Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told Senators that President Barack Obama’s decision to withdraw 33,000 American troops from Afghanistan by the end of next summer was a “tough call” that strikes the right balance amid competing interests. At a Senate hearing, Clinton heard complaints from members of both parties about the level of U.S. spending for Afghanistan.
美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿对参议院说，奥巴马总统作出的明年夏季结束前从阿富汗撤军3万3000人的决定是一项“艰难的选择”，这是对各方利益作出的正确平衡。国务卿克林顿在参议院的一个听证会上听到了来自两党议员关于美国在阿富汗战争军费开支的抱怨。
Clinton was widely reported to have sided with U.S. military chiefs in urging a more cautious withdrawal policy.
外界广泛报导，国务卿克林顿与美国军方首脑意见一致，他们都敦促更谨慎的撤军计划。
But in Senate testimony, she said she fully supports the terms announced late Wednesday by the president, saying it was a “tough call” amid competing advice from members of his national security team.
但是在参议院作证时，克林顿表示她完全支持奥巴马总统星期三晚间宣布的计划，称这是一项“艰难的选择”，因为总统的国家安全团队成员有着不同的意见。
“It will not surprise you that the views range across the spectrum about what should be done and what should not be done. But I think that the president, with his decision, has hit the mark. He has answered what is a very legitimate concern, not only of this Congress but of the American public, that this has been a very long conflict for the United States,” she said.
她说：“毫不奇怪，关于应该做什么和不应该做什么会有各种不同的观点。但我认为，总统的决定是中肯的。他解决了一个非常合理的担忧，不仅是国会也是美国公众的担忧。对美国来说，这是一个很长期的冲突。”
Members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee told Clinton while they supported the U.S. decision to intervene in Afghanistan in 2001, the level of commitment now is disproportionate in terms of other foreign policy interests, and the need to cut the U.S. budget deficit.
美国参议院外交关系委员会成员对克林顿表示，虽然他们支持美国2001年对阿富汗实施干预的决定，但鉴于美国其他的外交政策利益以及需要削减美国预算赤字，现在的驻军水平不合适。
The ranking committee Republican, Indiana Senator Richard Lugar, urged the Obama administration to more narrowly define its goals in Afghanistan, and to recognize the sources of threats to U.S. interests have migrated elsewhere during the past decade.
印第安那州共和党参议员理查德·卢格敦促奥巴马政府进一步缩小在阿富汗的战略目标，并意识到过去十年间美国利益的威胁源头已经转移到别处。
“Administration officials have testified that Yemen is the most likely source of a terrorist attack against American interests in the short term. Further we know that al-Qaida has a far more significant presence in Pakistan that in Afghanistan. To the extent that our purpose in Afghanistan is to confront the global terrorist threat, we should be refocusing resources on Pakistan, Yemen, Somalia, parts of North Africa and other locations,” Lugar said.
他说：“政府官员已表示，在短期内也门是最可能对美国发动恐怖袭击的源头。而且我们也知道，基地组织在巴基斯坦的规模远远大过阿富汗。由于我们在阿富汗的目标是要打击全球恐怖主义威胁，现在我们应该将资源转向巴基斯坦、也门、索马里、北非部分地区和其它地方。”
Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said the United States is expending the lives of hundreds of troops and $120 billion a year on a conflict less than critical to its strategic interests.
民主党参议员迪克·德宾表示，美国在不怎么重要的战略冲突上每年正耗损数百军人的生命和花费1千200亿美元。
“I have a real skepticism about our mission in Afghanistan at this moment. I do not have great confidence in the leadership in Afghanistan, either in its competence or its honesty. I worry about the money that we are shoveling into this country in sums that are unimaginable in this poor and under-developed country,” Durbin said.
他说：“此刻我对我们在阿富汗的任务真是持怀疑态度。我对阿富汗领导人信心不大--不论是其能力还是其诚信。我们在阿富汗花费的金钱数量对于这个贫穷的不发达国家来说是不可思议的，这令我感到担心。”
Clinton said the president’s plan will provide the security needed to build self-sufficient local Afghan security forces and facilitate a political solution to the conflict.
克林顿国务卿说，总统的计划将帮助构建能够满足本国需要的阿富汗安全部队，并为这场冲突提供政治解决方案。
She said that would necessarily have to involve Taliban elements who renounce violence and al-Qaida, and she said the United States is involved in tentative outreach to insurgent figures.
她还表示，这将必然涉及放弃暴力的塔利班成员和基地组织。她说，美国在试探性地跟叛乱分子进行接触。
“The United States has a broad range of contacts at many levels across Afghanistan and the region that we are leveraging to support this effort, including very preliminary outreach to members of the Taliban. This is not a pleasant business, but a necessary one,” Clinton said.
她说：“美国与阿富汗和这个地区的许多阶层有广泛的联系，包括对塔利班成员的初步接触。这不是令人愉快但却是必要的行动。”
Clinton said while the U.S. combat role in Afghanistan will end as planned in 2014, NATO, as agreed at its summit last November in Lisbon, will have a “continuing presence” in Afghanistan after that date, the nature of which is being negotiated.
克林顿说，虽然美国在阿富汗的战争角色按计划将于2014年结束，但去年11月在里斯本举行的峰会同意，北约在那个日期之后仍将在阿富汗“继续存在”，“存在”的性质仍在商讨中。 |