FOR months Syria-watchers and officials have warned that the country is on the brink of civil war. But as the killing gets more brutal and sectarian, the debate over whether this is now the best description of Syria's plight matters little to most Syrians. Ten days after pro-government militiamen, largely drawn from the Alawite sect to which president Bashar Assad belongs, killed at least 108 men, women and children in Houla, activists reported a similar attack in Mazraat al-Qubeir, a farming hamlet of some 25 homes in the countryside close to Hama. Locals say the army shelled the area before militiamen from neighbouring villages entered, killing 78 people using knives and clubs. In some cases, the victims appeared to have been burned. Most of the dead came from one extended family—the al-Yateems.
数月来，叙利亚观察人士及官员一直在警告称该国正处于内战边缘。然而随着杀戮变得更残暴及更宗派主义，对于大多数叙利亚人而言，讨论是否现在是叙利亚困局的最好体现显得毫无意义。亲政府武装人员，其大多来自阿萨德所属教派阿拉维派，在胡拉屠杀了至少108名男子，妇女和儿童，十天后，活动人士报称哈马市郊一座拥有约25户人家的农业小村庄库贝尔村（Mazraat al-Qubeir）发生一起类似事件。当地人称军队炮击了该区域，随后来自邻近村庄的武装人员进入该村，用刀棍杀死78人。在一些事件中，受害者似乎已被焚毁。大多数死者来自一个大家族——扬廷家族（al-Yateems）。
This news emerged slowly from activists in contact with survivors and residents in nearby settlements, backed up by harrowing videos. Unlike Houla, where the aftermath was seen by UN observers, a UN team trying to reach the site of the massacre were turned back by Syrian regime checkpoints and targeted with gunfire. They made a second, more successful attempt to reach the village on June 8th.
这个消息是在活动人士接触到幸存者和附近定居点的居民，并得到证实它的痛心视频时，才慢慢地清晰起来。不像胡拉，此地的劫后惨象得到了联合国观察员的见证，一队试图抵达屠杀现场的联合国人员受阻于叙利亚当局的检查点，并且遭到武器射击，被迫折返。他们作出第二次，及更成功的尝试，以6月8日抵达该村庄。
After two massacres in as many weeks even the UN is on the brink of declaring its six-point plan to end the violence in Syria a failure. Addressing the UN general assembly on June 7th, Kofi Annan, the international envoy to Syria, sounded a little tougher than usual. Lacking any attractive alternative, Mr Annan hopes to hammer out a deal in a working group of influential countries, including Mr Assad's remaining allies Russia, China and possibly Iran.
由于数周内爆发两次大屠杀，联合国甚至几乎要宣布它旨在终止叙利亚暴力事件的六点计划已失败。派往叙利亚的国际特使科菲·安南在6月7日联合国大会上的发言听上去要比往常更强硬一些，由于缺乏任何有吸引力的代替方案，安南希望能在由有影响力的国家组成的工作小组中达成一项协议，这些国家包括阿萨德仅存的盟友俄罗斯，中国以及或许还有伊朗。
The Arab and Turkish press are as disgusted as Western journalists about what happened in Houla and Qubeir, and equally unsure about what can and should be done to end the bloodshed. Many in the region remain wary of a Western military intervention, of which there is more talk but little appetite for imminent action. Writing in al-Quds al-Arabi, a London-based pan Arab paper, Abdel Bari Atwan called for a deal to be made with Russia, warning that the continued slaughter would tear Syria apart. But few believe that the Assad regime is likely to agree to any political process that is likely to end in its downfall.
对于胡拉和库贝尔所发生的屠杀事件，阿拉伯和土耳其媒体与西方记者们都极为愤慨，并且都不确定能够及应该做些什么来终止流血事件。该区域许多国家仍然担心西方的军事干涉，但对此更多的还是对话而几乎没有立即采取行动的意图。在一份驻伦敦的泛阿拉伯报纸《阿拉伯圣城报》（ al-Quds al-Arabi）上，阿卜杜勒·巴里·阿特万（Abdel Bari Atwan）呼吁与俄罗斯达成协议，并警告持续发生屠杀事件会撕裂叙利亚。然而几乎没有人相信阿萨德政权可能同意任何可能以其垮台告终的政治进程。
Wherever the diplomacy is leading, within Syria the killings in Houla and Qubeir have changed the nature of the war. In both cases the killers are likely to have been militiamen from nearby Alawite villages. Residents in both places know the names and home villages of their attackers; in some cases they are former classmates. This makes revenge attacks likely. At that point there will be only two words for what is happening in Syria.
无论外交手段取得何种成效，叙利亚国内的胡拉和库贝尔屠杀事件已经改变了这场战争的性质。在这两起屠杀中，凶徒很有可能是来自附近阿拉维村庄的军事人员。这两处的居民都知道袭击他们的凶徒姓名及居住的村庄；在一些案例中，凶徒就是他们的老同学。这使得报复性袭击成为可能。届时，发生在叙利亚的事件将仅用两个字就足于形容。