The top U.S. military officer says he has ordered the development of a new, more comprehensive strategy for the war in Afghanistan, including a plan to shift U.S. forces from Iraq to Afghanistan, announced by President Bush on Tuesday.
一位美军高级官员说，他已经下令在阿富汗战场上运用一种新的、更全面的策略，包括布什总统星期二宣布的把一部分驻伊美军部队调遣到阿富汗的规划。
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Admiral Mike Mullen says the decision to continue a slow reduction of U.S. forces in Iraq is justified by reduced violence and the increased capability of the Iraqi security forces. He says any risks created by the U.S. drawdown are "acceptable."
美军参谋长联席会议主席马伦上将说，美军决定继续从伊拉克缓慢撤军是因为伊拉克暴力活动下降以及伊拉克安全部队的能力有所增强。他说，任何由于美军兵力下降所产生的威胁都是“可以承受的”。
But he indicated to the Armed Services Committee of the House of Representatives that he is more concerned about the situation in Afghanistan.
但他向众议院军事委员会表示，他对阿富汗的局势更加担忧。
"I am not convinced we are winning yet in Afghanistan, I am convinced we can," Mullen said. "That is why I intend to commission, and I am looking at, a new, more comprehensive military strategy for the region that covers both sides of that border."
“我不能确信我们已赢得阿富汗战争的胜利，但我认为我们能赢。这就是为什么我打算、而且在寻找一个新的、更加全面的、可以涵盖巴阿边境两侧地区的军事战略。”
Admiral Mullen said security in Afghanistan and Pakistan are "inextricably linked" because of what he called "a common insurgency" on both sides of their border. He said military force is not enough to win in Afghanistan, and he called for a broad Afghan and international effort to improve governance and economic development. But he said more troops are also needed, even beyond the deployment President Bush announced Tuesday.
马伦上将说，阿富汗和巴基斯坦的安全形势不可分割地联系在一起。他说，这是因为是“同一股叛乱分子”在边境两侧活动。他说，军事行动本身是不足以在阿富汗取得胜利的。他呼吁开展一个广泛的阿富汗和国际间的合作，以努力提高阿富汗政府的统治能力和经济发展。但他说，尽管布什总统星期二宣布了向阿富汗增派部队，阿富汗仍需要更多的部队。马伦说：
"They are a good and important start," Mullen said. "Frankly, I judge the risk of not sending them too great a risk to ignore. My expectation is that they will need to perform both the training mission and the combat and combat support missions simultaneously until such time that we can provide additional troops. And I can not say at this point when that might be."
“这是一个良好而且重要的开端。坦率地讲，我断定不增援的风险太大，不容忽视，他们将要同时执行训练任务、战斗使命及战斗支援任务。但在此时此刻，我还不能确定我们什么时候可以派增援部队。”
President Bush said he will send about 4,500 troops to Afghanistan by February, but with other U.S. forces scheduled to leave the result will be a net increase of only about 15,000. The top U.S. and NATO commander in Afghanistan has asked for 10,000.
布什总统说，他将在2月份前向阿富汗派遣约4千5百名美军。但因为还有一些驻阿美军会离开，在阿富汗的美军人数实际上将只净增1千5百人。美军和北约驻阿富汗最高指挥官一直要求增派1万人的兵力。
At the same hearing where Admiral Mullen spoke, Defense Secretary Robert Gates cautioned against withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq too quickly in order to address the need in Afghanistan, and the desire to give the troops more rest time between deployments.
在马伦上将讲话的听证会上，盖茨国防部长提醒说，不能为了应对阿富汗的需要而过快地撤出驻伊美军，他也表示希望在调动前给予美军更多的修整时间。盖茨说：
"I worry that the great progress our troops and the Iraqis have made has the potential to override a measure of caution born of uncertainty," Gates said. "Our military commanders do not yet believe our gains are necessarily enduring. And they believe that there are still many challenges and the potential for reversals in the future."
“我担心我们和伊拉克部队所取得的成绩还不足以排除所有不确定因素。我们的指挥官并不认为我们取得的进展必然是持久性的。他们相信他们仍面临很多挑战，而且未来情况发生逆转的可能性依然存在。”
Secretary Gates said the conflict in Iraq has undergone a "fundamental change," but he repeated his view that the United States and its allies must now "get the end game there right." The secretary is so concerned that he made a rare statement, for him, that could be interpreted as injecting his views into the presidential election campaign, where the U.S. troop commitment in Iraq is a major issue.
国防部长盖茨说，在伊拉克的战争正经历“根本性的变化”，但他重申美国及其盟国现在必须“妥善做好结束工作。”盖茨对局面如此担心以至于发表了他很少发表的评论，人们可能会把有关评论解读为他把自己的观点注入总统竞选运动中，而美军在伊拉克的行动是本次总统大选的一个重要议题。盖茨说：
"I would urge our nation's leaders to implement strategies that while steadily reducing our presence in Iraq are cautious and flexible, and take into account the advice of our senior commanders and military leaders," Gates said. "I would also urge our leaders to keep in mind that we should expect to be involved in Iraq for years to come, although in changing and increasingly limited ways."
“我将敦促我们国家的领导人在从伊拉克逐步撤军方面采取一种谨慎、灵活的策略，并且考虑我们高级指挥官和军方领导人的建议。我还要提醒我们的领导人，我们在今后几年里还会继续参与伊拉克事务，尽管将会以不断变化、而且是日益有限的方式来参与。”
Secretary Gates said although the country's top military leaders came at the question of Iraq troop levels from different perspectives, they all ended up agreeing to recommend the small withdrawal of 8,000 troops during the next five months that President Bush announced Tuesday, in order to ensure that security gains are not lost.
国防部长盖茨说，尽管美国军方高级领导人对美军驻伊拉克兵力水平上有不同看法，他们最终都一致建议，如同布什总统星期二所宣布的，在今后5个月内从伊拉克撤出一小部分部队，目的是确保不会失去在伊拉克安全形势方面取得的成绩。 |