图片新闻【40】Reporter Notebook：Reporting Danger－记者手记：危险重重

美国当地时间11月19日，4名西方记者在从阿富汗城市贾拉拉巴德前往喀布尔的途中遇害。美国广播公司新闻网在阿富汗的战地记者隆·克莱伯恩为此在他的记者手记中讲述了作为记者在阿富汗采访时面临的危险，他还在文中表示，北方联盟的话不可信任。

As Northern Alliance troops were driving Taliban soldiers out of northern Afghanistan, an official at the Alliance's Foreign Ministry in Khoja Bachoudin told us the key city of Taloqan about 40 miles to the south had been "liberated." The Taliban had been chased out of town and out of the region.

当北方联盟正将塔利班武装驱逐出阿富汗北方地区的时候，一名北联的外交官告诉我们，北方重镇塔罗甘已经“解放”，塔利班已经被驱逐出该镇和该地区。

When we asked if we could go there, we were told "No problem." The official scribbled out the permission slip that would allow to us pass their checkpoints en route to Taloqan.

当我们问到是否可以前往塔罗甘时，对方回答说“没有问题”。那名官员还允许我们通过他们的检查站前往塔罗甘。

That night, I discussed it with my producer and camera crew. We consulted with our "fixers," the local translator-liaison-arrangers who are indispensable in Third World countries. We learned that the road to Taloqan was heavily mined, and parts of it might even be under Taliban control still — contrary to what we had been told. We took a vote and elected not to go.

当晚，我与监制和摄影队的人讨论了这件事。最后我们请教了俗称“fixer”的当地翻译兼联络员，结果却被告知通往塔罗甘的道路其实埋满了地雷，有某些地区甚至仍然在塔利班控制中，与我们从北联那里听到的根本是两码事。最后我们投票表决，选择了不去。

The next day, I ran into an Associated Press reporter who had just come from the Foreign Ministry. She told us an official had warned her, "if you go to Taloqan, you will die."

第二天，我碰到了一名美联社的记者，她刚从北联的外交部回来。她对我们说，北联的官员警告她：“如果你去塔罗甘，你就会丧命。”

The news that four journalists were killed on the road from Jalalabad to Kabul today tragically demonstrate the perils of reporting the war on terrorism from inside Afghanistan. The biggest problem foreign journalists face in Afghanistan is relying on the guidance and protection of the Northern Alliance. And, simply put, its officials cannot always be depended on and what they say cannot be taken at face value －either out of arrogance, self-deception, macho posturing or simple errors of judgment. They tend to exaggerate their prowess and even the number of troops they have.

今天关于4名记者在从贾拉拉巴德前往喀布尔途中遇害的消息显示出了在阿富汗报道反恐怖战争的危险性。外国记者面对的最大问题是，他们要依赖于北方联盟的指引和保护。简单地说就是——不能总是依靠北联的官员，不能相信他们的一面之词——他们的话要么是出于对战果的骄傲自满，要么就是自欺欺人，有的甚至完全是判断错误。他们总是夸大自己的勇猛，甚至还虚报己方的士兵数目。

After the three journalists were killed in an ambush at Qala Qatar while riding on an Alliance armored vehicle at the invitation of a local official, I vowed never again to trust their assurances about safety and security.

自从前些日子3名记者在应邀乘坐北联装甲车采访时遇到埋伏身亡的事件发生后，我发誓不再相信北联所说的关于安全的保证。

Reporters used to be considered non-combatants. Not anymore. And especially not in Afghanistan where the Taliban reportedly announced that journalists with the Northern Alliance would be treated the same as the enemy soldiers. The truth is, nowhere in Afghanistan is entirely safe. But traveling on its roads anywhere is especially perilous.

记者通常被视作非战斗人员，现在就不行了。特别是在阿富汗，塔利班方面已经宣称那些与北方联盟在一起的记者会被看作敌方士兵。实情就是，在阿富汗，没有任何一个地方是完全安全的，而开车上路就更加危险。

As my colleague James Wooten said, whether you survive — in a violent arena such as Afghanistan — is "basically a matter of luck, good or bad."

我的同事詹姆斯·伍登说过，在诸如阿富汗那样的暴力泛滥的地区，决定你生存与否的最基本因素只在于运气——好运气还是坏运气。

——By Ron Claiborne

经授权转自“金羊网双语频道”