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Never let a crisis go to waste.
永遠不要浪費一場好危機。
The Syrian dictator hopes the quake will ease sanctions on his regime.
敘利亞獨裁者希望地震能緩解西方對其政權的制裁。
Timing is everything after a disaster.
災難發生后，時間就是一切。
For aid workers the first 72 hours are crucial, as injury, thirst and the elements conspire to kill survivors.
對于救援人員來說，災后72小時至關重要，因為受傷、口渴和自然因素都會共同作用，導致被困者死亡。
Beyond that mark, their odds of rescue drop sharply.
過了這段時間，人員獲救的幾率就會大幅下降。
For autocrats hoping a disaster will ease their international isolation, however, the timeline is a bit more forgiving.
然而，由于獨裁者希望利用災難，緩解其被國際社會孤立的局面，這個時間線被拉得更長了一些。
The rebel-held enclave in north-west Syria was hit hard by this month's earthquakes.
敘利亞西北部由叛軍控制的飛地在本月的地震中遭受重創。
On February 13th the United Nations said that Bashar al-Assad had agreed to ease the passage of aid into the region.
2月13日，聯合國表示，巴沙爾·阿薩德同意放寬該地區的援助通道。
His decision, a full week after the quakes, came too late for those trapped under the rubble for want of fuel and heavy machinery: they were already dead.
他做出這項決定時，地震已經過去了整整一周，對于那些被困在瓦礫之下，因缺乏燃料和重型機械而無法獲救的人來說，這項決定為時已晚：被困者早已死亡。
Helping them was not really the point.
巴沙爾·阿薩德并不是真的想要救助被困者。
Mr. Assad was already emerging from a decade in the diplomatic wilderness, as Arab states came to accept that he would stay in power.
由于阿拉伯國家逐漸開始支持阿薩德繼續掌權，阿薩德已經從外交荒野中走了出來。
Now he sees a chance to woo the West as well - and no doubt hopes a gesture towards the rebel areas will help.
現在，他看到了向西方國家示好的機會——毫無疑問，他希望對叛軍地區實施的舉措能夠成為計劃的一環。
The quakes killed around 6,000 people in Syria, both in the north-west and in regime-held cities like Aleppo and Latakia.
地震在敘利亞西北部以及阿勒頗和拉塔基亞等政府軍控制的城市造成約6000人死亡。
That number is sure to rise.
這個數字還會繼續上升。
The UN reckons that as many as 5m Syrians have been left homeless.
聯合國估計，多達500萬敘利亞人無家可歸。
Helping them will be a monumental task.
為他們提供援助將是一項艱巨的任務。
After a decade of war Syria has been carved into a patchwork of statelets, impoverished and, to varying degrees, cut off from the rest of the world.
經過十年的戰爭，敘利亞已經成變得四分五裂，國內各派分裂割據，國家貧困，而且在不同程度上與世界其他地區隔絕。
The north-west is controlled by Islamist rebels, some of whom belonged to al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate.
敘利亞西北部由伊斯蘭叛軍控制，叛軍中部分人來自此前基地組織在敘利亞的一個分支。
In Mr. Assad's telling, the area is a hive of terrorists.
按照阿薩德的說法，該地區是恐怖分子的窩點。
In truth most of its 4m people are destitute civilians, displaced time and again from other parts of Syria.
但事實上，這里的400萬人口中大部分是貧困的平民，他們在敘利亞其他地區一次又一次地顛沛流離。
The rebel government has been wary about accepting help from regime areas.
叛軍政府一直對敘利亞政府的援助持謹慎態度。
It also turned back a convoy organised by authorities in north-east Syria, which is controlled by a Kurdish-led administration.
它還擊退了由敘利亞東北部庫爾德人領導的政府組織的車隊。
After a decade of war, its paranoia is perhaps understandable.
由于經歷了十年的戰爭，它的偏執或許可以理解。
The regime has a history of approving aid convoys to besieged areas, only to turn them back at the last minute or rob them.
該政權曾批準救援車隊前往這塊被圍困地區，卻在最后一刻將其擊退或搶劫他們的物資。
Instead the rebels want help to be sent via Turkey, through which food, medicine and other essentials have flowed for years.
相反，叛軍希望通過土耳其獲得援助，多年來，叛軍一直是通過土耳其獲得食物、藥品和其它必需品。
Mr. Assad does not control this stretch of border, but he postures about sovereignty and refuses to consent to the deliveries.
阿薩德并沒有控制這段邊界，但他表達了敘利亞政府的態度，不同意為叛軍援助物資。
Aid thus arrives under a Security Council resolution first passed in 2014.
2014年，安理會首次通過有關敘利亞援助通道的決議，此次的援助便是在這一決議下進行運輸的。
Russia, Mr. Assad's ally on the council, has sought for years to shrink or even stop the shipments.
俄羅斯是阿薩德在聯合國安理會的盟友，多年來一直在縮減甚至停止運輸。
