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Never let a crisis go to waste.
永远不要浪费一场好危机。
The Syrian dictator hopes the quake will ease sanctions on his regime.
叙利亚独裁者希望地震能缓解西方对其政权的制裁。
Timing is everything after a disaster.
灾难发生后，时间就是一切。
For aid workers the first 72 hours are crucial, as injury, thirst and the elements conspire to kill survivors.
对于救援人员来说，灾后72小时至关重要，因为受伤、口渴和自然因素都会共同作用，导致被困者死亡。
Beyond that mark, their odds of rescue drop sharply.
过了这段时间，人员获救的几率就会大幅下降。
For autocrats hoping a disaster will ease their international isolation, however, the timeline is a bit more forgiving.
然而，由于独裁者希望利用灾难，缓解其被国际社会孤立的局面，这个时间线被拉得更长了一些。
The rebel-held enclave in north-west Syria was hit hard by this month's earthquakes.
叙利亚西北部由叛军控制的飞地在本月的地震中遭受重创。
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，联合国表示，巴沙尔·阿萨德同意放宽该地区的援助通道。
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.
他做出这项决定时，地震已经过去了整整一周，对于那些被困在瓦砾之下，因缺乏燃料和重型机械而无法获救的人来说，这项决定为时已晚：被困者早已死亡。
Helping them was not really the point.
巴沙尔·阿萨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.
由于阿拉伯国家逐渐开始支持阿萨德继续掌权，阿萨德已经从外交荒野中走了出来。
Now he sees a chance to woo the West as well - and no doubt hopes a gesture towards the rebel areas will help.
现在，他看到了向西方国家示好的机会——毫无疑问，他希望对叛军地区实施的举措能够成为计划的一环。
The quakes killed around 6,000 people in Syria, both in the north-west and in regime-held cities like Aleppo and Latakia.
地震在叙利亚西北部以及阿勒颇和拉塔基亚等政府军控制的城市造成约6000人死亡。
That number is sure to rise.
这个数字还会继续上升。
The UN reckons that as many as 5m Syrians have been left homeless.
联合国估计，多达500万叙利亚人无家可归。
Helping them will be a monumental task.
为他们提供援助将是一项艰巨的任务。
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.
经过十年的战争，叙利亚已经成变得四分五裂，国内各派分裂割据，国家贫困，而且在不同程度上与世界其他地区隔绝。
The north-west is controlled by Islamist rebels, some of whom belonged to al-Qaeda's former Syrian affiliate.
叙利亚西北部由伊斯兰叛军控制，叛军中部分人来自此前基地组织在叙利亚的一个分支。
In Mr. Assad's telling, the area is a hive of terrorists.
按照阿萨德的说法，该地区是恐怖分子的窝点。
In truth most of its 4m people are destitute civilians, displaced time and again from other parts of Syria.
但事实上，这里的400万人口中大部分是贫困的平民，他们在叙利亚其他地区一次又一次地颠沛流离。
The rebel government has been wary about accepting help from regime areas.
叛军政府一直对叙利亚政府的援助持谨慎态度。
It also turned back a convoy organised by authorities in north-east Syria, which is controlled by a Kurdish-led administration.
它还击退了由叙利亚东北部库尔德人领导的政府组织的车队。
After a decade of war, its paranoia is perhaps understandable.
由于经历了十年的战争，它的偏执或许可以理解。
The regime has a history of approving aid convoys to besieged areas, only to turn them back at the last minute or rob them.
该政权曾批准救援车队前往这块被围困地区，却在最后一刻将其击退或抢劫他们的物资。
Instead the rebels want help to be sent via Turkey, through which food, medicine and other essentials have flowed for years.
相反，叛军希望通过土耳其获得援助，多年来，叛军一直是通过土耳其获得食物、药品和其它必需品。
Mr. Assad does not control this stretch of border, but he postures about sovereignty and refuses to consent to the deliveries.
阿萨德并没有控制这段边界，但他表达了叙利亚政府的态度，不同意为叛军援助物资。
Aid thus arrives under a Security Council resolution first passed in 2014.
2014年，安理会首次通过有关叙利亚援助通道的决议，此次的援助便是在这一决议下进行运输的。
Russia, Mr. Assad's ally on the council, has sought for years to shrink or even stop the shipments.
俄罗斯是阿萨德在联合国安理会的盟友，多年来一直在缩减甚至停止运输。
