VOA常速英语2016 安全行走地球 需要排雷行动（在线收听）

安全行走地球 需要排雷行动

Once the fighting ends, peace treaties are signed, and armies are disbanded, we assume that life in former conflict areas will soon return to normal. But that's hardly the end of the story. Too often, former battlefields and contested towns are strewn with dangerous war materiel that when unaddressed can cause damage for years to come. Unexploded ordnance and landmines render thousands of hectares of land unusable and destabilize communities.

“Since 1993, the United States has invested more than 2.6 billion dollars to clear or destroy landmines, unexploded ordnance, and other dangerous conventional weapons and munitions. We've done this in more than 95 countries. We are helping post-conflict communities to recover and to rebuild,” said Thomas Countryman, Acting Under-Secretary for Arms Control and International Security. He spoke at the November 17th release of the annual “To Walk the Earth in Safety” Report, which details the U.S. State Department's Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement work with foreign governments and nongovernmental organizations to help mitigate damage caused by at-risk, illicitly proliferated, and indiscriminately used conventional weapons of war worldwide.

So for example in Angola, the United States has invested some 124 million dollars since 1995 to dispose of landmines, unexploded ordnance, and aging weapons and munitions. President Barack Obama committed 90 million dollars over the next three years for removal of unexploded ordnance in Laos, per-person the most heavily bombed country in history. And we are partnering with Norway in a demining effort in Colombia, one of the world's most landmine affected countries.

“We support these programs not just because it's the right thing to do from a humanitarian perspective; we support them because they are in the best interests of the United States. They are critical to advancing security and stability, to helping war-torn countries break the cycle of violence, to help them to recover, to thrive,” said Acting Under-Secretary Countryman.

战争一结束，和平协定一签署，军队一遣散，我们就以为此前冲突高发地区的生活能重返正常。但霍乱还远没有结束。有太多此前的战场和战争爆发的城镇遍布着危险的军需品，如果不妥善处理，就可能在今后的很多年内造成危害。尚未引爆的军火和地雷让上万公顷荒废无用，让无数社群人心惶惶。

“自1993年以来，美国已投资26亿多美元，用以扫除或捣毁地雷、未燃爆军火以及其他危险的传统武器和军需品。我们已经在超过95个国家做了这个工作。我们正在帮助战后社群恢复重建，” 负责国际安全和不扩散事务的助理国务卿托马斯 康特里曼(Thomas Countryman)这样说道。康特里曼在11月17日《关于安全行走在地球上的报告》的年度发布会上做了讲话，具体阐述了美国国务院政治军事事务局撤销武器办公室(The Office of Weapons Removal and Abatement)与国外政府和非政府组织进行合作，以协助其减轻全球范围内危险、违法扩散、胡乱使用的传统武器所造成的危害。

比如，自1995年以来，美国向安哥拉投资近1.24亿美元，以处理地雷、未燃爆军火、老化武器和军需品。奥巴马总统承诺，在未来3年中再投资9千万美元，以移除老挝未燃爆军火，老挝是历史上人均受未燃爆军火侵扰程度最重的国家。此外，我们正与挪威合作致力于哥伦比亚的排雷工作，哥伦比亚是世界上受地雷影响最大的国家之一。

“我们支持这些项目不仅是因为这件事从人道主义角度看是正确的，还因为这也事关美国的利益。排雷工作对于提升安全性与稳定性至关重要，还能帮助战后千疮百孔的国家打破暴力的恶性循环，帮助这些国家恢复国力、日渐繁荣，” 康特里曼这样说。

“只有当人们能在地球上安全行走时，他们才能去重建家园，耕耘土地，才能安全地将货物运送到市场。没有了这些排雷项目，发展和重建工作就会受到制肘，而愤怒和怨怼这些滋生暴力的根基就有了生长的土壤。”

“When people can walk the Earth in safety, they can rebuild their communities. They can tend their fields. They can safely transport goods to market. Without these programs, development and reconstruction stalls, and the anger and resentment that contributed to the violence in the first place has a grounds to recover.”