An Obama administration official says the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan has been summoned to Washington to explain his controversial comments about President Barack Obama and members of his administration in a recent interview. Also, Britain's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, who has criticized elements of the U.S. war strategy, has resigned and the new government of Prime Minister David Cameron is reviewing whether to fill the job.
奥巴马政府的一名官员说，驻阿富汗美军最高指挥官已被召回到华盛顿，解释他在近期的一次媒体采访中对奥巴马和政府成员作出的有争议的评论。此外，对美国战略提出批评的英国阿富汗和巴基斯坦问题的特别代表提出辞职。英国首相卡梅伦的新政府正在审议是否要填补这个职位空缺。
General Stanley McChrystal, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan, has been summoned to Washington by the White House. The move comes after McChrystal apologized on Monday for comments he and his staff made to the popular U.S.-based magazine Rolling Stone.
驻阿富汗的美国和北约部队总指挥麦克里斯托尔将军已被白宫召回到华盛顿。此前，麦克里斯托尔于星期一就他和他的工作人员对广受欢迎的美国《滚石》杂志所说的话表示道歉。
In the magazine's latest issue, McChrystal and his staff were critical of U.S. President Barack Obama and his administration.
麦克里斯托尔和他的工作人员在最新一期的《滚石》杂志中对美国总统奥巴马和他的政府提出批评。
One unnamed McChrystal advisor described a meeting between the general and Mr. Obama at the Oval office as a "ten-minute photo op". One aide also made jokes about Vice President Joe Biden. And McChrystal himself told Rolling Stone that he had felt "betrayed" by U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry in a debate over war strategy.
麦克里斯托尔的一位没有透露姓名的顾问说，麦克里斯托尔将军和奥巴马在椭圆形办公室的一次会面是“10分钟的拍照活动”。另一名顾问还开了副总统拜登的玩笑。麦克里斯托尔本人对《滚石》杂志说，在一次有关阿富汗战略的辩论中，他觉得自己被美国驻阿富汗大使艾肯伯里“背叛”了。
Dan Plesch, director of the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy at London's School of Oriental and African Studies, says the interview was a major gaffe.
伦敦大学东方及非洲研究学院国际研究和外交中心主任普勒什说，这次采访是一次重大的失言。
"It is not a good thing for senior officers to be making derogatory remarks about their commanders, their political superiors, in any kind of setting, certainly not in a formal setting and certainly not when the news media are present," Plesch said.
他说：“高级官员在任何情况下对他们的指挥官和政治上级作出贬损的言论都不是一件好事，特别是在正式场合和有媒体出席的场合。”
NATO has released a statement which says the Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has full confidence in General McChrystal and his strategy in Afghanistan. The statement describes the Rolling Stone article as "unfortunate", but adds - "it is just an article."
北约发表了一份声明说，北约秘书长拉斯穆森对麦克里斯托尔及他的阿富汗战略抱有充分的信心。声明说，《滚石》杂志的这篇文章是“令人遗憾的”，但是补充说，“这不过是一篇文章而已”。
Meanwhile, Britain's special envoy to Afghanistan, Sherard Cowper-Coles, has stepped down. A spokesperson for the British high commission in Islamabad says the envoy has taken "extended leave".
与此同时，英国的阿富汗特使谢拉德.考珀已经离职。这位驻伊斯兰堡的英国高级专员的发言人说，考珀特使已经“请了长假”。
Gareth Price from the London-based research group Chatham House says it is so far unclear if Cowper-Coles made the decision to leave himself.
总部设在伦敦的查塔姆研究小组的普赖斯说，目前还不清楚考珀是否是自己作出了辞职的决定。
"It is clear that he was keener than the official policy on engaging and negotiating with the Taliban, so that could be connected with it or potentially the new government wanting someone who maybe wasn't as closely linked with the previous government here in the U.K," Price said.
他说：“比起官方政策来，他显然更愿意同塔利班接触和协商。离职这件事可能与此有关。或者有可能英国新政府希望请一位与前政府的联系也许不那么密切的人。”
Cowper-Coles had recently clashed with senior U.S. and NATO officials over strategy in Afghanistan. He argued that military-driven tactics were failing and negotiations with the Taliban should instead be prioritized.
考珀最近同美国和北约高级官员在阿富汗战略问题上发生冲突。他认为，以军事主导的策略正在失败，而与塔利班谈判应得到优先考虑。
Price says the incident with General McChrystal and the departure of Cowper-Coles reflect varying attitudes about the best approach in Afghanistan. He says differences of opinion are reaching the boiling point because the situation in Afghanistan is not looking good.
"You've suddenly seen that the implementation isn't going as smoothly," Price said. "The progress in terms of the Afghan government doing its side of the bargain and improving its level of governance isn't happening as smoothly as it should, that the build-up of the Afghan army is again slower than it should. I suppose people's tempers are getting a little bit frayed, and hopefully we won't see more of this but there seems every chance that we might."
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said Sunday that military leaders, including McChrystal, are confident that U.S. forces are making progress against insurgents in Afghanistan.
美国国防部长盖茨星期天表示，包括麦克里斯托尔将军在内的军事领导人对美军在阿富汗打击叛乱分子的行动正在取得进展抱有信心。 |