U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, making her first visit to Iraq as America's top diplomatic officer, has been meeting with U.S. military commanders, as well as top Iraqi leaders, to assess the situation.
美国国务卿希拉里.克林顿首次以负责美国外交事务的最高官员身份访问伊拉克。她与美国军事指挥官以及伊拉克高级官员一道对有关局势进行了评估。
The visit by Secretary of State Clinton to Iraq comes on the heels of a wave of bloody suicide-bombings which threaten to destabilize the country, just weeks before U.S. troops are set to withdraw from major Iraqi cities.
克林顿国务卿对伊拉克的访问伴随着威胁着这个国家稳定的一波波血腥自杀炸弹袭击，同时也离美军即将撤出伊拉克主要城市只有几个星期的时间。
Clinton told a press conference with her Iraqi counterpart, Hoshyar Zebari, that her assessment of the situation in Iraq mirrored that of top U.S. commander General Ray Odierno. "These are tragic and terrible events, but they don't reflect any diversion from the security progress that has been made. They are certainly regrettable and horrible in terms of loss of life, but the reaction from the Iraqi people and the Iraqi leaders was firm and united in rejecting that violence and refusing to allow it to set Iraqi against Iraqi, which is obviously one of its intended goals," she said.
克林顿国务卿在与伊拉克外长兹巴里共同举行的记者会上对伊拉克的局势的评估与美军驻伊最高指挥官奥迪耶诺的评估一致。她说：“这些事件是悲惨和可怕的，但它们并不说明伊拉克在安全方面取得进展的大方向有任何转折。这些事件造成生命的可怕的损失，这当然是令人遗憾的，但伊拉克人民和伊拉克领导人的反应是坚定的。他们团结一致，反对暴力，不允许这些事件发展成为伊拉克人打伊拉克人。显然这是这些事件的目标之一。”
Two suicide-bombings, Thursday, followed by two more suicide-bombings, Friday, left scores of dead and wounded. The victims were mostly Shi'ite muslims, in what appears to be a bid to set off further sectarian warfare.
星期四发生了两起自杀爆炸事件之后，星期五又发生两起自杀爆炸，导致几十人丧生或者受伤，遇难者大部分是什叶派穆斯林。这些爆炸事件似乎是为了进一步煽动宗教教派之间的战争。
Clinton noted that despite the loss of life from the "lethal and terrible" suicide-bombings, the Iraqi people have made courageous sacrifices, alongside the United States, to withstand the challenges facing them. "The Iraqi people have withstood challenges of the most vicious and violent sort from those who would have torn their society apart, and Iraqis from everywhere have made tremendous sacrifices. The United States has also shared in those sacrifices, but we are proud of the progress that the Iraqi people have made….The Iraqi people are known for intelligence, hard-work and courage, and we will stand with you," she said.
克林顿国务卿指出，尽管“致命和可怕的”自杀式炸弹袭击造成生命的丧失，但是做出英勇牺牲的伊拉克人民和美国一道应对他们所面临的挑战。她说：“伊拉克人民顶住了最恶毒和暴力的挑战，这些挑战来自那些试图让他们的国家四分五裂的人。各个阶层的伊拉克人作出了巨大的牺牲。美国也作出了同样的牺牲。我们为伊拉克人民所取得的进展感到自豪。伊拉克人民以智慧、勤劳和勇气而著称，我们将和你们站在一道。”
Foreign Minister Zebari insisted that he doesn't think that the recent surge of violence will disrupt the timetable for U.S. troops to withdraw from major Iraqi cities in June, or for assuming security responsibilities across the country. "I personally don't believe that these deadly attacks will derail the government determination to pursue its plan to stabilize the country. Yes, we have indeed a certain timetable for (U.S.) withdrawal from the population centers, from the city-centers, but we are doing our utmost and we are coordinating very closely with the multinational forces to ensure there is no vacuum," he said.
伊拉克外交部长兹巴里坚持说，他并不认为近期的暴力将破坏美国军队从6月份开始撤出伊拉克主要城市以及伊拉克承担全国各地安全责任的时间表。兹巴里说：“我个人认为这些致命的袭击无损伊拉克政府决心推行稳定国家局势的计划。是的，我们确实有一个美军撤出伊拉克人口中心以及城市中心的时间表。我们正在尽最大努力，我们正在非常密切与多国部队进行协调，以确保不会出现真空。”
Clinton also expressed her pleasure at having met ordinary Iraqis, including women and war widows. She told them the Obama Administration will stand by them in their travails. "I especially appreciated the chance to meet with Iraqis, including a group of Iraqi women, who were both war widows and helping widows and their children, and I also participated in a historic town meeting with Iraqi citizens representing a broad cross-section of Iraqi society. At each stop, I have emphasized president Obama's message that our strategy working with you may be in a new phase, but we pledge our full and continuing commitment to Iraq and the Iraqi people. We are committed to seeing an Iraq that is sovereign, stable and self-reliant, and fully integrated in the region," she said.
克林顿国务卿还表示，她很高兴与普通伊拉克人会面，其中包括妇女和一些在战争中失去丈夫的妇女。克林顿告诉她们，在她们遭受痛苦和艰辛的时候，奥巴马政府和他们站在一道。她说：“我特别珍视和伊拉克人会面的机会，其中包括一组伊拉克妇女，既有战争中失去丈夫的遗孀，也有帮助这些遗孀以及她们的孩子的妇女。我还参加了一个历史性的市政公民会议，会见了伊拉克社会各阶层的公民代表。在每一站，我都强调奥巴马总统的信息，那就是我们与你们的合作可能进入了一个新的阶段，但我们保证对伊拉克和伊拉克人民充分而持续的承诺。我们致力于看到伊拉克的主权、稳定和自立，并充分融入中东地区。”
Clinton was met at the Baghdad airport Saturday by the new U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill.
克林顿国务卿星期六还在巴格达机场附近会见了美国新任驻伊拉克大使克里斯托弗.希尔。 |