U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates says in the wake of the new U.S. decision to sharply increase its troop presence in Afghanistan, 20 countries have decided to boost their contributions to that counterinsurgency effort, too, but not all the increases will be military forces.
美国国防部长罗伯特.盖茨说，大约20个北约国家在这个星期举行的北约国防部长会议上宣布，他们将增加对阿富汗战争的投入。不过，这些增加的投入并不都在军力方面。
The secretary says President Obama will ask the allies to do even more before he meets his fellow-leaders for the first time at the NATO summit in early April. The defense ministers concluded two days of meeting in Krakow Friday.
盖茨说，另外，美国总统奥巴马在4月初举行的北约峰前将要求北约盟国采取更多行动。北约峰会将是奥巴马作为美国总统首次会晤北约盟国领导人。星期五，北约国防部长结束在波兰克拉科夫举行的为期两天的会议。
Secretary Gates said he came to Krakow to ask NATO members and other contributing nations to send more troops to Afghanistan in the short term, to help provide security for its elections in August, and to do more on police training and civilian development in the long term. His case was strengthened earlier in the week when President Obama approved a 45 percent increase in the U.S. troop commitment.
国防部长盖茨说，他参加本次会议的目的是要求北约成员国短期内向阿富汗增派部队，协助为阿富汗8月份的选举提供安全保障，同时对阿富汗的民用项目建设提供长期帮助。由于奥巴马总统这个星期早些时候批准向阿富汗增派45%的军力，因此盖茨的要求也显得更加有力。
As the meeting ended Friday, Gates told reporters he was pleased with the responses he received.
星期五会议结束后，盖茨告诉记者说，他对各国的回应感到满意。
"There have been some new commitments made, on both the civilian and the military side over the last couple of days," he said. "About 20 countries, 19 or 20 countries, announced at one point or another in the meetings that they would be increasing their contribution either on the civilian or the military or the training side, so I consider that a good start."
他说：“过去两天来，北约盟友在军事和民用项目方面都作出了新的承诺。大约有19到20个国家在会议上承诺，他们将增加对阿富汗的投入，有的是在军事方面，有的是在民用项目方面，有的承诺提供培训，因此我认为这是一个良好的开端。”
A spokesman confirmed that 20 countries, 15 of them NATO members, announced increased contributions for Afghanistan during this two-day series of meeting. Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell says 10 countries are sending more troops to help with election security, and three are adding aircraft, including fighter jets. But the contributions are small in numbers, with Germany's additional 600-troop deployment being the largest. The U.S. troop increase will be 17,000, added to 38,000 already there.
Morrell says there will also be more medical teams and more money for the election security effort. In addition, he says, more than 15 nations responded to a long-standing U.S. request for more training teams for the Afghan army, which is in the process of expanding, and several others are eliminating restrictions that have prevented their troops from going into dangerous areas with the Afghan units they train, partly granting another long-standing U.S. request.
Morrell says there were also commitments made to provide staff for about six more provincial reconstruction teams, more much-needed helicopters for the NATO force in Afghanistan and several other increases of police trainers, civilian personnel and money. Secretary Gates has said he believes many NATO member nations will be more comfortable helping with non-combat aspects of the Afghanistan effort, and U.S. officials have come to accept that situation.
Still, Secretary Gates says alliance leaders can expect more requests as President Obama develops his Afghanistan strategy in the coming weeks, leading up to the NATO summit.
盖茨没有明确说明北约成员国将采取哪些行动，但是盖茨说，在未来几个星期，也是北约峰会举行前的几个星期，奥巴马总统在制定阿富汗战略的过程中，会对北约领导人提出更多的要求。
"We will be developing what we believe other nations might be able to contribute, and so I think a point worth making is that our new president has not yet asked anybody for anything," he said. "We are trying to develop through this review what those needs are most likely to be. And at that point, I believe before the NATO summit, we will be making those requests.
他说：“我们正在研究在我们看来各国能够提供的帮助。我想值得指出的一点是， 我们的新总统还没有对任何人提出过任何要求。通过这次复审，我们希望确定哪些可能是最为需要的。我相信到那时，也就是在北约峰会前，我们会提出这些要求的。”
And Secretary Gates said he expects that the NATO countries will respond positively to President Obama's requests.
盖茨说，他期待北约各国对奥巴马总统的要求作出积极的回应。
"I expect that there will be significant new commitments, on either the civilian or the military side, in connection with the NATO summit," he said.
他说：“我期待在北约峰会上，各国会再次作出相当重要的承诺，不论在军事还是民用项目方面。”
Secretary Gates says NATO allies will be consulted, as will other countries including Pakistan and Afghanistan itself, as a high-level White House team works on strategy options for the president.
盖茨说，白宫高层官员正在为奥巴马总统拟定各种战略选择。他说，美国会与北约盟友，以及巴基斯坦和阿富汗等其它国家进行磋商。
On other issues, including U.S. and NATO relations with Russia and plans to build a missile defense system in Europe to counter Iran's growing capabilities, Secretary Gates asked the allies to be patient as the Obama administration works out its policies on those and many other foreign policy issues.
在美国和北约与俄罗斯的关系、以及美国在欧洲建立导弹防御系统以抗衡伊朗日渐增长的军事力量等问题上，盖茨要求各盟国保持耐心。他说，奥巴马政府正就那些问题以及其他外交政策问题制定相关政策。 |