U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates has named the top U.S. commander in Iraq, General David Petraeus, to lead the U.S. Central Command, which oversees the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as U.S. military operations and security cooperation throughout the Middle East and in Central Asia and East Africa.
美国国防部长盖茨提名美军驻伊拉克的最高指挥官彼得雷乌斯领导美军中央司令部。美军中央司令部监管伊拉克和阿富汗战区以及美军在整个中东地区、中亚和东非的军事行动和安全合作。
The move was not a surprise, but it confirmed Secretary Gates' desire for continuity in Iraq strategy, and the expansion to Afghanistan of the kind of success the administration says General Petraeus has had in Iraq.
美国国防部部长盖茨的这一提名并不出人意料，但是这一举措证实了盖茨部长要继续坚持在伊拉克的政策，并且要把布什政府所说的彼得雷乌斯将军在伊拉克取得的成功扩大到阿富汗。
"The kind of conflicts that we're dealing with not just in Iraq, but in Afghanistan, and some of the challenges that we face elsewhere in the region, in the Central Command area, are very much characterized by asymmetric [guerilla] warfare," said Secretary Gates. "And I don't know anybody in the United States military better qualified to lead that effort."
盖茨说：“我们目前处理的一些冲突不仅只存在于伊拉克，阿富汗也存在这些冲突，我们在这个地区、在中央司令部管辖的其他地方，也要面对这些挑战。这些冲突的主要特征是游击战。我认为美军中没有人能比彼得雷乌斯将军更有资格领导这方面的工作。”
Secretary Gates also announced that General Petraeus' former deputy in Iraq, Lieutenant General Raymond Odierno, will replace him, even though Odierno has only been home from Iraq for two months, much shorter than the minimum one year.
盖茨部长还宣布在原来彼得雷乌斯将军手下担任驻伊拉克美军副指挥官的奥迪尔诺中将将接替彼得雷乌斯的职位，虽然奥迪尔诺从伊拉克返回才两个月，这比规定的至少一年的时间要短得多。
Gates was asked whether that reflects a 'stay the course' strategy, an approach that hurt President Bush's Republican Party in the 2006 election. The secretary indicated things have changed since General Petraeus was put in place early last year, including a surge of U.S. forces and a new counterinsurgency strategy.
有人问盖茨，这么做是否体现了“坚持到底”的战略？这项策略在2006年的选举中损害了布什总统的共和党的地位。盖茨指出，自从去年年初任命彼得雷乌斯将军为美军驻伊拉克总指挥以来，事情已经发生了变化，其中包括美国军队增强了兵力以及镇压叛乱分子的新策略。
"The course, certainly, that General Petraeus has set has been a successful course," he said. "So, frankly I think staying that course is not a bad idea. I would say it's a good idea."
盖茨说：“可以肯定的是，彼得雷乌斯将军制定的战争路线是成功的。因此，坦率地讲，我认为坚持这条战争路线不是坏主意。我认为，这是一个好主意。”
The secretary said he expects General Petraeus to stay in Iraq for several more months while the process of Senate approval of his nomination proceeds. He says that, and the fact that the general will still supervise the Iraq war from his new post, means he will be intimately involved in the assessment that U.S. commanders will make in August and September, after the last of the surge forces leave Iraq. That assessment will determine when additional U.S. forces will be withdrawn, and how many.
盖茨说，他预计在参议院批准这一提名的过程中，彼得雷乌斯将军将在伊拉克再呆几个月。他说，事实上，彼得雷乌斯将军在新的岗位上仍将指导伊拉克战争，这意味着，在美军最后一批新增的部队离开伊拉克之后，他将密切参与美军指挥官在8、9月份对局势作出的评估。这些评估将决定更多美军撤离伊拉克的时间和数量。
During testimony before U.S. congressional committees this month, General Petraeus called for a 45-day period of assessment and he cautioned against withdrawing U.S. forces too quickly.
彼得雷乌斯将军这个月在国会几个委员会作证时，要求有45天的时间对伊拉克战争局势作出评估，并警告说，不要过快撤出驻伊拉克的美军。
"We haven't turned any corners," he said. "We haven't seen any lights at the end of a tunnel. The champagne bottle has been pushed to the back of the refrigerator. And the progress, while real, is fragile and is reversible."
彼得雷乌斯将军说：“我们还没有取得任何具有转折性的进展。我们还没有看到隧道尽头的光亮。我们已经把用来庆祝的香槟酒放回冰箱。我们取得的真正进展是脆弱的，是可以逆转的。”
At Central Command, General Petraeus will replace Admiral William Fallon, who announced his retirement six weeks ago. An article published in Esquire magazine last month portrayed Admiral Fallon as standing against many people in the Bush administration who, the magazine said, wanted to go to war with Iran. Officials deny there were any substantive differences.
彼得雷乌斯将军将取代海军上将法伦任中央司令部司令。法伦在六个星期前宣布退休。时尚先生杂志上个月发表的一篇文章说，法伦上将和布什政府中的许多人看法有分歧。该杂志说，法伦上将主张对伊朗开战。美国官员否认他们之间存在实质性分歧。
On Wednesday, Secretary Gates said all American commanders involved in Iraq, including Petraeus and Fallon, have the same view of Iran.
"It is a hard position because what the Iranians are doing is killing American servicemen and women inside Iraq," he said.
U.S. officials say the Iranian Quds Force, an elite unit of the country's Revolutionary Guard Corps, supports Iraqi Shi'ite insurgents, giving them funding, training and technology for high-powered roadside bombs.
Wednesday's announcements also included the withdrawal of General Odierno's nomination to be vice chief of staff of the army. That nomination goes instead to another former Iraq deputy commander, Lieutenant General Peter Chiarelli, who has been Secretary Gates' chief military aide. |