PBS高端访谈:阿富汗能不能拥有自己的军队?

 　　JEFFREY BROWN: And joining me now is NPR's Sean Carberry. He was the news organization's chief Kabul correspondent before it closed down its permanent presence in Afghanistan just a few weeks ago.

　　And welcome to you.

　　And I want to start where that peace ended with the troops that will remain even after this is officially declared over. What will they be doing?

　　SEAN CARBERRY, NPR: Well, they will have two primary missions. One is counterterrorism operations, so going after any remnants of al-Qaida or affiliated¹ groups that are still in Afghanistan.

　　The second is what the military calls a train, advise and assist mission, which is essentially² to continue mentoring³ and helping⁴ the Afghan forces, which is really what has been going on for the better part of the last year. U.S. forces transitioned from running combat operations to this training advisement largely over the course of the year. So there is not a huge dramatic shift that is happening right now.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Yes. That is the obvious question is, what does it mean in practical terms that — this end-of-the-war ceremony?

　　You're saying not that much.

　　SEAN CARBERRY: Right. It really is more ceremonial than it is substantive⁵ at this point, because U.S. forces have been conducting very few combat operations over the past year.

　　They have drawn⁶ down. Afghan forces are leading operations. U.S. forces are continuing to support in some cases. They provide air support, sometimes some on-the-ground support. Special forces do some joint⁷ operations. And most of that will continue next year with just a smaller number of forces. So there will be U.S. forces who will still be seeing combat. There will still be U.S. air support provided, intelligence, other support to the Afghan forces.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Well, so, when we speak of the resurgence⁸ of the Taliban, we see their ability to have deadly attacks, at least in small force. How much are they — how strong are they? How much are they able to change things in larger ways?

　　SEAN CARBERRY: Well, it's always hard to assess them as a force, because they do operate in cells. They're scattered⁹ around the country.

　　They did carry out a number of large-scale attacks over the course of the summer. They did challenge Afghan forces in a number of places. They carried out a lot of attacks that did take over terrain¹⁰ for a while and the Afghan army had to come in and push them back out. So they are clearly a very substantial force and able to put Afghan forces on their heels in parts of the country.

　　And we saw a huge uptick in violence the last couple months I was there, in November, about 12 different suicide attacks in Kabul alone, the most violent month certainly in the time that I was there, and a lot of people said one of the most violent months they had seen. So the Taliban are still very strong, active and want to push and challenge this new government that's in place.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Well, the new government, before we get there, the Afghan security forces, their ability to counteract¹¹ the Taliban at this point?

　　SEAN CARBERRY: U.S. forces generally say Afghan forces can hold their own. But in the face of an ongoing¹² insurgency¹³, holding their own is not a fantastic grade.

　　And while they can fight well, they still have huge problems with logistics, with maintaining their equipment, with intelligence. The air force is years away from being a powerful force that can replace the airpower that the U.S. and other countries provided. So they can fight on the ground, but they're not a self-sustaining force by any stretch of the imagination.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: All right, so the new government Ashraf Ghani still having some trouble even getting organized, still facing a bad economy, still facing the Taliban threat.

　　SEAN CARBERRY: Yes. It's three months since he was inaugurated and there's still no new cabinet. And part of this is a function of this dynamic of this national unity¹⁴ government, which was the compromise to end the election standoff that went for months over the course of the summer.

　　Secretary of State John Kerry had to fly in multiple times to broker¹⁵ a resolution to the disputed outcome. As a result, you have Ashraf Ghani as president and Abdullah Abdullah, the runner-up, as the CEO of the government. So they have to agree on a new cabinet. They have to agree on a lot of decisions that are being made.

　　And they each have their own circles of people around them that they have to deal with. So it's made a much more complicated government situation. And they have not been able to accomplish very much in the first three months.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Well, that — what have been the priorities of Ghani and the government at this point? What kind of initiatives are they able to take?

　　SEAN CARBERRY: Well, so far, Ghani has tried to put a focus on cleaning up the government. It was a notoriously corrupt¹⁶ government and country.

　　He's tried to focus on going after some of the serious cases. The Kabul Bank case where there was nearly a billion dollars siphoned out of the bank by its shareholders¹⁷ several years ago, he reopened that case, has tried to prosecute¹⁸ these people to send a signal that this government is going to be clean, is going to go after corruption¹⁹.

　　So he's taken some steps in those regard, but on any large-scale effort, there really hasn't been anything major that has been accomplished²⁰ by this administration yet.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: Let me ask you, finally and briefly²¹, from your time there — and it was about almost three years that you were there — how much has life changed for citizens?

　　SEAN CARBERRY: It depends where you are in the country. For some, it has changed. Some places are more secure. They're seeing a little bit more economic development. Some places got worse over the time that I was there.

　　So, still, people are very concerned about security. They're very concerned about the economy. And, by and large, there's not a huge net positive change today from when I first got there. So the country still has a lot of challenges and a long way to go before it's going to be stable, secure and sovereign.

　　JEFFREY BROWN: All right, Sean Carberry, thanks so much.

　　SEAN CARBERRY: You're welcome, Jeff.

1 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

2 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

3 mentoring   

n.mentoring是一种工作关系。mentor通常是处在比mentee更高工作职位上的有影响力的人。他/她有比‘mentee’更丰富的工作经验和知识，并用心支持mentee的职业（发展）。v.（无经验之人的）有经验可信赖的顾问( mentor的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• One of the most effective instruments for coaching and mentoring is the "role rehearsal" . 辅导和教学的最有效的手段之一是“角色排练。” 来自辞典例句
• Bell Canada called their mentoring system a buddy-buddy system. 加拿大贝尔公司称他们的训导系统是伙伴—伙伴系统。 来自互联网

4 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

5 substantive   

adj.表示实在的；本质的、实质性的；独立的；n.实词，实名词；独立存在的实体

参考例句：

• They plan to meet again in Rome very soon to begin substantive negotiations.他们计划不久在罗马再次会晤以开始实质性的谈判。
• A president needs substantive advice,but he also requires emotional succor. 一个总统需要实质性的建议，但也需要感情上的支持。

6 drawn   

v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的

参考例句：

• All the characters in the story are drawn from life.故事中的所有人物都取材于生活。
• Her gaze was drawn irresistibly to the scene outside.她的目光禁不住被外面的风景所吸引。

7 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

8 resurgence   

n.再起，复活，再现

参考例句：

• A resurgence of his grief swept over Nim.悲痛又涌上了尼姆的心头。
• Police say drugs traffickers are behind the resurgence of violence.警方说毒贩是暴力活动重新抬头的罪魁祸首。

9 scattered   

adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的

参考例句：

• Gathering up his scattered papers,he pushed them into his case.他把散乱的文件收拾起来，塞进文件夹里。

10 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

11 counteract   

vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。
• Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持，不要互相拆台。

12 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。

13 insurgency   

n.起义；暴动；叛变

参考例句：

• And as in China, unrest and even insurgency are widespread. 而在中国，动乱甚至暴乱都普遍存在。 来自互联网
• Dr Zyphur is part an insurgency against this idea. 塞弗博士是这一观点逆流的一部分。 来自互联网

14 unity   

n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调

参考例句：

• When we speak of unity,we do not mean unprincipled peace.所谓团结，并非一团和气。
• We must strengthen our unity in the face of powerful enemies.大敌当前，我们必须加强团结。

15 broker   

n.中间人，经纪人；v.作为中间人来安排

参考例句：

• He baited the broker by promises of higher commissions.他答应给更高的佣金来引诱那位经纪人。
• I'm a real estate broker.我是不动产经纪人。

16 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

17 shareholders   

n.股东( shareholder的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The meeting was attended by 90% of shareholders. 90%的股东出席了会议。
• the company's fiduciary duty to its shareholders 公司对股东负有的受托责任

18 prosecute   

vt.告发；进行；vi.告发，起诉，作检察官

参考例句：

• I am trying my best to prosecute my duties.我正在尽力履行我的职责。
• Is there enough evidence to prosecute?有没有起诉的足够证据？

19 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

20 accomplished   

adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的

参考例句：

• Thanks to your help,we accomplished the task ahead of schedule.亏得你们帮忙,我们才提前完成了任务。
• Removal of excess heat is accomplished by means of a radiator.通过散热器完成多余热量的排出。

21 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。