VOA常速英语2014--US Steps Up Pressure on Karzai to Sign Security Agreement 美国敦促卡尔扎伊签署安全协议

 

US Steps Up Pressure on Karzai to Sign Security Agreement 美国敦促卡尔扎伊签署安全协议

The United States is raising the pressure on Afghanistan's leader Hamid Karzai to sign a bilateral¹ security agreement that would allow more than 8,000 U.S. troops to stay beyond the end of the year. The U.S. is again threatening a full withdrawal² if Karzai does not sign the deal.

美国向阿富汗领导人卡尔扎伊施加更大压力，敦促他签署一项双边安全协议，允许8000多名美军在2014年之后继续留在阿富汗。美国再次威胁说，如果卡尔扎伊不签署这项协议，美军现在就全部撤离。

Militants³ capturing cities in Iraq is something U.S. officials don't want to see happen in Afghanistan.

伊拉克武装分子攻城略地，这是美国官员不希望在阿富汗看到的情况。

The international troops that have helped Afghan forces fight extremists are due to withdraw in just 11 months.

帮助阿富汗政府军打击极端分子的国际部队还有11个月就要撤离阿富汗了。

This week, White House spokesman Jay Carney repeated calls for President Karzai to sign a bilateral security agreement to facilitate the presence of U.S. troops past this year.

白宫发言人卡尼这个星期再次呼吁阿富汗总统卡尔扎伊签署一项双边安全协议，使美军明年能继续留在阿富汗。

“Our position continues to be that if we cannot conclude a bilateral security agreement promptly⁴, then we will be forced to initiate⁵ planning for a post-2014 future in which there would be no U.S. nor NATO troop presence in Afghanistan," said Carney.

他说：“我们的立场没变，这就是，如果我们不能迅速达成一项双边安全协议，那么，我们将被迫开始计划2014年之后的安排，届时，阿富汗境内将不再有任何美国或北约部队。”

The U.S. says it wants a decision in the next few weeks, not months. Karzai wants to wait until after Afghanistan's April elections before making a decision.

美国表示希望几个星期内、而不是几个月后做出决定。但卡尔扎伊希望等到阿富汗4月选举之后再做决定。

U.S. officials say the longer the Afghan leader waits to sign the deal, the harder it will be for them and NATO allies to commit support. NATO defense⁶ ministers will meet next month and want to start planning their post 2014 presence.

美国官员说，卡尔扎伊为签署安全协议等的时间越长，他们和北约盟国就越难承诺支持阿富汗。北约各国国防部长下个月将会晤，希望开始计划2014年之后的部署。

"This is not an easy or uncomplicated process," said Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel. "If you just look at our military and what we have to do in order to plan and prepare for a post-2014 mission train, assist, advise, counterterrorism, budgets, the Congress. This is complicated."

美国国防部长哈格尔说：“这不是一个容易的或简单的过程。你只消看看我们的军队，看看我们要为2014年之后的任务做些什么规划和准备，包括训练、咨询、反恐、预算、还有国会，等等，相当复杂。”

The U.S. military has tons of equipment and thousands of personnel to move in a short amount of time, but officials say they are setting no deadlines.

美国军方需要在很短的时间里移动大量人员和设备。不过有关官员表示，他们没有设定最后期限。

Analysts⁷ say Karzai does not believe the U.S. will pull out and is playing a dangerous game that could result in Afghan forces being left to fend⁸ for themselves without U.S. forces to assist them.

分析人士指出，卡尔扎伊不相信美国会撤军，所以他在玩儿一个危险的游戏，而这可能导致阿富汗部队在没有美国部队的帮助下独自承担所有工作。

Complicating⁹ the process is a difficult personal relationship between Karzai and President Obama. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates, in a new book, writes that Obama "can't stand" Karzai.

卡尔扎伊和奥巴马总统间不和谐的个人关系使这个过程更加复杂了。美国前国防部长盖茨在他的一本新书中写道，奥巴马总统“受不了”卡尔扎伊。

"If we have to wait a few months, we can wait a few months," said Michael O'Hanlon, who is with the Brookings Institution. "But that makes life a lot harder, and it's possible that the Obama administration is so fed up with Karzai that it's willing to actually create a deadline and mean it. That's the danger here."

布鲁金斯学会的奥汉隆说：“如果我们不得不再等几个月，我们可以等。但那会使事情更加困难。很可能奥巴马政府对卡尔扎伊烦透了，所以干脆提出一个最后期限，而且说话算话。这其实很危险。”

That possibility appears to be growing, says Jason Campbell of the Rand Corporation.

兰德公司的坎贝尔认为，这种可能性似乎正在增长：

“Right now given the last few weeks where President Karzai has increasingly shown unwillingness¹⁰ to sign the BSA, that is starting to, I think, creep in to the planners, get on their radars¹¹, so to speak, and they're going to have to consider it," he said.

“从最近几个星期的情况来看，卡尔扎伊总统表现得越来越不愿意签署双边安全协议。我认为，这已经开始引起计划制定者们的关注，他们将不得不考虑这种情况。”

For now, U.S. troops are working with the uncertainty¹² of not knowing if they will stay or will go.

目前，美国军队不确定他们到底将留在阿富汗，还是会撤离。

1 bilateral   

adj.双方的，两边的，两侧的

参考例句：

• They have been negotiating a bilateral trade deal.他们一直在商谈一项双边贸易协定。
• There was a wide gap between the views of the two statesmen on the bilateral cooperation.对双方合作的问题，两位政治家各自所持的看法差距甚大。

2 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

3 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

4 promptly   

adv.及时地，敏捷地

参考例句：

• He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
• She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。

5 initiate   

vt.开始，创始，发动；启蒙，使入门；引入

参考例句：

• A language teacher should initiate pupils into the elements of grammar.语言老师应该把基本语法教给学生。
• They wanted to initiate a discussion on economics.他们想启动一次经济学讨论。

6 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

7 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

8 fend   

v.照料（自己），（自己）谋生，挡开，避开

参考例句：

• I've had to fend for myself since I was 14.我从十四岁时起就不得不照料自己。
• He raised his arm up to fend branches from his eyes.他举手将树枝从他眼前挡开。

9 complicating   

使复杂化( complicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• High spiking fever with chills is suggestive of a complicating pylephlebitis. 伴有寒战的高热，暗示合并门静脉炎。
• In America these actions become executive puberty rites, complicating relationships that are already complicated enough. 在美国，这些行动成了行政青春期的惯例，使本来已经够复杂的关系变得更复杂了。

10 unwillingness   

n. 不愿意，不情愿

参考例句：

• Her unwillingness to answer questions undermined the strength of her position. 她不愿回答问题，这不利于她所处的形势。
• His apparent unwillingness would disappear if we paid him enough. 如果我们付足了钱，他露出的那副不乐意的神情就会消失。

11 radars   

n.雷达( radar的名词复数 )；雷达装置

参考例句：

• Servos for large radars and launchers are either electro-hydraulic or all-electric. 大型雷达和发射装置的伺服系统，不是电动-液压式的，就是全电动式的。 来自辞典例句
• Range-velocity simultaneous pull-off is one of effective measures for countering PD radars. 距离-速度同步拖引干扰是对抗PD雷达的有效方法。 来自互联网

12 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。