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　　The U.S. military in Afghanistan launched a major offensive in Taliban-controlled parts of southern Afghanistan Thursday, the first such operation under U.S. President Barack Obama's revamped strategy to defeat an increasingly violent Taliban insurgency¹.
在阿富汗的美国军队星期四向阿富汗南部塔利班控制的一些地区发动重大军事行动，这是奥巴马总统制定打击塔利班新战略以来的第一次重大军事行动。
Thousands of U.S. Marines and hundreds of Afghan soldiers and police landed deep inside southern Helmand province under the cover of darkness in the early hours of Thursday, marking the beginning of operation Khanjar, or "Strike of the Sword."
数千名美国海军陆战队军人加上数百名阿富汗军人以及警察星期四凌晨在夜色掩盖下开进南部赫尔曼德省的纵深地带，从而打响了代号“利剑”的军事行动。
"The combined U.S. and Afghan mission is to provide security for population centers along the Helmand river valley and to connect local citizens with their legitimate² government while establishing stable and secure conditions for national elections scheduled in August as well as to enhance security in the future," said Sergeant³ Charles Marsh⁴, a spokesman for the U.S. led coalition⁵.
查尔斯·马什中士是美国领导的联军发言人，他说：“美国和阿富汗的这次联合军事行动是为聚居在赫尔曼德河谷流域的居民创造安全感，给当地居民跟他们的合法政府之间创造联系，同时为定于8月举行的全国选举创造稳定和安全的环境，也是增强今后的安全。”
The operation is the first major military offensive since President Barack Obama unveiled his new war strategy for Afghanistan. It involved nearly 4,000 newly arrived Marines and 650 Afghan soldiers who entered Helmand by air and ground transport. Last week, about 500 British troops led a mission to flush out militants⁶ in the province, a longtime Taliban stronghold and the top opium⁷ producing region in the country.
这是奥巴马担任总统以来的首次重大军事行动，体现了他新的阿富汗战略。刚刚抵达阿富汗的将近4千名海军陆战队军人和650名阿富汗军人乘坐飞机和车辆进入赫尔曼德省。上星期，以大约500名英国军人为主的一次军事行动在赫尔曼德省清剿激进分子，这个省长期来是塔利班的大本营，也是阿富汗最主要的鸦片产区。
The U.S. military says once Helmand is free of insurgents⁸, Afghan security forces will take over.
美国军方说，一旦赫尔曼德没有了反叛分子，阿富汗安全部队将接管那里。
Jorrit Kamminga is senior policy analyst⁹ at the International Council on Security and Development. He says U.S. and NATO forces have tried repeatedly to grab and hold territory in Helmand province. Kamminga is doubtful this new effort, while bigger and bolder, will be successful without a plan to fulfill¹⁰ the needs of the local population.
乔里特·坎明加是国际安全与开发理事会资深政策分析人士。他说，美国和北约军队屡次尝试夺取和巩固赫尔曼德省的地区。在坎明加看来，如果没有一项计划来满足当地居民的需要，那么，尽管这次新的军事行动规模更大，并且更加大胆，他对行动是否取得成功仍然持怀疑态度。
"It's not only a matter of sending these troops in and keeping them in place. It's really what these military troops do when the fighting is over, basically when they have had the first successes against the Taliban insurgency. Then it's really important that the military also is involved in development, humanitarian¹¹ aid, really trying to build this hearts and minds strategy that we've been talking about for so many years now. But it really hasn't been implemented¹² successfully on the ground," he said.
坎明加说：“这不只是把军队送到那里，让他们守在那里。而且的确关系到，一旦战斗结束，这些军人要作些什么，基本上说，就是在他们开始获得胜利之后要作些什么。真正重要的是军队要参加开发、人道救援，切实争取制定我们谈论了若干年的收获人心的战略，就是的确非常重要的。不过，这些并没有在实践中成功地实施。”
One of President Obama's key goals in Afghanistan is to rebuild trust among local residents by avoiding civilian¹³ deaths, an extremely sensitive issue that has plagued international forces in Afghanistan who rely heavily on airstrikes to target militants.
奥巴马总统在阿富汗想实现的重要目标之一是，通过避免当地平民丧生，在当地居民中建立信任，平民死伤是个极为敏感的问题，困扰着靠空袭打击激进分子的国际部队。
The new U.S. commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, has said protecting Afghan civilians¹⁴ is a top priority under the revamped strategy to defeat an increasingly violent Taliban movement.
美国新任驻阿富汗指挥官斯坦利·麦克克里斯托将军曾经表示，根据新修改的战略，保护阿富汗平民是首要任务。
"Each of us must execute our mission with the realization¹⁵ that displaying respect, cultural sensitivity, accountability and transparency are essential in gaining the trust of the Afghan people. If we gain that trust, we cannot lose. If we lose that trust, we cannot win," he said.
他说：“我们每一个人都必须执行我们的使命，要认识到，让当地人了解我们尊重他们，尊重他们的文化敏感性，我们做事是负责任的，有透明度，这些对于我们赢得阿富汗人民的信任非常必要。如果我们能够赢得他们的信任，我们就不会失败。反之，我们就不可能胜利。”
The president's new war strategy also includes the deployment¹⁶ of an additional 21,000 U.S. troops and trainers. By the end of this year, the U.S. force in Afghanistan is expected to more than double to an estimated 68,000.
奥巴马总统新的阿富汗战略还包括，在阿富汗增派2万1千军人和教官。到今年年底之前，美国驻阿富汗军人数量预计将增加一倍多，达到大约6万8千人。
Helmand is strategic, lying along the Pakistan border, where the illicit¹⁷ opium trade flourishes and fighters and weapons move easily across the porous¹⁸ border.
赫尔曼德省跟巴基斯坦接壤，具有战略意义，非法的鸦片贸易非常兴旺，武装人员和武器轻而易举地可以通过漏洞百出的边界。
Thursday's operation immediately caused concern in Pakistan. Hours after it began, the Pakistani military said it had re-deployed some of its troops to block militants who are on the run as a result of the Helmand offensive.
星期四的军事行动立即引起巴基斯坦的关切。行动开始几个小时之后，巴基斯坦军方表示，巴方重新部署了军队，阻止在赫尔曼德军事行动中逃窜的激进分子进入巴基斯坦。