Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki said Friday initial efforts to reach agreement with the United States on the future of the U.S. troop presence have reached "a dead end," and negotiators are working on new approaches.
伊拉克总理马利基星期五表示，伊拉克与美国之间就双方下一步军事合作的具体内容所进行的谈判陷入僵局。马利基表示，双方目前都正在努力，力争通过新的途径，突破眼下的“僵局”，希望就美国驻伊拉克部队的前景等问题，达成协议。
Prime Minister Maliki got a lot of attention when he made his "dead end" comment Friday during a visit to Jordan.
伊拉克总理马利基星期五在访问约旦期间提到的“僵局”引起广泛关注。
The prime minister said there were several points of conflict between initial drafts drawn up by U.S. and Iraqi negotiators, so they put those drafts aside and are submitting new ideas. He said any agreement will have to "assert the sovereignty of Iraq."
他说：“美国和伊拉克的提案当中有一些矛盾，所以现在大家都把最初的提案搁置一边，提出新的建议。他说，美国和伊拉克之间的任何协议都必须体现伊拉克行使主权。”
According to Pentagon Spokesman Bryan Whitman, that is not a problem.
美国国防部发言人惠特曼表示，对美方来说，这不是问题。
"The first [principle] is full respect for Iraqi sovereignty. There isn't going to be any sort of an agreement that infringes upon Iraq's sovereignty. The second principle is that the agreements must be fully transparent. There won't be any secret deals. The agreements that we have with Iraq will be public agreements," said Whitman.
他说，“首要原则就是充分尊重伊拉克的主权，我们不会达成任何侵犯伊拉克主权的协议。第二个原则是，双方间的协议一定要完全透明，不含有任何秘密交易，我们和伊拉克之间达成的协议将是全部公开的。”
The U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Ryan Crocker, has made the same point, as have other U.S. officials.
美国驻伊拉克大使克罗克以及其他美国官员，此前也都阐述过同样的要点。
Analyst Colin Kahl at the Center for a New American Security says the Iraqi objections generally fall into two categories.
[美国新一代防卫研究中心]的分析员科伦·卡尔说，伊拉克对美方的提案怀有反对意见，主要是出于两方面的考虑。
"Part of it is creating a veneer of objection to, kind of, defend the Maliki government against nationalist opponents who criticize the agreement. But part of it is genuine. I mean I do think that the Iraqis were shocked by American elements, at least what we know, [that were] in the draft agreement," said Kahl.
他说，“这其中一部分原因是他们想要形成一种反对意见，目的其实是为了保护马利基政府，抵抗民族主义的反对派、这些人批评这项协议。但是另一方面，伊拉克政府持有的反对意见也有实在的原因；他们的确对美方拿出的方案中就我们所知包含的一些内容，感到震惊，认为不能接受。”
Kahl says those provisions include U.S. military operations without Iraqi permission, total control of Iraqi airspace, permission for U.S. operations across Iraq's borders into other countries, the continued detention of thousands of Iraqis and legal immunity not only for U.S. troops but for their contractors as well. Kahl says some of those issues can be solved through an agreement that requires consultation, coordination and even approval by Iraq, but that in practice gives U.S. forces the freedom of action they need in the current situation. He says some Iraqi leaders even want broad security guarantees that the United States is not willing to provide.
卡尔介绍说，让伊拉克方面感到震惊、认为不能接受的提案内容，包括美军可以在不经伊拉克授权的情况下，展开军事行动、并拥有伊拉克的制空权，而且可以被允许跨越伊拉克边界，到其他国家去展开军事行动。另一方面，驻伊美军将继续关押数千名伊拉克人，而且不光是驻伊美军，包括和美军以合同方式在伊拉克工作的那些人，也都不受当地法律的追究。卡尔表示，这些问题当中，有一些是可以通过协商来解决的，最终要通过双方的合作、还有伊拉克的同意才行得通；美方之所以提出这些要求，是因为部队方面在行动的过程中，确实需要有一定的灵活性，来应对目前的情势。他进而补充说，实际上，一些伊拉克领导人甚至希望美国能够为伊拉克提供广泛的安全保障，但是美方并不愿意这么做。
The analyst says U.S. and Iraqi leaders agree on the need to stabilize Iraq and to counter Iranian influence. He says key Iraqi leaders want to get as much as they can in any agreement, but do want the negotiations to succeed eventually.
[新一代美国防卫研究中心]的卡尔分析员表示，美国和伊拉克都同意，伊拉克需要稳定，需要对抗伊朗的影响。他说，伊拉克领导层一些关键人物希望在与美方达成协议的过程中，获得尽可能多的利益，但是归根结底，他们确实是希望与美国之间达成协议。
"One fundamental thing has not changed. The people closest to Nouri al-Maliki still want an agreement. They want a long term relationship with the United States because certainly there must be some officials who think, 'Hey, now that we've done a great job in Basra, Sadr City and elsewhere, now we can do this all by ourselves.' But it just strikes me that it wouldn't take too much convincing to show them that that's not actually right," he added.
他说，“最基本的一点没有改变，那就是，马利基身边的亲信都希望能和美国之间达成协议，希望和美国之间达成长期合作的关系；但是也有一些官员认为，既然我们能够在巴士拉、萨德尔城以及其他一些地方取得显著的成绩，一切由我们自己来操作就可以了。但是我认为，不用费很多力气，就可以表明，实际上情况并非如此。”
Speaking at the United Nations in New York Friday, Iraqi Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Iraq is serious about asserting its sovereignty, but he also appeared to confirm Colin Kahl's analysis on both the negotiating tactics and the Iraqi desire to reach an agreement.
伊拉克外长泽巴里星期五在纽约联合国总部发表讲话说，伊拉克非常注重行使主权，但是他似乎也证实了卡尔对双方谈判策略的分析， 并证实伊拉克领导人希望达成协议。
"The government is committed, really, to conclude this negotiation, to reach a final text. Still we are not there. There are difficulties. I mean, let's not belittle this. There is bound to be statement, counter-statement, positions and so on. This might be part of the negotiating tactic also," said Zebari.
他说，“伊拉克政府致力于让协商产生结果，产生一个最终的方案。目前遇到了一些困难。还没有谈成。我们不应该小看这些困难。我们之间肯定会经过你来我往这么一个阶段，或许这正是一种谈判策略。”
Minister Zebari, who is a member of the Iraqi negotiating team, said the United States had already presented some alternate proposals before he left Baghdad on this trip.
泽巴里本人是伊拉克代表团的成员。他说，在他离开巴格达赶赴联合国之前，美方已经提出了一些替代方案。
There are actually two accords being negotiated - a Strategic Framework Agreement to outline the long term U.S.-Iraqi security relationship, and a Status of Forces Agreement to establish the legal status of U.S. troops in Iraq. The United States has about 80 Status of Forces Agreements with countries around the world.
美国与伊拉克正在谈判的实际上是两项协议，一项是阐明美国与伊拉克之间长期安全合作夥伴关系的“战略框架协议”，另一项是将美国驻伊拉克军队的法律地位的“驻军协议”。美国在全球各地迄今为止已经签署的“驻军协议”有80多个。
Earlier, in Brussels, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates indicated he also sees the current impasse as possibly temporary.
"I will have to, when I get home, find out what the status of the negotiations is and whether there's a difference between what's actually going on in the negotiations and the public posture," said Gates.
The negotiators' goal is to develop bi-lateral agreements to replace the United Nations mandate for foreign troops in Iraq, which expires at the end of the year. But Colin Kahn says that is not absolutely necessary. He says if there is no agreement in the next couple of months, the Iraqi government may decide to wait for a new administration to take power in the United States in January, and to seek a temporary renewal of the U.N. resolution in the meantime.
但是分析人士卡尔表示，美国和伊拉克的协议并不是绝对必要的。他说，假如不能在今后两个月达成最后协议的话，伊拉克政府或许会决定等到明年一月，美国新政府就职以后再说了。在那之前，伊拉克可以请联合国暂时延长国际部队驻扎伊拉克的授权。 |