时代周刊 唐纳德·特朗普能否接受美国在阿富汗战场失败的结局？

Can Donald Trump¹ accept a defeat in Afghanistan?

唐纳德·特朗普能否接受美国在阿富汗战场失败的结局？

THE TALIBAN AND ISIS KILLED AT LEAST 140 people in January in a wave of attacks inside Kabul, Afghanistan’s capital.

1月份，阿富汗首都喀布尔发生一波袭击事件，塔利班和伊斯兰国杀死了140多人。

It’s a reminder² that this 16-year war, the longest in U.S. history, rages on.

这件事提醒了大家，这次长达16年的战争——美国历史上持续时间最长的战争……已经打响。

At least 30,000 Afghan civilians³ and more than 2,200 U.S. soldiers have died.

3万多名阿富汗平民和2,200多名美国士兵死亡。

As attacks mount, it’s time to take a longer look at the U.S. goals in Afghanistan.

随着袭击加剧，现在是时候重新审视美国在阿富汗的投入了。

President Trump has tried to show positive results.

特朗普总统试图让大家看到积极的结果。

He has deferred⁴ to his generals on how best to achieve strategic goals and put thousands of additional troops on the ground.

就如何最好地实现战略目标以及在地面上增调数千名美军两个问题，他听从了将军们的意见。

Afghanistan has a reasonably strong government in Kabul under the leadership of President Ashraf Ghani.

在阿什拉夫·加尼总统的领导下，阿富汗在喀布尔有着相当强大的政府。

It hasn’t helped.

但并没有什么用。

The Trump Administration has at the same time shifted support away from Pakistan in favor of closer relations with India.

因为特朗普政府在此时不再支持巴基斯坦，而已经转而和印度交好了。

U.S. aid to Pakistan has been suspended, giving its military and security services fewer reasons to accept sacrifice and risks to help U.S.-led troops in Afghanistan.

美国对巴基斯坦的援助已经中止，巴基斯坦军队及安全部门便没了援助阿富汗境内的美国领导的军队而冒牺牲和风险的理由。

Pakistan may even have provoked recent attacks;

最近的袭击甚至也有可能是巴基斯坦发动的;

an Afghan diplomat⁵ claimed that Pakistan’s intelligence agency, the ISI,

某阿富汗外交官声称，巴基斯坦情报机构ISI，

had trained one of the Taliban militants⁶ who killed 40 people in a hotel attack on Jan.20.

曾经训练过一名塔利班武装分子，1月20日酒店袭击事件中死去的40人就是这些塔利班武装分子杀的。

Everyone in the region knows that the U.S. cannot stay forever.

中东地区所有人都知道美国不可能永远留在中东。

There are now about 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan, compared with 100,000 in 2011.

目前阿富汗的军队人数约为1.4万人，而2011年则为10万人。

At some point, the last Americans will go home, just as the Soviets⁷ marched out in 1989,

将来某一天，滞留在中东的最后一批美国人也会回家，正如1989年那群苏联人一样，

and Afghanistan will again be an arena⁸ in which Pakistan, India and Iran jostle for position.

那时，阿富汗将再次成为巴基斯坦，印度和伊朗争夺阵地的舞台。

George W. Bush’s rationale for starting the war in 2001 was clear: the Taliban,

布什总统在2001年开战的理由很明确：塔利班，

then in charge in Kabul, refused to surrender Osama bin⁹ Laden¹⁰, who had just ordered the murder of thousands of Americans on U.S. soil.

那时喀布尔还在他们手里，所以他们拒绝交出曾命令在美国土地上杀害数千名美国人的本·拉登。

Today’s question for Trump is equally clear: How can this war be won? Presidents Bush and Obama were never able to answer that question.

今天特朗普面临的问题依旧明显：美国如何赢得这场战争？布什总统、奥巴马总统都没能回答这个问题。

A second question for Trump: What does “America first” mean for U.S. policy in Afghanistan?

特朗普面临的第二个问题是：“美国第一”对美国在阿富汗的政策意味着什么？

Do American taxpayers¹¹ care about what happens there?

美国的纳税人是否关心阿富汗发生的事情？

Both parties in Congress have supported efforts to help the Afghan government control enough territory

国会双方都支持帮助阿富汗政府控制足够领土的努力

to ensure that terrorists find no new safe haven¹² from which to attack Western targets.

确保恐怖分子找不到新的安全庇护所来攻击西方国家。

But that government still lacks the resources and the country still lacks the infrastructure¹³ needed to achieve that goal.

问题是，特朗普政府还是没有足够的资源，美国也没有实现该目标所需的基础设施。

The result is a violent, expensive stalemate.

结局恐怕还是一场暴力而昂贵的僵局。

If Trump stops sending troops and money, the Afghan government will collapse¹⁴.

如果特朗普不再提供军队和资金上的援助，阿富汗政府恐将崩溃。

If the troops and dollars continue to flow, Washington will be paying to extend the stalemate.

如果部队和美元继续往阿富汗流动，美国政府就要为延长僵局付出代价。

Can Donald Trump accept a defeat, even one he can blame on his predecessors¹⁵?

唐纳德·特朗普能接受接受失败吗，即便他能将这一切都推到前任总统们身上？

And how long will it take him to decide?

他又需要多长时间才能做决定呢？

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 reminder   

n.提醒物，纪念品；暗示，提示

参考例句：

• I have had another reminder from the library.我又收到图书馆的催还单。
• It always took a final reminder to get her to pay her share of the rent.总是得发给她一份最后催缴通知，她才付应该交的房租。

3 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

4 deferred   

adj.延期的，缓召的v.拖延，延缓，推迟( defer的过去式和过去分词 )；服从某人的意愿，遵从

参考例句：

• The department deferred the decision for six months. 这个部门推迟了六个月才作决定。
• a tax-deferred savings plan 延税储蓄计划

5 diplomat   

n.外交官，外交家；能交际的人，圆滑的人

参考例句：

• The diplomat threw in a joke, and the tension was instantly relieved.那位外交官插进一个笑话，紧张的气氛顿时缓和下来。
• He served as a diplomat in Russia before the war.战前他在俄罗斯当外交官。

6 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。

7 soviets   

苏维埃（Soviet的复数形式）

参考例句：

• A public challenge could provoke the Soviets to dig in. 公开挑战会促使苏联人一意孤行。
• The Soviets proposed the withdrawal of American ballistic-missile submarines from forward bases. 苏联人建议把美国的弹道导弹潜艇从前沿基地撤走。

8 arena   

n.竞技场，运动场所；竞争场所，舞台

参考例句：

• She entered the political arena at the age of 25. 她25岁进入政界。
• He had not an adequate arena for the exercise of his talents.他没有充分发挥其才能的场所。

9 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

10 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

11 taxpayers   

纳税人，纳税的机构( taxpayer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Finance for education comes from taxpayers. 教育经费来自纳税人。
• She was declaiming against the waste of the taxpayers' money. 她慷慨陈词猛烈抨击对纳税人金钱的浪费。

12 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

13 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

14 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

15 predecessors   

n.前任( predecessor的名词复数 )；前辈；（被取代的）原有事物；前身

参考例句：

• The new government set about dismantling their predecessors' legislation. 新政府正着手废除其前任所制定的法律。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Will new plan be any more acceptable than its predecessors? 新计划比原先的计划更能令人满意吗？ 来自《简明英汉词典》