TED演讲 :老兵为何恋战(1)

 I'm going to ask and try to answer,  接下来我会问一些而且也会回答一些。

in some ways, kind of an uncomfortable question.  令人感到不太舒服的问题。

Both civilians², obviously, and soldiers, 很显然，不管是老百姓还是士兵。

suffer in war;  都深受战争之苦。

I don't think any civilian¹ has ever missed, 我觉得老百姓中不会有哪个人会想念。

the war that they were subjected to.  曾经经历过的战争。

I've been covering wars for almost 20 years,  20多年来我一直致力于战地报道。

and one of the remarkable³ things for me,  有一件事让我感触很深。

is how many soldiers find themselves missing it.  那就是许多士兵会怀念战争。

How is it someone can go through, 而当一个人。

the worst experience imaginable,  在经历了无法想象的艰难困苦之后。

and come home, back to their home,  终于回到故土，回到自己的家。

and their family, their country, and miss the war?  回到亲人中间，回到祖国之后，却怎么会怀念战争？。

How does that work? What does it mean?  这是为什么？这又意味着什么？。

We have to answer that question,  我们必须要回答这个问题。

because if we don't, it'll be impossible to bring soldiers back, 因为不这样的话，就不能够让士兵们重新融入。

to a place in society where they belong,  他们曾经生活的社会环境中。

and I think it'll also be impossible to stop war,  而且要想阻止战争。

if we don't understand how that mechanism⁴ works.  就必须知道这其中的道理。

The problem is that war,  但是，关于战争有个问题。

does not have a simple, neat truth,  那就是没有一个简单、清楚的评述。

one simple, neat truth.  哪怕是一个这样的评述都没有。

Any sane⁵ person hates war,  任何一个有理智的人都厌恶战争。

hates the idea of war,  厌恶打仗这种想法。

wouldn't want to have anything to do with it,  不想与战争有任何干系。

doesn't want to be near it, doesn't want to know about it.  不想听，也不想知道。

That's a sane response to war.  这是对于战争应有的反应。

But if I asked all of you in this room,  但如果我问在座的各位。

who here has paid money to go to a cinema,  有没有花过钱去电影院。

and be entertained by a Hollywood war movie,  看精彩的好莱坞战争大片？

most of you would probably raise your hands.  应该大多数人都会举手。

That's what's so complicated about war.  这就是为什么很难评说战争。

And trust me, if a room full of peace-loving people,  而且我敢说，即使一群和平爱好者中间。

finds something compelling about war,  也不乏有人认为战争具有吸引力。

so do 20-year-old soldiers who have been trained in it, I promise you.  更何况是对于一个20岁出头的小伙子经受了战争的洗礼，他更能感受战争的诱惑。

That's the thing that has to be understood.  我们必须要明白这一点。

I've covered war for about 20 years, as I said,  我从事战地报道20年。

but my most intense experiences in combat,  记忆最深的当数。

were with American soldiers in Afghanistan.  和在阿富汗的美国士兵们在战场上出生入死的经历。

I've been in Africa, the Middle East,  我去过非洲、中东。

Afghanistan in the '90s,  早在90年代就去过阿富汗。

but it was with American soldiers in 2007, 2008,  但是和美国士兵在一起的经历是2007和08年。

that I was confronted with very intense combat.  当时，我参加了一场非常激烈的战争。

I was in a small valley called the Korengal Valley  当时我在一个叫科伦加尔山谷的小村庄。

in eastern Afghanistan.  位于东阿富汗。

It was six miles long.  战线有六公里长。

There were 150 men of Battle Company in that valley,  当地的战地部队有150人。

and for a while, while I was there,  而且当时，也就是我在当地停留期间。

almost 20 percent of all the combat in all of Afghanistan was happening in those six miles.  将近百分之二十的战斗发生在阿富汗全境中这条6公里长的战线上。

A hundred and fifty men were absorbing  这150名士兵。

almost a fifth of the combat for all of NATO forces  参与了1/5的倾注了北约所有兵力的战斗。

in the country, for a couple months.  这些发生在阿富汗持续了几个月。

It was very intense.  战斗异常激烈。

I spent most of my time at a small outpost  我大部分的时间都是在一个。

called Restrepo.  叫雷斯特雷波的小哨站度过的。

1 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

2 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

3 remarkable   

adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的

参考例句：

• She has made remarkable headway in her writing skills.她在写作技巧方面有了长足进步。
• These cars are remarkable for the quietness of their engines.这些汽车因发动机没有噪音而不同凡响。

4 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

5 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。