President Bush has departed on a five-day trip to the Middle East, his second visit to the region this year, with stops in Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt. White House aides say the trip will be both ceremonial and substantive.
美国总统布什准备前往中东进行为期五天的访问，这是他今年第二次访问中东地区。这次布什将访问以色列、沙特阿拉伯和埃及。白宫助理表示，布什总统的这次访问将是礼节性的，但也具有实质性意义。
Hours before the president and Mrs. Bush were to fly to Tel Aviv, White House officials were cautioning against any expectations for major breakthroughs in the quest for peace in the Middle East.
在布什总统和夫人飞往特拉维夫的几个小时前，白宫官员警告说，在为中东寻求和平方面不要抱有取得重大突破的期望。
Spokeswoman Dana Perino said the Israelis and Palestinians have complex issues to resolve, adding that if agreements were easily reached, the situation would have been solved long ago. She said President Bush cannot do the two parties' work for them, but noted that negotiations have yielded what she termed "halting" progress.
白宫女发言人佩里诺说，以色列人和巴勒斯坦人有复杂的问题需要解决。她补充说，如果能够轻松地达成协议的话，这一局势早就在很久以前得到解决了。她说，布什总统不能够代替他们做他们两个政党的工作，但是她指出，谈判在有停、有进的情况下进展。
In an interview with CBS Radio, Mr. Bush said he does not expect to encounter "a perfect political environment", but said he hopes to see Israelis and Palestinians make progress on defining a Palestinian state.
布什总统在接受哥伦比亚广播电台采访时说，他没有期望一个“完美的政治环境”，但是他说，他希望看到以色列和巴勒斯坦在确定巴勒斯坦国的问题上取得进展。
"It is the vision that is going to make it clear for the Palestinians to see a way forward," said President Bush. "I would not assume that, if this vision gets defined, that people in the Gaza will not say, 'We are sick of the life we have now.' And that is why it is going to be so important to convince the Palestinians and the Israelis to define that state."
布什说：“我们的看法是，那就会让巴勒斯坦人看到一个明确的前途。我不能设想，如果巴勒斯坦国得到确定的话，加沙地带的人就不会抱怨说‘我们对目前的生活感到厌烦’。这就是说服巴勒斯坦人和以色列人确定巴勒斯坦国的重要性所在。”
Shortly after arrival, Mr. Bush is to meet with his Israeli counterpart as well as Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in Jerusalem. Thursday, the president addresses the Israeli Knesset, followed by a reception in honor of Israel's 60-year anniversary.
布什总统将在抵达以色列后不久在耶路撒冷会晤以色列总统以及以色列总理奥尔默特。布什总统将于星期四在以色列议会发表讲话，然后参加为庆祝以色列建国60周年举行的招待会。
Friday, Mr. Bush travels to Saudi Arabia, where the president says a tightening of the world's oil supply is sure to arise in talks with King Abdullah.
布什总统将于星期五抵达沙特阿拉伯。布什总统说，他在和阿卜杜拉国王会谈时肯定会提到世界石油供应紧张的问题。
"When you analyze the capacity for countries to put oil on the market, it is just not like it used to be," Mr. Bush said. "The demand for oil is so high relative to supply these days that there just is not a lot of excess [production] capacity."
布什总统说：“当你分析国家在市场上出售石油的能力时，现在的情况不再和以往一样。现在对石油的需求量比供给量要高，以至于石油的生产能力不够。”
The final stop will be Egypt, where Mr. Bush will meet with President Hosni Mubarak, as well as the leaders of Afghanistan and the Palestinian Authority. White House officials say they would like to include Lebanon's prime minister in the discussions in Egypt, but that nothing has been finalized.
布什总统将最后访问埃及。他将在埃及会晤埃及总统穆巴拉克，以及阿富汗和巴勒斯坦权力机构的领导人。白宫官员说，他们愿意让黎巴嫩总理也参加在埃及举行的会谈，但是目前还没有最后决定。
President Bush is not the first U.S. leader to devote significant efforts to Middle East peace initiatives in the latter years of his administration. His predecessor, Bill Clinton, brought Israeli and Palestinian officials together in Maryland in 1998 to negotiate an agreement implementing a previous accord on the future of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
布什总统在他执政后期为中东和平计划做出重大的努力，但他并不是第一位这么做的美国领导人。1998年，美国上一届总统克林顿让以色列和巴勒斯坦官员共同聚集在马里兰州，商谈如何执行先前关于加沙地带和约旦河西岸前途问题的协议。
Mr. Bush's efforts have taken various forms, beginning with the "road map" for peace crafted in 2002, which aimed to end the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians and lay the groundwork for an eventual Palestinian state.
布什总统在这方面的努力是采取各种方式的，2002年制定的和平“路线图”是为了结束以色列人和巴勒斯坦人之间的冲突，并为最终建立巴勒斯坦国打下基础。 |