公众人物毕业演讲 第104期:奥巴马美国军事学院(7)

 　　Like Eisenhower, this generation of men and women in uniform know all too well the wages of war and that includes those of you here at West Point

　　同艾森豪威尔一样 这一代身着军装的年轻人 也都非常清楚战争的代价 你们西点人肯定知道这一点

　　Four of the servicemembers who stood in the audience when I announced the surge of our forces in Afghanistan gave their lives in that effort

　　在我宣布阿富汗增兵计划时 站在台下的听众中 有四名军人 为这一计划献出了生命

　　A lot more were wounded I believe America's security demanded those deployments

　　受伤的人数就更多了 我相信 美国安全需要这些布署

　　But I am haunted by those deaths

　　但我对这些逝去的生命无法释怀

　　I am haunted by those wounds

　　我对这么多人的负伤无法释怀

　　And I would betray my duty to you and to the country we love if I ever sent you into harm's way simply because I saw a problem somewhere in the world that needed to be fixed¹

　　我将背离自己的职责和对祖国的热爱 如果我将你们置于险境 仅仅因为我认为世界某地有问题需要解决

　　or because I was worried about critics who think military intervention² is the only way for America to avoid looking weak

　　仅仅因为我害怕军事干涉主义者的批评 仅仅因为我害怕美国示弱 助长敌人的嚣张气焰

　　Here's my bottom line: America must always lead on the world stage

　　总而言之 美国必须在世界舞台上扮演领导角色

　　If we don't, no one else will

　　如果美国不站出来领导 谁都不会站出来

　　The military that you have joined is and always will be the backbone³ of that leadership

　　你们加入的军队无论现在还是将来 都将一直是美国领导权的支柱

　　But U.S. military action cannot be the only or even primary component of our leadership in every instance

　　不过军事行动 不能成为美国实现领导权的唯一手段 军事行动甚至连主要手段都不应当是

　　Just because we have the best hammer does not mean that every problem is a nail

　　不能因为我们手中拥有最好的铁锤 就把每个问题都当成钉子

　　And because the costs associated with military action are so high

　　原因在于 军事行动的代价太过高昂

　　you should expect every civilian leader and especially your Commander-in-Chief to be clear about how that awesome power should be used

　　每一位文职领导人 特别是三军统帅 应当清楚该如何使用强大的军事力量

　　So let me spend the rest of my time describing my vision for how the United States of America and our military should lead in the years to come

　　下面请允许我将剩下的时间 用来描述我所理解的美利坚合众国应当如何在未来使用军事力量

1 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

2 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

3 backbone   

n.脊骨，脊柱，骨干；刚毅，骨气

参考例句：

• The Chinese people have backbone.中国人民有骨气。
• The backbone is an articulate structure.脊椎骨是一种关节相连的结构。