U.S. Investigators Struggle to Track Homegrown ISIS Suspects
如何監控境內IS分子 美國很頭大
By Michael S. Schmidt, Eric Schmitt And Matt Apuzzo

At least three dozen people in the United States suspected of ties to the Islamic State were under heavy electronic or physical surveillance even before the Paris attacks, senior U.S. officials say. But unlike the attackers in France, the officials say, the majority of those under investigation here never traveled to Syria to fight alongside the Islamic State or receive training from it.
美國高階官員說，即使在巴黎遭到攻擊以前，美國境內已經至少有36名疑似與伊斯蘭國有關聯的人受到嚴密的電子或實體監控，但與在法國發動攻擊者不同的是，多數受監控者從未到過敘利亞跟伊斯蘭國並肩作戰或接受其訓練。

In many ways, the officials say, that makes the U.S. investigations even harder. Those under investigation typically have little terrorism expertise or support from a cell, which makes thwarting an Islamic State-inspired attack in the United States less like stopping a traditional terrorist plot and more like trying to prevent a school shooting.
這些官員說，從許多方面來看，這令美國調查工作更加困難。那些受調查對象通常幾乎沒有恐怖活動專業知識或基層組織的支援，這也讓防阻受伊斯蘭國激勵而在美國發起攻擊的工作重點，比較不在阻止傳統的恐怖活動陰謀，而更在防止校園槍擊案。

Stopping a potential attack has taken on new urgency after Paris, which served as a reminder that even people who have already caught the eye of intelligence services can spring attacks on short notice. Although at this point American officials say there is no credible threat from the Islamic State inside the United States, they worry that Paris could provide the spark to inspire angry, troubled people to finally do something violent.
巴黎恐攻案發生後阻止潛在攻擊更顯急迫，該案提醒大家，即使早已引起情報單位注意的人，仍能在很短時間內突然發動攻擊。雖然美國官員此際宣稱美國境內沒有任何來自伊斯蘭國的可信威脅，但他們擔心巴黎事件可能提供火花，刺激那些憤怒、困惑的人們最終訴諸暴力。

This year, U.S. counterterrorism officials began focusing their resources on these Americans – known as homegrown violent extremists – after the Islamic State altered its tactics. After months of trying to persuade Americans to travel to join it in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, began using social media to urge its sympathizers in the United States to stay put and plot violence here.
在伊斯蘭國改變其策略之後，美國反恐官員今年開始將資源集中在這些稱作本土暴力極端分子的美國人身上。亦稱ISIS或ISIL的伊斯蘭國先以數月時間致力說服美國人前往敘利亞及伊拉克投效他們，後來他們開始利用社群媒體呼籲在美國的支持者留在原處，就地策畫暴力行動。

“They’re targeting the school-shooter types, the mentally ill, people with dysfunctional families and those struggling to cope with different issues,” said one senior law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not allowed to speak to reporters. “We have been pretty successful in disrupting these cases because they are not very sophisticated or smart.”
一位未獲准接受記者訪問，要求匿名的高階執法官員說：「他們正鎖定校園槍手類型、精神病患者，出身失能家庭者，以及那些疲於應付各種問題的人。我們阻止這些案件一直相當成功，因為它們並不是很複雜或高超。」

Despite the Islamic State’s urging of its followers to stay here, senior counterterrorism officials have so far identified roughly four dozen Americans who have evaded the authorities and traveled to Syria to join the Islamic State since the conflict began there in 2011, about twice the number that officials have said previously. Some of them are known to have died on the battlefield. A small number have returned to the United States but have lost interest in the cause, the officials say.
儘管伊斯蘭國呼籲其追隨者在美國待著，高階反恐官員迄今已確定，自2011年敘利亞衝突開始以來，約有48名美國人躲過當局監控，前往敘利亞加入伊斯蘭國，人數約為官員先前所說的兩倍。這些官員說，其中有些人已死於戰場，另有少數回到美國，並已對原先的理想失去了興趣。

In many instances, the FBI and other federal authorities have learned that the Americans made it to the Middle East only after they posted about their travels on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
有許多案例，直到這些美國人在臉書與推特之類社群媒體網站張貼有關他們旅行的文章後，聯邦調查局與其他聯邦機構才得知他們已經到了中東。

For FBI agents, watching an Islamic State suspect in the United States is a study in anxiety. Being an Islamic State sympathizer is not against the law. Neither is expressing hatred for the United States on Twitter. Buying guns is also legal, and investigators have watched nervously as terrorism suspects passed background checks and purchased guns more than 2,000 times in the past decade, according to government data.
對於聯邦調查局幹員來說，監視美國境內的伊斯蘭國嫌疑犯是件令人坐立難安的事。身為伊斯蘭國的支持者並不犯法。在推特上表達對美國的仇恨也不犯法。購買槍枝同樣合法，而且官方數據顯示，10來年恐怖主義嫌疑犯通過背景調查購得槍枝超過2000例，調查人員因此一直焦慮地進行監視。

The threat from the Islamic State has put a unique demand on U.S. counterterrorism officials. Nobody expects the FBI to discover the angry, violence-obsessed young man and arrest him before he shoots his classmates. But the same person, inspired by the Islamic State, is a priority. Missing him is considered an intelligence failure.
來自伊斯蘭國的威脅已對美國反恐官員形成獨特要求。沒有人期待聯邦調查局發現憤怒、滿腦子暴力的年輕人，並且在他對同學開槍前就將他逮捕。然而，同樣一個人如果受到了伊斯蘭國的激勵，可就得列為優先處理的對象了，沒盯上他被視為情報上的失敗。

So agents watch and wait, looking for some sign that yesterday’s angry man with a gun is about to become today’s terrorist. That is why investigators have moved to arrest people early, well before a plot is fully realized. And it is why agents so often use undercover stings: They generate controversy but give the FBI a measure of control.
因此，探員監視著並等待著，尋找一些昨日持槍憤怒男子即將成為今日恐怖分子的跡象。這就是調查人員在陰謀完全實現以前就提前逮人的原因，而這也是探員經常使用臥底圈套的原因。這種做法雖引發爭議，卻讓聯邦調查局手上有個控制局面的工具。

The FBI does not have explicit requirements to determine who should be monitored because of suspected ties to the Islamic State. But the bureau – whose agents constantly monitor chat rooms, the Islamic State’s Twitter accounts and other online traffic – concentrates on people who have tried to directly contact the Islamic State through social media or have said they want to travel to Syria to join the group. The bureau also relies on information it receives from relatives, friends, teachers, clergy members or others in the community about people suspected of ties to the Islamic State.
聯邦調查局並沒有開出明確條件來決定誰該因為與伊斯蘭國的可疑關係而遭監控，但將重心擺在那些嘗試透過社群媒體直接聯繫伊斯蘭國，或曾表示想去敘利亞加入該組織的人身上，幹員經常對聊天室、伊斯蘭國的推特帳號以及其他線上訊息進行監視。該局還仰賴來自親戚、朋友、老師、神職人員或社群內其他人的消息，以找出疑似與伊斯蘭國有關聯者。

原文參照：
http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/20/us/us-investigators-struggle-to-track-homegrown-isis-suspects.html

Video：The Pentagon press secretary, Peter Cook, confirmed that the F.B.I. had arrested and charged an Ohio man with soliciting the killing of American service members on behalf of the Islamic State.
http://www.nytimes.com/video/us/100000004035834/us-man-charged-with-soliciting-for-isis.html

2015-12-06/聯合報/D2版/紐約時報賞析 陳韋廷譯

說文解字看新聞 張佑生

激進伊斯蘭教恐怖組織「伊斯蘭國」（Islamic State）將中華民國和美國國旗並列，點名為報復對象，自此恐怖威脅（terror threat）對台灣民眾不再是遠在天邊。

本文報導美國難以追蹤土生土長（homegrown）的「伊斯蘭國」嫌犯。相關字彙包括terrorist（恐怖分子）、terrorize（恐嚇脅迫）、terrorism指（為達到政治目的採取的）恐怖手段，恐怖活動、恐怖主義。加州聖伯納迪諾的重大槍擊案（mass shooting），有人認為屬於「本土恐怖活動」（domestic terrorism）。

美國總統歐巴馬認為，巴黎恐攻的用意在於terrorize innocent civilians（無辜平民）。新聞報導常見的「恐怖攻擊」，英文是terror/terrorist attacks，恐怖組織是terror groups。

政府對恐怖分子嫌犯的監控是government surveillance of suspected terrorists，介系詞常用under，例：The police kept her under surveillance.

為了反恐（counterterrorism）及維護治安，喬治歐威爾（George Orwell）1948年的反烏托邦小說《1984》描述的全面監控（total surveillance）隆重登場。70年前的設備是電視螢幕和隱藏式麥克風，21世紀換成surveillance cameras。例：Those surveillance cameras in banks and stores are put there in the hopes of both preventing crimes and recognizing criminals after a crime has been committed.然而，擴大政府監控民眾的權力未必是解決之道，Greater powers of surveillance are not necessarily the answer.

報導說，巴黎恐攻提醒大家，即使是早已經引起情報單位注意的人，仍能在很短時間內突然發動攻擊。俚語catch somebody’s（someone’s）eye，指的是引起某人注意，所以是eye而非eyes。1980年代中期紅透西洋流行樂壇半邊天的英國男子雙人組Wham!，金曲Last Christmas其中有句歌詞是：I keep my distance but you still catch my eye. 道盡了歌者矛盾心情。