几个月来，民主党人迫使共和党人就总统唐纳德·特朗普不得人心的对伊朗战争一次又一次地进行投票。现在，这些投票可能会帮助民主党人重新夺回国会，他们也将立即迎来兑现反战言论的机会。
For months, Democrats have forced Republicans to take vote after vote on President Donald Trump’s unpopular war on Iran. Now those votes could help Democrats retake Congress — and they will immediately have opportunities to follow through on their anti-war rhetoric.
诸如来自纽约州的众议院少数党领袖哈基姆·杰弗里斯等民主党领导人，对于在1月3日新国会宣誓就职之前的跛脚鸭时期的对伊战略一直讳莫如深。到目前为止，国会山长达数月的政治运作几乎没有产生什么具体成果。而实现结束这场战争的潜在进展的一条途径却充满风险：威胁政府关门。
Democratic leaders like House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York have been cagey about their strategy on Iran for the lame-duck period before the next Congress is sworn in on January 3. So far, months of Capitol Hill maneuvering have produced few concrete results. And one path to potential progress for ending the war is laden with risk: threatening a government shutdown.
战争反对者表示，随着民主党人根据他们为结束战争所做出的努力来争取支持，他们有责任向选民交代，将政府开支作为筹码。
Opponents of the war say that, with Democrats pushing for support based on their efforts to end to the war, they owe it to voters to put government spending on the line.
“这肯定能证明民主党人是否愿意竭尽全力、奋起抗争并让自己感到不适，”自由派亲以色列组织“J街”的政府事务副总裁汉娜·莫里斯说，该组织反对这场冲突。“太多的言论都集中在对伊战争上。”自从2月28日冲突爆发以来的几个月里，民主党人和少数反对战争的共和党人将大部分精力投入到了基于1973年《战争权力决议》的投票中，该决议限制了总统未经国会批准发动战争的权力。
“It will certainly demonstrate whether Democrats are willing to stretch themselves and put up a fight and get uncomfortable,” said Hannah Morris, the vice president of government affairs for the liberal, pro-Israel group J Street, which opposes the conflict. “So much of the rhetoric has been about the Iran war.”In the months since the conflict began on February 28, Democrats and the handful of Republicans opposed to the war have poured most of their energy into votes based on the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which limits the president’s power to wage war without congressional approval.
今年6月，他们成功促使众议院和参议院通过了一项战争权力决议，但特朗普政府忽视了这一投票，辩称该法律违宪。
In June, they succeeded in securing House and Senate passage of a war powers resolution, but the Trump administration has ignored the vote, arguing the law is unconstitutional.
倡导者仍然认为特朗普政府应该受到6月决议的约束，但他们承认其他途径可能会更有力度。
Advocates still believe the Trump administration should be bound by the June resolution, but they concede that other paths may have more teeth.
如果民主党人真的想阻止这场战争，他们将不得不直面时机问题、党团内部的分歧以及政府关门的风险。
If they really want to stop the war, Democrats will have to confront questions of timing, divisions within their own caucus, and the risk of a government shutdown.
一个极佳的机会可能是12月11日到期的一项名为“持续拨款决议”的支出法案，该法案自上次政府关门以来一直在为政府提供资金。民主党人可能会尝试在该法案中附加一项修正条款，禁止将其中的任何资金用于对伊朗的战争。如果该法案未能获得两院通过，政府将面临关门。
One prime opportunity could be the December 11 expiration of a spending bill called the continuing resolution that has been funding the government since the last shutdown. Democrats could attempt to attach a rider to the bill prohibiting the use of any of its funds for the Iran war. If that bill does not pass both chambers, the government shuts down.
这一程序将为民主党人在新一届国会宣誓就职之前提供罕见的筹码。
The process will provide Democrats with rare leverage before the next Congress is sworn in.
然而，国会民主党领导人尚未表示他们是否愿意冒政府关门的风险。杰弗里斯在最近接受美国有线电视新闻网采访被问及此事时，并未透露底牌。
Congressional Democratic leaders have not said whether they are willing to risk a shutdown, however. Jeffries did not tip his hand when he was asked during a recent interview with CNN.
他表示：“听着，我们在处理拨款程序时就会处理拨款程序。目前，摆在我们面前的机制将是积极推进战争权力决议案，直到我们为了美国人民的最佳利益结束这场战争。”
“Listen, we’ll deal with the appropriations process when we deal with the appropriations process,” he said. “Right now, the mechanism that is in front of us will be to aggressively move war powers resolutions until we end this war in the best interest of the American people.”
在竞争激烈的选区中，一些民主党候选人在拨款问题上比杰弗里斯走得更远。代表密歇根州第7国会选区的众议员汤姆·巴雷特是为数不多投票支持伊朗战争权力决议案的共和党人之一。但环保活动人士威尔·劳伦斯仍在最近的一场辩论中，就战争资金问题对发起了攻击。
Some Democratic candidates in hotly contested races have gone much further than Jeffries, zeroing in on the appropriations issue. Rep. Tom Barrett, of Michigan’s 7th Congressional District, was one of the few Republicans to vote for an Iran war powers resolution. But environmental activist Will Lawrence still attacked him at a recent debate on the issue of war funding.
莫里斯是一个呼吁国会切断战争资金的团体联盟的成员，她表示，她不确定在跛脚鸭时期，民主党人会愿意以多大的力度来推进这个问题。
Morris, who is part of a coalition of groups that have called on Congress to cut off funding for the war, said she is not sure how aggressively Democrats will be willing to pursue the issue during the lame-duck period.
她说：“他们愿意为此让政府关门吗？我没有确切的答案。我认为这里有很多变数。”
“Will they be willing to shut down the government over this? I don’t have real answers. I think there are a lot of variables here,” she said.
许多倡导者支持的另一种选择是即将展开的关于《国防授权法案》的辩论，该法案是五角大楼的年度预算和政策法案。这场战争的批评者认为，国会可以尝试在该法律中插入一项条款，切断对这场冲突的授权。
Another option supported by many advocates is the pending debate over the National Defense Authorization Act, the annual Pentagon budget and policy bill. Critics of the war argue that Congress could attempt to insert a provision into the law cutting off authorization for the conflict.
全国立法朋友委员会中东政策立法主任哈桑·埃尔-塔亚布（Hassan El-Tayyab）表示，如果该法案没有对政府发动战争的能力纳入“有意义的限制”，民主党人应该愿意阻止该法案。
Democrats should be willing to block the bill if it does not include “meaningful restrictions” on the administration’s ability to wage the war, said Hassan El-Tayyab, legislative director for Middle East Policy at the Friends Committee on National Legislation.
他说：“这就是我们从美国人民身上看到的授权。他们不应该在让政府在中东继续进行另一场无休止战争的同时，通过一项庞大的国防法案。”国会山普遍认为国防法案是“必须通过”的立法，这为参议院民主党人提供了筹码，他们可以通过冗长辩论阻止该法案。参议院军事委员会最高民主党人、在这一进程中发挥关键作用的民主党参议员杰克·里德（罗德岛州）的办公室没有回应置评请求。
“That’s the mandate we’re seeing from the American people,” he said. “They shouldn’t pass a massive defense bill while leaving the administration free to pursue yet another open-ended war in the Middle East.”The defense bill is generally considered “must-pass” legislation on Capitol Hill, providing leverage for Senate Democrats who could block it with a filibuster. The office of Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., who plays a key role in the process as the top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee, did not respond to a request for comment.
如果上述两条途径都未能实现，民主党人可以继续尝试通过更多的战争权力决议案。一些反对战争的人认为，随着本党有望在中期选举中迎来对其有利的戏剧性转变，民主党人甚至可以尝试向共和党议员施压，让他们投票支持这些决议案。
Falling short of either of those paths, Democrats could continue to try to pass more war powers resolutions. With their party poised for a dramatic shift in its favor in the midterm elections, Democrats could even try to exert pressure on Republican legislators to vote in favor of the resolutions, some opponents of the war believe.
民主党人还可以等到1月，届时外界普遍预测他们将重新夺回国会参众两院其中一院或两院的控制权。掌握众议院或参议院的锤柄，将赋予他们大幅扩大的权力，来决定军费开支并对战争行径展开调查。
Democrats could also wait until January, when they are widely predicted to retake control of one or both chambers of Congress. Holding the gavel in the House or Senate will give them vastly expanded powers to set military spending and launch investigations into the conduct of the war.
华盛顿州民主党众议员亚当·史密斯（Adam Smith）这位关键的民主党人在给《截击》杂志的一份声明中表示，他愿意寻求多种途径来制止战争，但在下一届国会之前，所有这些途径都面临着阻碍。
One key Democrat, Rep. Adam Smith of Washington, told The Intercept in a statement he was willing to pursue multiple paths to stopping the war, but all of them face obstacles until the next Congress.
“我愿意探讨利用《国防授权法案》或拨款法案作为结束战争途径的各种选项，”众议院军事委员会首席议员史密斯表示，“这项努力极有可能需要两党支持。不幸的是，我没有信心认为共和党有足够的意愿或支持来进行此类立法努力，或者去推翻一个不可避免的否决权。”曾在国务院任职、现任非营利组织国际危机集团高级顾问的布赖恩·菲努卡内认为，无论是在本届还是下一届国会中，切断战争开支似乎是民主党迫使特朗普政府与伊朗谈判的最佳途径。
“I am open to exploring options for using the NDAA or appropriations bills as a way to end the war,” said Smith, the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. “That effort would most likely require bipartisan support. Unfortunately, I am not confident that there is sufficient Republican will or support for such legislative efforts or to override an inevitable veto.”Whether in this Congress or the next, cutting off spending for the war appears to be the best way for Democrats to force the Trump administration to negotiate with Iran, according to Brian Finucane, a former State Department official who serves as a senior adviser at the nonprofit International Crisis Group.
“如果他们是认真的，”他说，“他们就应该愿意采取强硬手段，而这需要动用钱袋子权力。”
“If they are serious,” he said, “they should be willing to play hardball, and that would require using the power of the purse.”