事援助方面表现出的慷慨——过去一个月约 320 亿美元——与他们对乌克兰的吝啬形成鲜明对比。这直接反映在各自的实际情况中。

That is directly reflected in the respective situations on the ground. While the Ukrainian forces withdrew from Avdiivka last week, a key town which in recent months had become one of the most fiercely contested battles on the eastern front, because of critical shortages of ammunition, Israel is continuing to carry out large-scale bombing of Rafah, the city on the southern edge of the Gaza Strip where 1.4 million Palestinians have fled. Interestingly, US President Joe Biden tells Tel Aviv enough is enough and Kyiv never to give up.　 

上周（2024年2月第3周），由于弹药严重短缺，乌克兰军队撤离了阿夫迪夫卡（Avdiivka），这是近几个月来东部战线争夺最激烈的战役之一的关键城镇，而以色列则继续对拉法（Rafah）实施大规模轰炸，这是加沙地带南部边缘的城市，有 140 万巴勒斯坦人逃离。有趣的是，美国总统乔·拜登告诉特拉维夫（TEL AVIV）够了，而告诉基辅（Kyiv）永远不要放弃。

It is the moral pressure from the international community over the heavy loss of civilian lives in Gaza that has prompted the Biden administration to fake its discontent at Tel Aviv going too far. Its true intention is that Israel's Benjamin Netanyahu government should take advantage of the once-in-a-lifetime chance of the Hamas-led Oct 7 attacks to get things done over the Palestinian question once and for all, while avoiding open conflict with Iran. 

正是国际社会因加沙平民大量死亡而施加的道德压力，促使拜登政府假装对特拉维夫做得太过分表示不满。它的真正意图是以色列的本雅明·内塔尼亚胡政府应该利用哈马斯领导的 10 月 7 日袭击这一千载难逢的机会，一劳永逸地解决巴勒斯坦问题，同时避免与伊朗发生公开冲突。

The US' aim is for a stronger Israel to help offset the US' withdrawal from the Middle East to a certain extent. Neither the Israeli hostages nor Palestinian civilians have ever been the consideration of Washington or Tel Aviv. 

美国的目标是建立一个更强大的以色列，在一定程度上帮助抵消美国从中东的撤军。无论是以色列人质还是巴勒斯坦平民，都从未成为华盛顿或特拉维夫的考虑因素。

The US' strong support also provides the Netanyahu government a golden chance to pull through its domestic troubles that would have flared up resulting in its step-down were it not for the crusade it started under the excuse of self-defense and "counterterrorism".

美国的强有力支持也为内塔尼亚胡政府提供了一个千载难逢的机会，帮助其摆脱国内困境，否则，如果不是以自卫和“反恐”为借口发动十字军东征，这些困境早就爆发了，导致其下台。

In a similar light, it is also too early to predict the Ukrainian forces' withdrawal from Avdiivka represents a turning point in the Russia-Ukraine conflict, as Kyiv can use it as a leverage to prompt the US lawmakers to give a green light to more aid. No wonder Biden directly tied the Ukrainian withdrawal from Avdiivka to the US Congress not approving additional military aid for Ukraine, seeking to make the most from the incident to pass the buck for the Ukraine quagmire to the Republicans. 

同样，现在预测乌克兰军队撤出阿夫季夫卡是俄乌冲突的转折点还为时过早，因为基辅可以将其作为杠杆，促使美国议员为提供更多援助开绿灯。难怪拜登直接将乌克兰撤出阿夫迪夫卡与美国国会不批准向乌克兰提供额外军事援助联系起来，试图充分利用这一事件，将乌克兰泥潭的责任推给共和党人。

Actually neither the Republicans nor the Democrats would like to see a quick end to the Ukraine crisis as they both want to claim the credit for engineering an end to it under their respective government after winning the upcoming presidential election. 

实际上，无论是共和党人还是民主党人，都不希望乌克兰危机迅速结束，因为他们都希望在赢得即将到来的总统选举后，在各自政府的领导下，为结束危机邀功。

That being said, until Washington thinks the political value of the Gaza and Ukraine crises have been exhausted, neither one will have a quick end.

话虽如此，但在华盛顿认为加沙和乌克兰危机的政治价值被耗尽之前，这两个危机都不会很快结束。

Ammunition

n. 弹药

Quagmire

n. 沼泽地