美国有线新闻 CNN 美国计划从阿富汗和伊拉克撤军（在线收听）

The United States military announced on Tuesday that thousands of American troops are coming home from Afghanistan and Iraq.

美国军方周二宣布，数千名美军将从阿富汗和伊拉克回国。

The American military has been involved in Afghanistan since 2001 when it led an international force to knock the ruling Taliban group out of power.

自2001年领导国际部队将执政的塔利班组织赶下台以来，美军一直在参与阿富汗事务。

The Taliban were sheltering Al-Qaida terrorists who were responsible for the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

塔利班为2001年9月11日恐袭美国的“基地”组织恐怖分子提供庇护。

The U.S. military has been involved in Iraq since 2003 when it led an international force to knock Iraqi President Saddam Hussein out of power.

自2003年领导国际部队将伊拉克总统萨达姆·侯赛因赶下台以来，美军一直参与伊拉克事务。

The American government accused him of sheltering terrorists as well, in addition to building illegal weapons of mass destruction though American forces did not find those weapons after the conflict began.

美国政府指责萨达姆不仅制造非法的大规模杀伤性武器，还庇护恐怖分子，尽管美国军队在冲突开始后并未找到这些武器。

The numbers of U.S. service men and women in Iraq and Afghanistan have fluctuated over the years. Currently, there are about 4,500 American troops in Afghanistan and 3,000 in Iraq. The Trump Administration plans to withdraw around 2,000 from Afghanistan and 500 from Iraq in the weeks ahead leaving about 2,500 forces in each country. A senior U.S. defense official says the reduction in forces is consistent with President Trump's promise to bring troops home from the two nations.

美国在伊拉克和阿富汗的驻军数量一直在波动。目前，驻阿富汗美军约4500人，驻伊拉克美军约3000人。特朗普政府计划在未来几周从阿富汗撤军约2000人，从伊拉克撤军500人，在两国各留下约2500名驻军。一名美国国防部高级官员表示，此次撤军与特朗普总统从两国撤军的承诺相一致。

And the Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense says America is on the verge of defeating the Al-Qaida terrorist group. But critics of the withdraw, including some Republican lawmakers, say it's not the right time to reduce U.S. troop numbers in these countries and that the decision would come as good news to terrorist groups. The withdraw of many American troops is expected to be completed by January 15th of next year.

美国国防部代理部长表示，美国即将击败“基地”恐怖组织。但包括一些共和党议员在内的批评人士称，现在不是减少美国在这些国家驻军人数的合适时机，这一决定对恐怖组织来说是个好消息。预计美国将在明年1月15日前完成撤军计划。