The top U.S. military officer says 2009 is a critical year for implementing President Barack Obama's new strategy for Afghanistan. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, spoke Tuesday to a gathering in Washington of senior military officers from South and Central Asia.
美国最高军事官员说，2009年对落实奥巴马总统对阿富汗的新政策来说至关重要。美国参谋长联席会议主席马伦海军上将星期二在华盛顿对来自南亚和中亚的高级军官发表了上述讲话。
Admiral Mullen called on the senior officers to join with the U.S. military in helping restore stability in Afghanistan, and he said time is of the essence. "Just so you know, I have a great sense of urgency about where we are right now with this strategy. The trends in Afghanistan over the last three years are generally not positive. The level of violence is up. I worry a great deal about the overarching impact of the global financial crisis on not just Afghanistan or Pakistan, but all of us in our ability to resource this in the future. So my sense of urgency is, 2009 is a really critical year in executing the strategy," he said.
马伦上将敦促高级军官们跟美军共同努力，帮助恢复阿富汗的稳定。他说，时间至关重要：“请诸位了解，有关现阶段我们的战略，我有一种强烈的紧迫感。过去3年来，阿富汗总的趋势是负面的。暴力活动在升级。我非常担心，全球金融危机对阿富汗和巴基斯坦的总体影响，还有对未来我们在这方面提供资源的影响。我们感到紧迫的是，2009年对执行我们的战略真的是至关重要。”
The admiral was referring to the new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan that President Obama announced on Friday. It makes defeating al-Qaida and other terrorist groups the top priority, and calls for more regional cooperation, among other things. "Our United States military is dedicated to getting this right. We know we must work with you to do that. We're anxious and eager to do that. And we're anxious to listen to you on how best to do that," he said.
马伦上将指的是上星期五奥巴马总统宣布的阿富汗和巴基斯坦新战略。这个战略把击败基地组织和其他恐怖组织作为头等大事，并敦促在该地区加强合作。马伦上将说：“美国军队致力于以正确的方式执行新战略。我们知道，我们必须跟你们一起来落实新战略。我们迫切地做这件事情。我们同样迫切地听取你们提出的建议。”
Admiral Mullen said the longer it takes the international community to address the security situation in Afghanistan, the longer foreign troops will have to be there.
马伦上将说，国际社会处理阿富汗安全形势的时间越长，外国军队在阿富汗驻扎的时间就越长。
He also said the attack on a police training academy in Lahore on Monday is further evidence that extremists groups are a threat to Pakistan as well as to Afghanistan. He said Pakistani leaders recognize that and are beginning to do things to confront the problem.
他还表示，星期一拉合尔一个警察训练学校受到攻击，这进一步证明，极端组织是对阿富汗和巴基斯坦两国的威胁。马伦说，巴基斯坦领导人认识到这一点，他们在开始处理这个问题。
Admiral Mullen spoke shortly after the American officer in charge of training Afghanistan's army and police said his staff has sent Washington an analysis of a plan to sharply increase the size of the Afghan forces, beyond the numbers already approved. NATO and the Afghan government have agreed to build an army of 134,000 and a police force of 82,000 by the end of 2011. On Tuesday, Major General Richard Formica told reporters those numbers could nearly double, but the plan has not been fully discussed with other coalition members or approved in either Washington or Kabul.
马伦上将发表上述讲话前不久，负责训练阿富汗军队和警察的美国军官说，他的下属向华盛顿呈交了一份分析计划，要求大幅度增加阿富汗军队规模。计划的规模超过已经批准的规模。北约和阿富汗政府已经同意在2011年底之前建立一支13万4千人的陆军和8万2千人的警察队伍。星期二，美军少将理查德.佛米卡对记者说，上述数字有可能会将近翻一番。但是美军还没有在华盛顿或喀布尔跟其他盟军成员充分讨论这个计划。
"It needs to be fully vetted, and when it is then we'll determine a number that makes sense for the security and stability of Afghanistan, that the Afghan government and its people can sustain with the assistance of coalition partners," he said.
佛米卡少将说：“计划需要充分审议。然后我们将确定一个对阿富汗安全与稳定恰如其分的军队数字。阿富汗政府和人民在联军伙伴的帮助下能够维持这支军队。”
General Formica says he will deploy the 4,000 additional U.S. military trainers President Obama approved on Friday to relatively volatile southern and western Afghanistan. He says about 13 U.S. troops will be attached to each Afghan battalion of about 500 soldiers, and also to police units. He says those trainers will work in addition to other American and coalition training units elsewhere in the country.
佛米卡将军说，他将在阿富汗比较不稳定的南方和西部地区部署额外的4千名美国训练人员。这些人员是奥巴马总统上星期五批准的。佛米卡说，大约13名美军训练人员将被分派到每个阿富汗营，以及阿富汗警察部队。一个阿富汗营的兵员人数大约是500人。他说，这些训练人员是附加在阿富汗其他地区的美国和联军训练单位之外的。 |