Relations between the United States and Pakistan have hit some bumpy spots over efforts to curb terrorist acts by Islamic extremists. The rocky relationship was recently highlighted with the accidental deaths of 11 Pakistani paramilitary soldiers in a U.S. airstrike along the porous border with Afghanistan. The issue of terrorist safe havens inside Pakistan is an increasing irritant between Washington and Islamabad.
在制止伊斯兰极端分子恐怖活动的问题上，美国和巴基斯坦的关系遇到一些麻烦。最近，有11名巴基斯坦准军事部队的军人在美军空袭巴基斯坦与阿富汗之间防务松懈的边界地区时意外死亡，更是给两国间麻烦的关系雪上加霜。恐怖分子在巴基斯坦境内藏匿的问题越来越严重地扰乱华盛顿与伊斯兰堡的关系。
Taliban and al-Qaida militants have been using the rugged territory of Pakistan's tribal areas as a safe haven to launch attacks coalition forces across the border in Afghanistan. The U.S. has been pressing Pakistan to do more to eradicate the terrorist sanctuaries. Pakistan says it is doing all it can to halt the terrorist activity, but that sealing the border is impossible.
塔利班和基地组织武装分子一直利用巴基斯坦部落地区崎岖的山地作为藏身之地和越境向驻阿富汗联军发动攻击的大本营。美国一直敦促巴基斯坦进一步采取行动，铲除恐怖分子的避难所。巴基斯坦说，正在竭尽全力制止恐怖活动，然而封锁边界是不可能的。
But a new study by the RAND Corporation suggests a more mixed picture. Seth Jones, the author of the Defense Department-funded study, says that while the federal government of Pakistan is committed to fighting terrorism, there is active collusion between militants and at least some Pakistani officials.
但是美国兰德公司最近进行的研究提出了毁誉参半的评价。这项研究由美国国防部资助。研究报告的撰写人琼斯说，尽管巴基斯坦中央政府致力于与恐怖主义斗争，但是极端分子至少与某些巴基斯坦官员积极合作。
"There is clear information that's been collected by NATO, by a range of other organizations including the United Nations, which indicates that there is more than just passive support and unwillingness to act on Pakistani soil, but that there is at least nonlethal assistance, training, logistical support, the provision of intelligence, by elements of the Pakistan government, in particular the Inter Services Intelligence directorate and the Frontier Corps," he said.
他说：“北约及包括联合国在内的各种组织收集的情报清楚地显示，在巴基斯坦领土上不仅存在被动支持恐怖活动和不愿对恐怖分子采取行动的情况，而且巴基斯坦政府部门，尤其是政府机构间情报主管部门和边境兵团，至少向恐怖分子提供了非杀伤性援助、训练、后勤支持和情报提供。”
Jones notes that Pakistani intelligence controlled the flow of arms and money to the anti-Soviet Islamic insurgents in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and also helped create the Taliban in the 1990s as a counterweight to India. Now, he says, the government in Kabul is again making Islamabad nervous.
"What you have now is a government based in Kabul that is strongly allied with India, not with Pakistan," he added. "And so I think that is of major concern. You have a number of Indian development projects based in Afghanistan. You have road construction. You have a lot of Indian money that's poured in. And I think that has been felt with deep concern among senior elements of the Pakistan government, and certainly at lower levels of key government agencies."
Pakistani officials bristle at the suggestion that they are soft on terrorism. Husain Haqqani, the new Pakistan ambassador to the United States, tells VOA he strongly disagrees with the RAND report. He says if there was any collusion between officials and militants, it happened before the newly elected government came into office in March.
巴基斯坦官员对有人说他们对恐怖主义手软的说法大为恼火。巴基斯坦新任驻美国大使哈卡尼对美国之音说，他完全不同意兰德公司的报告。他说，即使巴基斯坦官员和极端分子有勾结，那也是新政府3月上台之前的事。
"If there have been elements in Pakistan who have had a lenient view of the Taliban, rest assured that the new elected government will not allow that lenient view to prevail," he noted.
他说：“即使巴基斯坦政府成员曾经对塔利班采取宽容态度，你们尽可放心，新政府决不会允许这种宽容态度抬头。”
The Pakistani military has preferred to leave policing militant activity in the tribal areas to the Frontier Corps, a locally recruited paramilitary force. The U.S. military has put together a plan to train and equip the Frontier Corps. But analysts say the force's local roots make them susceptible to infiltration and manipulation by militant groups.
巴基斯坦军方倾向于把部落地区防备极端分子活动的任务移交给边境兵团，这是一支当地招募的准军事队伍。美国军方拟定了一项计划，训练边境兵团，并为他们提供装备。但是分析人士说，该兵团的人在当地土生土长，这使他们易于受激进组织的渗透和操纵。
Pakistan says 11 Frontier Corps troops were killed in the recent U.S. air strike, which American officials say was aimed at a border area from where NATO forces were taking fire from suspected militants. The United States has expressed its regret over the deaths, and both countries have agreed to conduct a joint investigation into the incident.
巴基斯坦说，有11名边境兵团成员在美国最近的空袭中丧生，而美国官员说，这次空袭是因为北约部队在一个地区受到极端分子嫌疑人的攻击而发动的。美国已经对死亡事故表示遗憾，而且两国也同意对这一事故共同开展调查。
Domestic political developments in Pakistan have affected counterterrorism efforts. Seth Jones says the new elected government in Pakistan is still fragile, which further feeds the military's resistance to aggressive operations against the militants in the tribal areas.
巴基斯坦国内政治局势也影响了反恐行动。琼斯说，新当选的巴基斯坦政府仍然很脆弱，这更促使巴基斯坦军方抵制在部落地区采取积极的军事行动。
"So I do think is clear reluctance among the army for sustained operations in these kinds of areas, and certainly with a fragmented civilian government of the time where it's not entirely clear how that government will persist over the next several months, probably even less willingness in this political environment to conduct sustained operations," he added.
Both the previous military government of General Pervez Musharraf and the new civilian government have opted at various times to try to secure peace deals with tribal leaders to contain the militants. Echoing the RAND report, General Dan McNeill, who just relinquished his post as NATO commander in Afghanistan, says such deals only feed cross-border attacks, not curtail them.
穆沙拉夫将军领导的前巴基斯坦军政府和新的巴基斯坦文官政府已多次选择与部落地区领袖达成和平协定，以控制极端分子。刚刚卸任的北约部队驻阿富汗部队前指挥官麦克尼尔将军赞同兰德公司研究报告的看法，他说，这种和平协议只会助长越境袭击，不会起制约作用。
"I think what's missing is action to keep pressure on the insurgents," he explained. "Because certainly when there had been pressure on the insurgents, and then we run the operations we run on our side of the border, the untoward events tend to go down. When there are talks, especially when these talks culminate in a peace deal -- I mean, we've got clear evidence in numbers that the untoward events on the Afghan side of the border go up."
他说：“我认为现在缺少的是对暴乱分子持续不断的压力。当然我们曾经对暴乱分子施加压力，然后我们在我方境内发动攻势，那些骚扰事件随之趋于减少。我的意思是说：当举行和平会谈时，尤其当会谈达成和平协议时，我们有确凿的数据显示：阿富汗那边的骚扰事件增加了。”
But Ambassador Haqqani rejects the notion that the peace deals fuel militant activity.
但是哈卡尼大使否认这种和平协定会助长极端分子活动的说法。
"After March 2008 the government has put its foot down and said that while we want engagement with our tribal elders and tribal leaders, there will be no agreements that do not forbid attacks on either side of the border, inside Afghanistan or in Pakistan," he said. "And no agreements have taken place without that guarantee."
哈卡尼说：“今年3月巴基斯坦新政府站稳脚跟以后表示：虽然我们希望与部落长老和部落领袖交往，但是并没有达成任何包含不禁止阿富汗和巴基斯坦边境两边袭击行动的协定，不论在阿富汗一边，还是在巴基斯坦一边。没有这项保证，就不会达成任何协议。”
Speaking at the NATO summit in Brussels, Defense Secretary Robert Gates says that even though there is unease in the U.S. government about such deals, the new Pakistan government must be given a chance to find its way.
美国国防部长盖茨在布鲁塞尔的北约峰会上说，尽管美国政府对这类协议感到不安，但是必须给予巴基斯坦新政府寻找途径的机会。
"I think it's fair to say that we have some skepticism, based on past experience, whether some of these agreements will work out," he noted. "But I think that we have to give - it's their country - and we have to give them the chance to try to deal with it in the way that they think is best."
盖茨说：“我认为，基于已往经验，我们有所怀疑，这种说法并不过分。但是我认为我们必须给他们机会，以他们认为的最佳方式来处理问题，因为这是他们的国家。”
The RAND Corporation report says the major flaw in such peace deals is that there is no mechanism to enforce them.
兰德公司的报告说，这种和平协定的主要缺陷在于没有贯彻这种协定的机制。 |