Although it may be painful to offer a safe exit to war criminals and human-rights abusers, the prospect of ending the suffering of civilians can take priority over a principled stand for justice. Who today would oppose amnesty for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad if it ended the brutal civil war that has led to more than 100,000 deaths and created nearly two million refugees (including more than a million children) in just two years?
尽管给战争罪犯和侵犯人权者提供安全退路令人痛苦，但让饱受苦难的人民结束痛苦比坚持正义原则更加紧迫。如果能够结束在短短两年内造成10万多人死亡和近200万难民（包括100多万儿童）的叙利亚内战，谁会反对特赦叙利亚总统巴沙尔·阿萨德呢？