This week marked the fifth anniversary of the speech President Bush gave on a U.S. aircraft carrier, in which he declared the end of major combat in Iraq. The anniversary came at the end of a difficult month for U.S. forces in Iraq, and caused some renewed debate about the course of the war.
这个星期是美国总统布什在一艘美国航空母舰上发表演讲五周年。他在那次演讲中宣布伊拉克的主要战斗结束。这次周年纪念正值驻伊美军刚刚结束一个艰难的月份，使人们再次就伊拉克战争的走向展开辩论。
It was a happy moment for the president. A year and a half after the September 11 attacks he was able to visit a U.S. aircraft carrier on its way home from the Persian Gulf, and speak to the crew under a banner that read "Mission Accomplished."
这曾经是总统欢欣鼓舞的时刻。在9/11恐怖袭击一年半之后，他登上一艘从波斯湾返回美国的美军航空母舰，并且在“使命完成”的横幅标语下向舰上人员发表讲话。
BUSH: "Officers and sailors of the USS Abraham Lincoln, my fellow Americans, major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the Battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed."
布什说：“林肯号的官兵们，美国同胞们，在伊拉克的主要战斗已经结束。美国及其盟友胜利了。”
In the speech, the president warned of more work to do to restore order to Iraq and to defeat global terrorism, but he told the crew that day that America had "seen the turning of the tide."
布什在讲话中提醒说，还要做更多的工作，以便恢复伊拉克的秩序，击败全球恐怖主义，但是他在那天对舰上人员说，美国已经“看到局势在扭转”。
As violence spiraled upward during the following years, the president took a lot of criticism for that speech, and for the "Mission Accomplished" banner, as his press secretary Dana Perino acknowledged this week.
由于在随后几年中暴力活动不断增加，布什因这篇讲话及“使命完成”的横幅标语而受到大量批评。布什的新闻秘书佩里诺这个星期承认了这一点。
"President Bush is well aware that the banner should have been much more specific and said, 'Mission Accomplished for These Sailors on Who Are on This Ship on Their Mission.' And we have certainly paid a price for not being more specific on that banner," she noted.
她说：“布什总统很清楚，那个横幅应当更为具体，应该说明‘在这艘军舰上执行任务的人员已经完成使命’。我们的确因为那条横幅标语不够具体而付出了代价。”
As the speech anniversary passed on May 1, casualty figures indicated 52 American troops died in Iraq in April, making it the deadliest month since the height of the U.S. surge of operations last September. The operations director for the senior U.S. military staff, Lieutenant General Carter Ham, notes that American commanders have warned that even with the success they claim for reduced violence in recent months, there will be setbacks.
当5月1号这次讲话发表五周年之际，驻伊美军今年4月的伤亡人数达到52人，使这个月成为去年9月驻伊美军增兵以来美军伤亡最多的一个月。美军高级军官行动指挥卡特.汉姆中将指出，美国指挥人员警告过，即使近几个月来他们成功地减少了暴力行动，但是仍会有反复。
"While it is sad to see an increase in casualties, I don't think it is necessarily indicative of a major change in the operating environment," he said.
汉姆中将说：“虽然伤亡人数增加令人悲哀，但是我认为这不一定显示战局发生了重大变化。”
General Ham said Iraq's government has proved in recent weeks its willingness and ability to take on insurgents, including Shi'ite militias. And he does not believe most Americans will see the April casualty figure as an indication the situation in Iraq is deteriorating again.
汉姆中将说，伊拉克政府近几星期已经证明他们愿意而且能够对付包括什叶派民兵在内的暴乱力量。他认为，大多数美国人不会把4月份的伤亡人数视为伊拉克局势的再度恶化。
Retired Lieutenant General Robert Gard, who has criticized the Iraq war effort, says that is not good enough.
一向批评伊拉克战争的退役中将罗伯特.加德说，这不足以令人信服。
"To say that violence is merely where it was in mid-2005, when it was unacceptable, that doesn't give you a political outcome," he noted.
他说：“声称暴力活动只相当于2005年中期的水平，而当时暴力活动的严重程度就是不能让人接受的，这样并不能在政治上解决这个问题。”
But in a conference call with reporters marking the speech anniversary, General Gard acknowledged that ending the war quickly will be difficult, even if one of the Democratic Party presidential candidates is elected in November.
但是在与记者举行纪念布什讲话周年纪念的电话会议上，加德将军承认，即使今年11月是一位民主党人当选为总统，也难以迅速结束这场战争。
"I would guess, of course, which is all I can do, that they would begin to reduce the number of troops in Iraq very shortly after taking office," he added. "Now, where they would go from there would depend to a considerable extent on whether we have done the necessary work ahead of time in a diplomatic offensive."
加德说：“当然我只能猜测，我猜他们就任后很快会开始削减驻伊美军人数。而接下来怎么做在相当程度上取决于我们是否在之前的外交攻势中完成了必要的工作。”
On Thursday, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates was asked about continuing opposition to the Iraq war among many Americans.
星期四，有人向美国国防部长盖茨询问许多美国人继续反对伊拉克战争的问题。
"The question is at this point not whether or not we should be in Iraq," he said. "We are there. The question is, what's the end game?"
盖茨说：“当前的问题并非我们是否该在伊拉克，因为我们已经在那里了。问题是这场战争如何了结。”
The secretary says U.S. policy must remain focused on ending the U.S. combat role in Iraq, while also leaving a representative government in Baghdad that is an ally in the war on terrorism.
盖茨说，美国的方针必须继续集中在结束美国在伊拉克的作战使命，同时在巴格达留下一个在反恐战争中成为美国盟友的代议制政府。
"We are where we are, and we have to manage properly how we get from here to where Americans would like us to be, and that is basically out of Iraq in any sense of a major combat role," he added. "But I think despite our impatience as we enter the sixth year of the war, we still have to handle the end of the war and the end of our participation in major combat, in a sensible and thoughtful way."
盖茨说：“我们已经在这个地方，我们必须妥善处理，朝美国人希望的方向发展，基本上就是撤离伊拉克、不再参加任何主要战斗。但是我认为，尽管由于我们进入这场战争的第六个年头而感到不耐烦，我们还要以明智和考虑周全的方式处理结束战争工作，停止参与重大战斗的工作。”
Referring to continuing 'major combat' hearkens back to President Bush's speech five years ago, reporting the end of "major combat." Officials acknowledge now that will likely not happen until sometime after the president leaves office next January, perhaps a considerable time after.
说到重大战斗的延续令人想起布什五年前宣布重大战斗结束的那篇讲话。美国官员如今承认，在布什明年1月离任时，这不大可能实现，也许要在布什离任后相当一段时间才有可能实现。 |