VOA双语新闻:8、出兵十年后伊拉克战争在美不得人心(在线收听

 

出兵十年后伊拉克战争在美不得人心

Public opinion surveys in 2011, at the end of U.S. military involvement in Iraq, revealed a majority of Americans felt the U.S. invasion there was a mistake.  War casualties had a major role in shaping Americans' feelings about the war, and now, 10 years after the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein from power, those sentiments persist.

一个在2011年美国对伊拉克军事行动进入尾声之际进行的民意调查发现,大部分美国人认为,美国侵入伊拉克是一个错误。战争造成伤亡是影响美国人对战争看法的主要因素。现在,在这个导致萨达姆?侯赛因政权瓦解的战争发生10年之后,同样的看法依旧存在。那些在战争中失去亲友的美国人,仍然无法面对和接受冲突的意义,以及它所造成的后果。

Relatives and friends of those who were lost in the war continue to struggle to come to terms with the meaning of the conflict and its consequences.

*退伍军人怀念战友*

On a cold, wintry March afternoon, Iraq War veteran Harvey Kanter is fighting back tears as he fights through the snow to create a keepsake that reminds him of the friends he lost. 

三月一个寒冷的下午,退伍军人哈维?坎特冒着风雪来到伊利诺伊州马赛市的中东冲突纪念碑,他强忍泪水,拓印下了纪念碑上战友的名字。

“You don’t forget the names, and you don’t forget how it happened," he said.

坎特说: “你不会忘记他们的名字,你也不会忘记事情是怎么发生的。”

The names he won’t forget on the Mideast Conflicts Wall Memorial in Marseilles, Illinois, belong to three men Kanter served with in the U.S. Army at the height of the insurgency in Iraq - casualties of an unpopular conflict Kanter says is fading from America’s collective memory.

坎特不会忘记,伊利诺伊州马赛市中东冲突纪念碑墙上的名字里有和他在美国陆军服役时的3名战友。他们是在伊拉克反叛活动最猖狂的时候牺牲的。 坎特说,他们是不得人心的伊拉克战争的牺牲者,而他们已经开始从美国的公众记忆中消失了。

*民调:过半数美国人认为出兵伊拉克错误*

A poll conducted by the Huffington Post website and YouGov in January indicated 52 percent of Americans thought the 2003 invasion of Iraq was a mistake. 55 percent of those who responded said the war was not worth fighting

一个由赫芬顿邮报网和YouGov调研公司在1月进行的民调显示,百分之52的美国人认为,美国在2003年入侵伊拉克是一个错误。百分之55的受访者说,不值得发动这个战争。

“I never want to see somebody look at it and say, 'Hey, it was a mistake; it was worthless,' when you have all of those lives lost, said John Bartosiewicz. 

中东冲突纪念碑志工约翰?巴尔托西维兹说: “我永远不想看到人们望着它,然后说,‘这是一个错误,这是不值得的。’当你想到,我们已经为它失去了这么多生命。”

Two of his sons served in the military, but neither served in Iraq.   While he says he supported the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003, he was also relieved when Americans left in 2011. 

巴尔托西维兹的2个儿子曾在军中服役,但2人都没有在伊拉克待过。虽然巴尔托西维兹说,他支持美国2003年出兵伊拉克的行动,但他也为美国在2011年自伊拉克撤出松了一口气。

“If they would have just pulled out without setting a goal, and reaching that goal, then I would have thought it was worthless, because all those lives were lost and you can’t put a value on that," he said.

巴尔托西维兹说: “如果他们没有先设定一个目标,并且在达到目标前就撤出,那我就会认为这是不值得的。因为我们为它失去了这么多的生命,这些生命是无价的。”

*支持军人,不支持战争*

“During the war, a common phrase was, 'We don’t support the war but we support our troops.' And I think that’s very important, to remember that distinction," 

“战后观察”博客马修?史怀泽说: “战争期间一个常听到的说法是,‘我们不支持战争,但我们支持我们的军人。’我觉得人们必须记住这个重要的区别。”

said University of Chicago researcher Matthew Schweitzer. who is the creator of the blog “Post War Watch” which analyzes the legacy of U.S. military involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

史怀泽是芝加哥大学研究员,他设立了“战后观察”博客,对美国在伊拉克和阿富汗军事行动遗留的后果进行分析。他说,美国民意在2005年美军在伊拉克增兵时发生急剧改变:“它来得太晚了,无法真正改变人们的意见,因为他们已经看到成千上万的伊拉克人死亡,也看到许多美国士兵,为一个被他们认为无法达到的目标而阵亡。”

*阵亡士兵之父:自由民主代价为何?*

He says U.S. public opinion shifted dramatically during the U.S. troop surge in Iraq in 2005. 

杰里?特兰朵非常清楚战争的代价,他的儿子约书亚为此做出了终极的牺牲。约书亚2005年在伊拉克死于一个狙击手的子弹下。

“It came too late to really sway people’s opinions after they saw thousands - hundreds of thousands - of Iraqis dying, and many U.S. soldiers dying for what seemed to be an unattainable goal.”

他说:“自由民主是什么,你应该为它付出何种代价?我们难以改变任何人对这些问题的看法。”

“It’s hard to change anyone’s opinion about what is freedom, what is democracy, what is the price you pay for it," said Jerry Terando. His son Joshua paid the ultimate sacrifice, killed by a sniper’s bullet in 2005 in Iraq.  Jerry Terando is now among a majority of Americans who view the war unfavorably. “Regardless of what our fighting men do, all wars come back to politics. [If we have] A nation without the heart to win, or a government without the will, we’re just wasting our time.”

杰里?特兰朵现在和大多数美国人一样,对战争持负面看法。他说:“无论我们的战士怎么做,所有的战争归根究底还是与政治有关。如果我们的国家没有赢得战争的决心,或是我们的政府没有意志,那么我们只是在浪费时间而已。”

*盼国人理解阵亡士兵为何牺牲*

Joshua’s name is now etched on the marble of the Mideast Conflicts Wall Memorial, a permanent reminder of what the war cost Jerry Terando and his family. 

现在,约书亚的名字被刻印在中东冲突纪念碑的墙上,永远提醒着特兰朵和家人战争的代价。

“I would do anything to have him alive again, but I’m proud of him for what he did and the sacrifice he made. And I only wish the rest of America could appreciate that and the sacrifice of all the others whose names are on that wall," he said. 

杰里?特兰朵说:“我愿意做任何事让他死而复生,但我对他做过的事和他的牺牲还是感到非常骄傲。我只希望所有美国人也能了解这些,也希望他们能感激这些名字在墙上的人所做的牺牲。”

  原文地址:http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/voabn/2013/03/224851.html