VOA常速英语2015--奥巴马重新审视美国中东战略（在线收听）

Obama Reviews Middle East Strategy 奥巴马重新审视美国中东战略

WHITE HOUSE—

The death of Saudi Arabia’s king, the collapse of a U.S.-friendly government in Yemen and a problematic relationship with Israel’s leadership are presenting a new set of complications for the Obama administration and its Middle East policy. Not only is the U.S. leader dealing with adversaries in Iran, the Islamic State and al-Qaida, but he is now juggling trouble with traditional allies as well.

President Obama had a prickly relationship with the late Saudi King Abdullah, but paying his respects to successor King Salman this week marked a fresh start. 

奥巴马总统与已故沙特国王阿卜杜拉关系不佳，但本周他向继任者萨勒曼国王表示敬意，这就标志着新的开始。

Leading a high level delegation, Obama traveled to Saudi Arabia at a time when the U.S. is most depending on the kingdom as an island of stability.

奥巴马带领一支高级代表团来到沙特，此事美国非常需要这个国王成为稳定之岛。

The Middle East suddenly has become even more complex, with the collapse of Yemen’s government and the fight against Islamic State militants and al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula.

随着也门政府倒台和对阿拉伯半岛IS武装分子和基地组织的战斗，中东局势突然变得复杂。

The challenges are reason for the Obama administration to strengthen its ties to the Saudis, who have joined the U.S. in efforts to fight the Islamic State group and AQAP.

这些挑战迫使奥巴马政府加强与沙特的联系，沙特已加入美国对付IS和阿拉伯半岛基地组织的战斗。

Before cutting short a visit to India to head to Saudi Arabia, President Obama again ruled out any major deployment of U.S. troops in the Middle East.

在缩短对印度访问并前往沙特之前，奥巴马总统再次排除了派遣美国部队到中东的可能。

“Our efforts to go after terrorist networks inside of Yemen without a occupying U.S. army, but rather by partnering and intelligence-sharing with that local government, is the approach that we’re going to need to take.  And that continues to be the case.  The alternative would be for us to play whack-a-mole every time there is a terrorist actor inside of any given country, to deploy U.S. troops.  And that’s not a sustainable strategy,” said Obama.

“我们在也门追捕恐怖分子网络，而无需美军的驻扎，而是与当地政府建立伙伴关系和情报共享机制，这就是我们准备采取的策略，我们未来还会这样。其他的办法就是一旦哪个国家出现恐怖分子，就进行鼹鼠战术，也就是派遣美国部队，但这并未长远之计。”

Finding a sustainable strategy in a quickly changing landscape is turning out to be a challenge for the Obama administration, said analyst Michael O’Hanlon.

对奥巴马政府来说，在这样瞬息万变的局势下寻找可持续战略是一项挑战，分析家迈克尔·汉伦表示。

“I think part of what they’re trying to do is just hold on - it’s an ugly time in terms of events and many relationships and I don’t think there’s any plausible grand vision that’s pointing in a happier direction even if it works out as theoretically projected,” said O’Hanlon.

“我认为他们要做的有点就是坚持住，就局势和很多关系来说这是个糟糕的时间，我认为没有什么看似正确的宏伟蓝图能指向良好的结局，即使理论上看似可以。”

And then there is the complex relationship with the closest U.S. ally in the region, Israel, which - like Saudi Arabia - opposes Obama’s efforts to engage Iran in nuclear negotiations and any U.S. moves that could be seen as strengthening Iran.

美国与该地区最亲密伙伴以色列的关系也变得复杂，该国像沙特一样反对奥巴马希望让伊朗加入核协商的努力，反对美国任何看起来是在加强伊朗的举动。

Benjamin Netanyahu, as Israel’s prime minister, has always been a guest at the White House but won’t be when he visits in March. U.S. lawmakers invited him to Washington without first consulting President Obama, and the U.S. leader has decided not to meet with him.

一直是白宫常客的以色列总理本杰明·内塔尼亚胡三月份访美时不会到白宫去，美国议员们在没有首先咨询奥巴马总统的前提下就邀请他到华盛顿，于是奥巴马决定不会见他。

Former State Department adviser Aaron David Miller said that while political and personal relations are troubled, the relationship as a whole is too big to fail.

国务院前顾问亚伦·戴维·米勒说尽管目前政治和个人关系遇到麻烦，但美国与以色列的关系整体大而不倒。

“I don’t think, frankly, overall this is going to affect in any galactic way the nature of the relationship,” said Miller.

“坦率地说，我认为从全局上来说这不会影响两国关系的全局。”

Adding to tensions in the region was Iran-backed Hezbollah claiming responsibility for a missile attack on an Israeli convoy at the Israel-Lebanon border Wednesday. Israel responded with airstrikes and artillery fire, raising concerns that missteps by either side could cause yet another conflict to escalate - and a potential new headache for the U.S. administration.

令该地区紧张加剧的是，伊朗支持的真主党承认对周三以色列黎巴嫩边境上以色列车队遭遇的导弹袭击负责，以色列用空袭和火箭炮来应对，这就让人们担心，无论哪一方的失误都可能导致另一场冲突的升级，而这也会令美国政府更加头疼。