The debate among Americans about the state of the war in Iraq played out on this week's Sunday television interview programs. Democratic and Republican lawmakers and the head of the CIA offered their views on a radical Iraqi Shi'ite cleric's order for his militia to stop fighting against Iraqi government and coalition forces. Authorities in Iraq say they are lifting Baghdad's around-the-clock curfew.
这个星期天的电视访谈节目播放了美国人围绕伊拉克战争局势的辩论。民主党和共和党国会议员以及中央情报局的负责人都发表了他们对伊拉克激进的什叶派教长命令他的战斗人员停止针对伊拉克政府和联军战斗的看法。
After six days of fighting in Basra, Baghdad and other mainly Shi'ite areas of Iraq, Moqtada al-Sadr says he is pulling his Mahdi Army fighters off the streets nationwide. Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki responded by calling it a step in the right direction.
在巴士拉、巴格达以及伊拉克其它主要的什叶派地区进行了六天的战斗以后，萨德尔说，他命令自己的马赫迪军战斗人员撤离了全国各地的街道。伊拉克总理马利基说，这是朝正确的方向迈出的一步。
Here in the United States, Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said he's skeptical about the move.
在美国，共和党参议员，来自南卡罗来纳的格雷厄姆说，他对这个行动表示怀疑。
"Iran is backing these Shia militias," said Senator Graham. "I don't know how much power al-Sadr has. If he said, 'Stop fighting tomorrow,' I don't know if people would listen. Part of the problem has been that the cease-fire was never fully embraced by the Shia militias, the Mahdi Army in the south. So at the end of the day, Sadr is a minority within the parliament. Politically, he's a minority."
“伊朗支持着这些什叶派民兵。我不知道萨德尔能有多少力量。如果他说，明天就停止战斗，我不知道别人会不会听。这个问题的一部分是停火方案从来没有被什叶派激进份子、南部的马赫迪军全面执行。所以最终萨德尔在国民议会中只是少数。政治上，他是少数。”
Graham and Democratic Senator Jack Reed, both members of the Senate Armed Services Committee, appeared on Fox News Sunday. Both have recently returned from their 11th visit to Iraq. Reed says he also doubts whether al-Sadr's order will have a lasting impact. He says it appears to be a political ploy.
格雷厄姆和来自罗德岛的民主党参议员杰克.里德都是参议院军事委员的成员，他们在福克斯星期天的电视节目中出现，两位参议员最近都刚刚从他们对伊拉克的第11次访问后回国。里德说，他也怀疑萨德尔的命令是否会有持久的影响。他说看来这好像是一个政治手段。
"I think, in the long run, this struggle is going to go on," said Senator Reed. "In fact, the problem is, it could really spin out of control, and that you could have widespread and increased fighting and violence over many months, and it could even pull in the other sectarian communities as they try to exploit this fissure between the Shia communities."
“我认为，从长远来看，斗争会持续下去，事实上，问题是，它可能会在今后几个月里发展到无法控制的地步，可能会出现广泛的激烈战斗和暴力行动，甚至其它派系也可能卷进来，这些派系在利用什叶派这次分裂。”
But Senator Graham said he believes the Iraqi government's offensive against the militias is necessary, because the militias are directly supported by the Iranian government.
但是格雷厄姆参议员说，他相信伊拉克政府打击激进份子的的进攻是必要的。因为这些激进份子直接得到伊朗政府的支持。
"We must win this fight," he said. "The militias that we're fighting are backed by Iran, so this is an effort by Iran to destabilize Iraq. I hope we can find a political compromise, but the American military power we've put in in the last year has enormously turned things around politically, economically and militarily. The fight in the south needs to come. It is now upon us, and I hope it can be resolved in a way to stabilize Iraq."
“我们必须赢得这次战斗。我们打击的民兵受到伊朗的支持，因此这是伊朗准备破坏伊拉克稳定的努力。我希望能找到一个政治折衷方案，但是我们过去一年投入的美国军事力量已经使政治、经济和军事局面产生了巨大的转变。南方的战斗需要进行。现在是我们作出决定的时候了，我希望这可以以某种方式得到解决，稳定伊拉克局势。”
Democratic Senator Reed said his Republican colleague was misreading the nature of Iran's involvement in supporting the militias.
民主党参议员里德说， 共和党议员格雷厄姆错误地理解了伊朗卷入支持萨德尔民兵的本质。
"The Iranians have close associations with all the Shia communities, not only Sadr, but also with [Abdul Aziz al-] Hakim," he said. "In fact, just a few weeks ago, [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmedinejad made a very significant visit and was greeted warmly by Prime Minister Maliki. So the notion that this is a fight by American allies against Iranian-inspired elements is not accurate."
“伊朗人和所有的什叶派社区都有密切的联系，不仅是萨德尔，还有哈基姆。实际上，就在几个星期前，伊朗总统艾哈麦迪内贾德就进行了一次意义重大的访问，并受到总理马利基的热烈欢迎。因此，说这是美国的盟友针对伊朗支持的暴乱份子的战斗，并不是确切的描述。”
Senator Chuck Hagel, who has often clashed with his fellow Republicans in the White House about their Iraq policy, did so again Sunday. On CNN Late Edition, Hagel disputed President Bush's recent assertion that the "surge" in US troop strength over the past year has brought peace and stability to Iraq.
哈格尔参议员经常同白宫的其他共和党人在伊拉克政策上产生争执，这样的情形在星期天再次发生。哈格尔在美国有线新闻网的“最新版本”节目中对布什总统的推断提出质疑，布什总统说，去年增派的美军为伊拉克带来和平与稳定。
"If, in fact, the surge has calmed things to a point where the President and others are saying, well, they've done a great service and they've achieved some terrific things, why, then, is the Administration talking about keeping more American troops in Iraq for the remainder of this year than we had before the surge," asked Senator Hagel.
哈格尔说，“如果增兵真的把事情平息到布什总统和其他人所说的那种程度，像他们所说的，那些军人完成了伟大的服务而且取得了极好的成绩，那么，为什么政府还在讨论要在今年剩下的时间里还要在伊拉克留下比增兵前的数量还要多的美国军队？”
The Director of the US Central Intelligence Agency, Air Force General Michael Hayden, talked about the Iraqi's offensive in Basra and elsewhere on NBC's Meet the Press. He said Prime Minister al-Maliki was making a "difficult political decision."
美国中央情报局局长海登将军在全国广播公司的“同媒体见面”节目中谈到了伊拉克人在巴士拉和其他地区进行的战斗。他说，马利基总统正在作出“艰难的政治决定。”
"I guess one would say that success is not guaranteed, but when I talked to my analysts on Friday afternoon, they said that based on this effort, they expect the situation in Iraq to be better at the end of what's going on now than it was at the beginning," said Michael Hayden.
海登说，“我想有人会说不能保证取得胜利，但是当我在星期五下午同分析家们讨论的时候，他们说，根据现在作出的努力，他们预计伊拉克最终的状况要比开始的状况要好。”
The CIA chief told program host Tim Russert about 70 percent of Basra had been controlled by militias, armed gangs and criminal elements, and government control needed to be restored.
海登告诉“同媒体见面”节目的主持人鲁塞斯特，巴士拉的大约70%的地区已经被民兵、武装团伙和犯罪集团控制，政府需要恢复控制。
"You just can't have the second major city in the country- economically, the most important city in the country -beyond the control of the government," he said. "And so, although there's a certain sense of disappointment in the fact that violence is increasing, we knew we couldn't get to where we had to be for a modern, democratic Iraqi state without going through this."
海登说，“不能让伊拉克经济上的第2大城市，也是伊拉克最重要的城市脱离政府的管治。所以，尽管暴力增加的事实一定会让人感到失望，我们知道，不经过这些的话，我们不能得到我们期望的现代、民主的伊拉克国家。”
General Hayden said the Iraqi government may not have enough combat power to fully gain control of all areas from the militias, and may need Coalition help. He expects the process to take years.
海登将军说，伊拉克政府或许没有足够的战斗力完全掌控被民兵控制的所有地区，他们或许需要联军的帮助，海登估计这个过程需要几年的时间。 |