The judges of the Norwegian Nobel Committee have made unexpected decisions in the past when awarding the annual peace prize. This year has proved no exception.

挪威诺贝尔委员会(Norwegian Nobel Committee)的评委们以往在颁发年度和平奖时，曾经做出让人意外的决定。今年也不例外。

Most of the western media had assumed that the prize would go to Malala Yousafzai, the Pakistani schoolgirl shot by the Taliban. Instead, it went to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, a body that hopes to play a pivotal role in ridding Syria of its chemical stockpile.

西方媒体机构此前大多推测，今年的诺贝尔和平奖将被授予险遭塔利班枪杀的巴基斯坦女学生马拉拉·优萨福扎伊(Malala Yousafzai)。结果，该奖被颁给禁止化学武器组织(Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons，简称OPCW)；该组织希望在销毁叙利亚化学武器库存的行动中发挥关键作用。

On many levels, this is justified. Since its foundation in 1997, the OPCW has established a solid record as a leading disarmament watchdog, assisting in the elimination of 80 per cent of chemical weapons across the globe. This includes the stockpiles of India, South Korea and almost all of Muammer Gaddafi’s Libyan cache.

从许多方面来说，这个决定是合情合理的。自1997年成立以来，OPCW作为领先的销毁化武监督机构颇有建树，协助销毁全球各地80%的化学武器，包括印度和韩国的化学武器库存，以及利比亚穆阿迈尔·卡扎菲(Muammer Gaddafi)的几乎全部化武库存。

The prize also highlights the devastation such munitions wreak. The Assad regime’s use of chemical gas in Syria last August and Saddam Hussein’s 1988 attack on the Iraqi town of Halabja amply demonstrate their horrific impact. If the OPCW succeeds in disarming Mr Assad, this may oblige the half-a-dozen other nations (including Israel and Egypt) that have not signed the chemicals weapons convention to fall into line.

该奖还突显了此类武器的巨大杀伤力。阿萨德政府今年8月在叙利亚使用化学毒气，以及萨达姆·侯赛因(Saddam Hussein)1988年对伊拉克哈拉布贾镇(Halabja)的平民发动化武袭击，充分展示了它们的可怕威力。如果OPCW成功销毁阿萨德的化学武器，那可能迫使尚未签署《禁止化学武器公约》的另外六个国家（包括以色列和埃及）接受这项公约。

That said, there are reasons to question the timing and context of the Nobel committee’s decision as well as its potential political ramifications.

话说回来，人们有理由质疑诺贝尔委员会这一决定的时机和背景，以及潜在的政治影响。

First, the OPCW is just beginning its Syrian mission. The disarmament of Mr Assad’s chemical stocks will take at least nine months and is being conducted in highly adverse conditions. Success cannot be assured. The committee might have been wiser to let this operation run its course. It made a similar mistake of making the wish father to the thought when crowning President Barack Obama early in his first term in the cause of Middle East peace.

首先，OPCW刚开始执行叙利亚任务。销毁阿萨德的化学武器库存将至少需要9个月时间，而且将在极其恶劣的条件下进行。能否成功并无保证。对诺贝尔委员会来说，更明智的做法也许是等一等，看看这一行动的成效。该委员会曾经犯下这种“让愿望成为思想之父”的错误：在美国总统巴拉克·奥巴马(Barack Obama)第一个任期之初就以致力于中东和平为由，授予他诺贝尔和平奖。

Second, those who oppose President Assad worry that the west is preoccupied with the removal of chemical weapons rather than ending the wider Syrian civil war. Persuading Mr Assad to surrender his chemical weapons is an important goal. But the award of this prize may actually confer undeserved legitimacy on a brutal regime.

其次，那些反对阿萨德总统的人担心，西方一心想着消除化学武器，而不把重点放在终结叙利亚内战。说服阿萨德交出化学武器是一个重要目标。但该奖实际上也许会使一个残暴的政权获得其不该得到的合法性。

That risk was highlighted this week when John Kerry, the US secretary of state, clumsily observed that Mr Assad deserved “credit” for letting the OPCW into Syria to begin its work.

这个风险在本周已经显现。美国国务卿约翰·克里(John Kerry)笨拙地表示，阿萨德值得“肯定”，因为他让OPCW人员进入叙利亚展开工作。

The award of the prize in many ways matches the aims of Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, who acquired a strong commitment to disarmament. But while the removal of chemical weapons from Syria is vital, the award of this prestigious prize should not obscure the humanitarian catastrophe that has devastated Syria and forced the exodus of more than 2m innocent people.

从很多方面讲，今年的诺贝尔和平奖与阿尔弗雷德·诺贝尔(Alfred Nobel)的目标相符。他是硝化甘油炸药的发明者，但在晚年热心致力于裁军事业。但是，尽管销毁叙利亚的化学武器至关重要，但不应让这个知名的奖项遮挡世人的视线，使他们看不到肆虐叙利亚、迫使200余万无辜人民逃离家园的人道主义灾难。