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In the meantime, the Soviet Union, which had been developing its own alliances in the Middle East for decades,
与此同时，几十年来一直在中东发展自己的盟友的苏联，
started selling advanced weapons to countries like Iraq and Syria.
也开始向伊拉克和叙利亚等国出售先进武器了。
At this point a full-scale arms race was taking place in the Middle East, and Saudi Arabia was the biggest buyer thanks to the US.
一场全面的军备竞赛就此在中东拉开了帷幕，而有美国撑腰的沙特成了整个中东最大的买家。
"I do not think it contributes towards achieving peace in the Middle East.
“我认为这并不会有利于实现中东的和平。
And therefore I think this arms sale should be disapproved. "
所以，这次的军售不应该被批准。
These sales sparked fierce debates in the US.
这些交易在美国引发了激烈的争论。
Like on June 5, 1986 when President Ronald Reagan supported the sale of 2,500 missiles to Saudi Arabia:
就像1986年6月5日，罗纳德·里根总统支持向沙特出售2500枚导弹时一样：
"Our proposed arms sales to Saudi Arabia will increase the Saudi's ability to withstand the threat from radical Arab states."
“提议里向沙特出售的那些武器，将提高沙特抵御激进阿拉伯国家的威胁的能力。”
Many in Congress were skeptical about selling more weapons in the name of defense.
许多国会议员都对以国防的名义向沙特出售更多的武器持怀疑态度。
"Over the past 30 years , the US has sold over 50 billion dollars worth of military weapons and services to the Saudis.
在过去的30年里，美国向沙特出售了价值超过500亿美元的军事武器和服务。
More than we've sold to any nation on Earth.
比出售给世界上任何国家的都多。
Where are the reciprocal acts of friendship? "
问题是沙特对我们礼尚往来了吗?”
Reagan argued that the arms sales were an important part of the alliance.
里根声称，军售是联盟的重要组成部分。
"We have had for more than 40 years now, a relationship and an agreement, mutual security agreement, with the Saudi Arabians.
“我们与沙特建交，与他们达成共同安全协议已经有40多年了。
And it has been beneficial to both of us."
这对我们双方都有好处。”
He insisted that it was important that the US be the ones to sell weapons to Saudi Arabia…
他坚称，美国加入向沙特出售武器的国家行列这一点很重要……
"First of all, look, they're gonna have arms, whether we do it or not.
“听着，首先，不管我们卖不卖给他们，他们都得买武器。
But when they have them from us, there are restrictions on their use of them;
但如果他们从我们这里买的话，我们就能约束他们对那些武器的使用；
and that they are restricted to using them defensively.
就能让他们将那些武器只作防御之用。
Or then there are things that we will do."
否则我们就出面干预。”
"It is not a very valid argument, but I can use the same argument on drugs out in the street.
“这个论证虽然不是特别有效，但我还是可以用同样的说法来讨论大街上的毒品问题。
If I don't sell drugs to someone, someone else will.
如果我不卖毒品给某个人，别人也会卖给他。
The question is not whether someone else will, the question is whether it's right. "
问题不是其他人会不会卖给他，而是贩毒的行为是否正确。”
Congress pushed for some changes to the deal before ultimately approving the sale.
在最终批准这笔交易之前，国会曾努力对交易内容进行过一些修改。
In fact, Congress would never fully block a foreign arms sale.
事实上，国会从来都不会全力阻止对外军售。
Over the next 20 years, the strength of the US-Saudi alliance would waiver,
在接下来的20年里，美沙联盟的力量将会减弱，
but their reliance on each other never quite stopped.
但他们对彼此的依赖从不会完全停止。
The Soviet threat vanished when the country collapsed in 1991.
1991年苏联解体后，来自苏联的威胁消失了。
But Iraq under Saddam Hussein emerged as a new threat to both Saudi Arabia and the US.
但萨达姆·侯赛因统治下的伊拉克，对沙特和美国构成了新的威胁。
So the Saudis went all out.
于是，沙特人开始不遗余力地购买武器。
In 1993, the US and Saudi Arabia agreed on a record number of arms sales.
1993年，美国和沙特达成了一项超前规模的军售协议。
But arms sales decreased during the late 1990s and hit rock-bottom after the 9/11 attacks - 15 of the 19 hijackers were Saudi citizens.
然而，90年代后期美对沙武器销售出现了下降，并在9/11恐怖袭击——19名劫机者中有15名是沙特公民——后触底。
Two years later, the US launched a war in Iraq and threw the Middle East into chaos.
两年后，美国在伊拉克发动了一场战争，中东陷入了混乱。
It turned to Saudi Arabia as a partner and arms sales started increasing again.
美国以朋友的身份出现在了沙特面前，美国的武器销售再次出现增长。
Over the next decade, the Middle East continued to fall apart.
在接下来的十年里，中东继续分崩离析。
And Iran took advantage of the chaos by supporting militant groups in Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq - turning these conflicts into proxy wars.
伊朗趁势支持黎巴嫩、叙利亚和伊拉克的激进组织，把这些冲突变成了一场又一场的代理人战争。
To the US, this is Iran destabilizing the Middle East, but to the Saudis, this is Iran closing in on them.
对美国而言，这是伊朗在破坏中东的稳定，但对沙特来说，这是伊朗在向自己步步紧逼。
So Saudi Arabia started using its weapons - aggressively.
于是，沙特开始积极地使用武器。
Along with a coalition of allies, Saudi Arabia intervened in Yemen's civil war in 2015.
2015年，沙特与多个联盟盟友一起干预了也门的内战。
The Saudis claimed they wanted to restore the government, but only made the conflict worse.
沙特声称他们希望帮助也门恢复政府，结果却只让冲突变得更严重了。
Iran stepped in to support the rebels, turning Yemen into a proxy war.
伊朗也以支持叛军的姿态插入了这场内战，将也门变成了一场代理人战争的战场。
The Saudi's aggressive tactics have created the worst humanitarian crisis in the world.
沙特咄咄逼人的做法造成了世界上最为严重的人道主义危机。
Out of nearly 16,000 airstrikes since 2015, the Saudi-coalition has hit civilian targets a third of the time.
自2015年以来的近1.6万次对也门的空袭中，沙特联盟击中平民目标的次数占到了三分之一。
Most estimates put the civilian death toll well over 10,000.
据估计，平民死亡人数远超过1万人。
The UN has found that many of the civilian attacks were intentional and could be considered war crimes.
联合国发现，沙特发动的许多平民袭击都是故意的，可以被视为犯下了战争罪。
The problem is the US has continued to sell arms to Saudi Arabia this whole time.
问题是，在这期间，美国一直在向沙特出售武器。
In fact, the Obama Administration approved the most arms sales to the Saudis in US history.
事实上，美国历史上对沙特最大规模的军售都是奥巴马政府批准的。
These included not just new weapons, but also replacements for weapons used or damaged in Yemen.
其中不仅涉及新武器，还涉及替代那些在也门使用或损坏的武器的替代武器。
Including this bomb: likely sold to Saudi Arabia in 2015 and dropped on a school bus in 2018.
比如这枚炸弹：它可能是2015年被卖给沙特，2018年被扔在一辆校车上的。
"$3 billion dollars, $533 million dollars, $525 million dollars. That's peanuts for you. "
“30亿美元，5.33亿美元，5.25亿美元。这些钱对你来说都是小意思啦。”
While the Trump administration focuses on the supposed economic benefits of selling weapons,
尽管特朗普政府关注的是出售武器可能带来的经济效益，
it misses the real point: Decades of arming Saudi Arabia was supposed to give the US some leverage over it.
但他们并没有抓住真正的要点：数十年来为沙特提供武器本应让美国在这方面拥有一定的影响力。
But that's clearly not working.
但事实显然并非这样。
Saudi Arabia's leader - Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is accused of ordering the brutal murder of a US-based journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
沙特阿拉伯领导人、王储穆罕默德·本·萨勒曼被控曾下令杀害美国记者贾马尔·哈苏吉。
And it's sparked historic resistance to the US-Saudi relationship…
这一事件引发了民众对美沙关系的历史性抵制……
I will not support arms sales until all responsible for the death of Mr. Khashoggi have been brought to justice.
“在所有对哈苏吉之死负有责任的人都被绳之以法之前，我是不会支持武器销售的。
And I will no longer support the war in Yemen as constructed."
我也不会再支持也门的战争了。”
The bombing of a school bus full of children and other civilian targets is not something I want America's fingerprints on.
“我不希望美国染指用炸弹袭击一辆满载儿童和其他平民目标的校车这类事情。”
So will the US actually stop selling weapons to Saudi Arabia?
那么，美国真的会停止向沙特出售武器吗?
It's a difficult question.
这个问题不好回答。
The Middle East is more unstable than ever.
因为如今的中东比以往任何时候都不稳定。
After 75 years, Saudi Arabia and the US still need each other.
75年后的今天，沙特和美国还是会需要彼此。
But it's clearly not a trustworthy alliance anymore.
但很明显，两国之间的信任已经不那么牢靠了。
