In fact, the two countries have been edging closer for years—for reasons of pure realpolitik[4]. Mr Qaddafi's regime is certainly less bad than it was. It has not t________② anyone outside its own borders for a long time. It has opened its economy a crack to foreign investors, invited tourism and slightly lifted oppressive controls on its own citizens. （1）But none of those things matters as much to America as big oil, alliances in the fight against Islamist extremism and the scoring of points in the current stand-off[5] over Iran's nuclear ambitions.
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    事實(shí)上，多年來兩國已經(jīng)越走越近——純粹是因?yàn)閺?qiáng)權(quán)政治。卡扎菲政權(quán)肯定要比過去有所改善，很久以來都未在本國領(lǐng)土以外進(jìn)行過恐怖活動，經(jīng)濟(jì)上漸漸對外國投資者開放，并開始發(fā)展旅游事業(yè)，對本國公民的高壓管控也有所放松。但是對于美國而言，這些都算不了什么。豐富的石油、結(jié)盟對抗伊斯蘭極端主義以及在當(dāng)前伊朗核危機(jī)僵局中贏得優(yōu)勢，才是美國真正想要的。（譯者按：本句的主結(jié)構(gòu)應(yīng)該是“none of those things matters as much as……to America”，意為“對美國而言，比起……來，那些都無關(guān)緊要?！保?BR>    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Libya has the largest oil reserves in Africa, safely distant from the Persian Gulf, and has historically cosy[6] relations with American oil firms. More crucial to the Bush administration has been Libya's importance in countering al-Qaeda and its offshoots. （2）Mr Qaddafi's intelligence services, once feared as global troublemakers, are among the most ruthless in the region. Ever since Libya's leader was himself targeted for assassination by Muslim radicals (at least twice in the 1990s), he has been one of their keenest foes.