奥巴马撤换驻阿富汗美军最高指挥官

    This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.
    这里是美国之音慢速英语新闻报道节目。

    This week, President Obama replaced his top commander in Afghanistan. General Stanley McChrystal resigned after a year in command of United States and NATO forces. To replace him, the president chose the general to whom General McChrystal reported. The Senate is expected to quickly confirm General David Petraeus to lead the nearly nine-year-old war.
    本周,奥巴马总统更换了驻阿富汗美军最高指挥官。斯坦利·麦克里斯特尔将军在掌控美国和北约部队一年后辞职,奥巴马总统选择麦克里斯特尔将军推荐的一位将军替代他。预计参议院将和快确认戴维·彼得雷乌斯来领导这场持续 了近9年的战争。

    The last president to remove a war commander was Harry Truman. In nineteen fifty-one he dismissed General Douglas MacArthur during the Korean War. But that was a dispute over policy.
    上一位临阵换将的是杜鲁门总统。1951年,他在朝鲜战争中撤换了道格拉斯·麦克阿瑟将军。但那是因为政策分歧。

    General McChrystal lost his job over comments made to and in the presence of a reporter from Rolling Stone magazine. The general and his aides spoke disrespectfully about several administration officials. The general was quickly ordered to the White House to meet Wednesday with President Obama.
    麦克里斯特尔将军由于对滚石杂志记者发表的一番评论而失去他的工作。他和助手们谈到几个政府官员出言不逊。麦克里斯特尔将军很快被下令周三到白宫面见总统。

    BARACK OBAMA: "I welcome debate among my team, but I will not tolerate division."
    奥巴马说:“我欢迎我的团队中的争论,但我不会容忍分裂。”

    The president said he had considerable regret in accepting the resignation of "one of our nation's finest soldiers." But he said his responsibilities as commander-in-chief led him to his decision.
    总统称,他在接受“一名我国最优秀的士兵”辞职时相当遗憾。但他表示,作为三军总指挥,这是他的职责所在。

    BARACK OBAMA: "The conduct represented in the recently published article does not meet the standard that should be set by a commanding general. It undermines the civilian control of the military that is at the core of our democratic system."
    奥巴马说:“最近发表的这篇文章显示出的操行不符合一名总指挥应有的标准。它破坏了我们军队受文职政府控制这个民主制度的核心。”

    The president says the change is not a change in policy. He says General Petraeus understands that strategy because he helped shape it.
    奥巴马总统表示,人事变动不是政策上的变化。他说,彼得雷乌斯将军深悉美国在阿富汗的战略,他帮助策划了该战略。

    General Petraeus is known for his political as well as military skills. Experts credit him with a successful counterinsurgency strategy in Iraq in two thousand seven and two thousand eight. Counterinsurgency involves military action but also depends on civilian relationships to succeed.
    彼得雷乌斯将军因他的政治和军事技能而闻名。专家将2007年和2008年伊拉克成功的反叛乱战略归功于他。反叛乱的成功不仅包括军事行动,还依赖于平民关系。

    The Afghanistan policy calls for establishing security in cities and towns, protecting civilians even if it means more danger for coalition troops. It also involves training local security forces and strengthening the government.
    阿富汗政策要求建立城市和城镇安全,保护平民,即使这意味着联军部队更多的危险。它还涉及到训练当地安全部队和巩固当地政府。

    Last month, General Petraeus talked about the situation.
    上个月,彼得雷乌斯将军谈到了有关情况。

    DAVID PETRAEUS: "As was the case in Iraq, the reality is that everything in Afghanistan is hard. It's hard all the time, and it typically gets harder before it gets easier."
    彼得雷乌斯:“正如在伊拉克问题上一样,现实情况是,在阿富汗的一切都很困难。这种困难一直存在,且通常在困难减弱前,会越来越困难。”

    General McChrystal was one of the relatively few American officials to develop a good relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai. But he never did the same with the American ambassador, Karl Eikenberry, a former commander in Afghanistan.
    麦克里斯特尔将军是为数不多的与阿富汗总统哈米德卡尔扎伊保持良好关系的美国官员之一。但他却从没有与美国驻阿大使,前驻阿富汗指挥官卡尔·艾肯伯里保持良好系。。

    On Wednesday, President Obama repeated the policy agreed to last fall.
    周三,美国总统奥巴马重申了去年秋天通过的政策。

    BARACK OBAMA: "We are going to break the Taliban's momentum. We are going to build Afghan capacity. We are going to relentlessly apply pressure on al-Qaida and its leadership, strengthening the ability of both Afghanistan and Pakistan to do the same."
    奥巴马说:“我们要打击塔利班的势头,建设阿富汗自身实力。我们将坚持不懈地保持对基地组织及其领导人的压力,加强阿富汗和巴基斯坦同样做的能力。”

    Admiral Mike Mullen, the Joint Chiefs chairman, says the United States should know by the end of this year whether the strategy is working.
    参谋长联席会议主席麦克·马伦上将表示,美国将在今年年底知道该战略是否已发挥作用。

    If all goes as planned, withdrawals could begin by next July. But insurgent attacks have increased and progress has been slower than expected in the south.
    如果一切按计划进行,明年7月可能开始撤军。但反叛分子的袭击有所增加,在南方的进展也比预期的缓慢。
     
    Thirty thousand more American troops are joining the war. But public support is down and concerns in Congress are up.
    三万多名美国士兵卷入这场战争。但公众(对这场战争的)支持有所下降,而国会(对这场战争的)关注有所提升。

    June is the deadliest month yet for international forces in Afghanistan. And problems continue with the development of the Afghan security forces and with corruption among Afghan officials.
    六月是阿富汗联军到目前为止致命的一月。阿富汗安全部队发展问题继续持续,阿富汗官员的腐败问题也继续持续。