双语新闻：报道：美国陆军规模将削减至二战前水平 Report: US Army to Shrink to Pre-World War Two Levels

《纽约时报》报道说，奥巴马政府正准备把美国陆军削减到1940年第二次世界大战爆发前以来的最小规模。

不透露姓名的五角大楼官员对《纽时》说，国防部长哈格尔将要求在今后几年内，把美国陆军官兵人数削减到44万到45万之间。

五角大楼之前已经计划削减陆军兵力。美国陆军在2001年9/11恐怖袭击事件后扩大到了57万人。

哈格尔还将要求废弃空军整个A-10攻击机编队，这种飞机的设计用途是摧毁前苏联的坦克。

这些削减计划将在星期一宣布。

《纽约时报》说，哈格尔的建议反映了削减整体政府开支的努力，也反映了奥巴马总统提出的结束成本高昂的伊拉克和阿富汗战争的承诺。有关官员说，削减方案将使美军保持打败任何敌人的能力，但这种兵力规模太小，难以支撑旷日持久的海外行动。

The New York Times says the Obama administration is preparing to shrink the U.S. Army to its smallest size since before World War II.

Pentagon officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Times Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel will call for reducing the number of soldiers to between 440,000 and 450,000 over the coming years.

The Pentagon was already planning to cut the size of the Army, which had grown to 570,000 in the wake of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

Hagel will also call for eliminating an entire fleet of Air Force attack aircraft designed to destroy tanks deployed by the former Soviet Union.

The proposed cuts will be announced on Monday.

The Times says Hagel's proposal reflects a new push to reduce overall government spending, as well as President Barack Obama's pledge to end the costly wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Officials say the reductions will result in a military capable of defeating any adversary, but too small for lengthy foreign operations.