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U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Robert Gates says he hopes to pull more American troops out of Iraq after a brief pause in withdrawals³ in July or August. Gates made his comments en route to Australia, which he says will continue to play a military role in Iraq even though the new Australian government plans to pull its own combat troops out of the country.

美国国防部长盖茨表示，他希望在7月和8月短暂的停顿之后从伊拉克撤出更多美军。盖茨在前往澳大利亚途中做出上述表示。他说，澳大利亚将继续在伊拉克发挥军事作用，尽管澳大利亚新政府计划从伊拉克撤出澳大利亚的战斗部队。

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says he wants to continue withdrawing U.S. troops from Iraq over the next 10 to 12 months.

美国国防部长盖茨说，他希望在今后10个月到12个月的期间里继续从伊拉克撤出美军。

The current plans call for the Pentagon to withdraw around 20,000 of the more than 155,000 American troops from the country through mid-July. At that point, military commanders are expected to pause while they evaluate the security situation. Gates says he hopes U.S. troop withdrawals will resume after the evaluation⁴.

目前的计划是美国逐步撤军，一直撤到今年7月中旬，总共从驻伊拉克15万5千美军中撤出大约2万。然后美军指挥官将暂停撤军，评估当地的保安形势。盖茨说，他希望在评估之后，美军将继续撤出。

The defense secretary's comments came as he and Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte were en route to Canberra, where they are due to hold two days of security talks with the new Australian government.

盖茨在和美国副国务卿内格罗彭特前往澳大利亚之前做出上述表示。他们将在澳大利亚跟澳大利亚政府领导人进行两天的会谈，商讨伊拉克的安全形势。

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd promised during last year's election campaign to withdraw all of Australia's combat troops from Iraq. Canberra recently confirmed that it will withdraw its 575 combat troops by the middle of this year, around one-third of its total military contingent⁵ in and around Iraq.

澳大利亚总理陆克文在去年竞选期间对选民许诺，当选之后从伊拉克撤出所有澳大利亚部队。澳大利亚政府最近证实，将在今年中从伊拉克撤出575名澳大利亚战斗部队军人，占澳大利亚驻伊拉克及周边地区驻军的三分之一。

Gates told reporters Friday he is expecting continuity in U.S.-Australian relations despite Mr. Rudd's withdrawal² plans. Gates says the Australians are in talks with the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, over their future role in Iraq.

盖茨星期五对记者说，虽然陆克文总理计划从伊拉克撤军，但是他预计美国和澳大利亚的关系会继续。他说，澳大利亚方面正在就澳大利亚未来在伊拉克的作用问题跟美国驻伊拉克部队司令彼德雷乌斯进行商谈。

"They are still going to have a number of people in Iraq and in terms of the role they might continue to play and the training and other kinds of activities like that," said Gates. "So that's a dialogue right now that is going on between the Australians and General Petraeus."

盖茨说：“澳大利亚在伊拉克还会有一些人员，以便发挥他们继续要发挥的作用以及进行训练等活动。因此，澳大利亚方面正在跟彼德雷乌斯将军进行商谈。”

Australia was a major supporter of the U.S.-led war on terror under former Prime Minister John Howard, whose party was defeated late last year in parliamentary elections.

澳大利亚在前总理霍华德的领导下是美国领导的反恐战争的主要支持者。在去年的议会选举中，霍华德领导的政党被击败。

Mr. Rudd has said that despite policy differences with the Bush Administration, he intends to maintain the traditionally strong U.S.-Australian relationship. Australian officials have said their troop withdrawal from Iraq will be conducted in a manner that will minimize problems for the U.S.-led military coalition⁶ there.

陆克文表示，尽管他领导的政府与布什行政当局有政策分歧，但是他愿意维持澳大利亚跟美国传统的牢固关系。澳大利亚官员表示，澳大利亚部队从伊拉克撤出会在尽量不给美国领导的多国部队造成问题的情况下进行。