LEHRER: All right. Let's go another subject. Lead question, two minutes to you, senator McCain. Much has been said about the lessons of Vietnam. What do you see as the lessons of Iraq?
主持人:好了,让我们开始另一个话题。引导问题,给你两分钟时间,麦凯恩议员。我们听说过很多关于越战的教训。你认为伊拉克(战争)的教训是什么?
MCCAIN: I think the lessons of Iraq are very clear that you cannot have a failed strategy that will then cause you to nearly lose a conflict. Our initial military success, we went in to Baghdad and everybody celebrated. And then the war was very badly mishandled. I went to Iraq in 2003 and came back and said, we've got to change this strategy. This strategy requires additional troops, it requires a fundamental change in strategy and I fought for it. And finally, we came up with a great general and a strategy that has succeeded.
麦凯恩:我认为伊拉克(战争)的教训很清楚,你不能做出错误的决策,(否则)它就会让你在斗争中失败。我们最初的军事胜利,我们进入了巴格达,每个人都为之庆祝。而之后的作战就被胡乱操作了。2003 年我去过一趟伊拉克,回来后我说道,我们得改变策略了。我们的新策略需要更多的部队,它意味着对旧策略的彻底改变,我为(这个新策略)而奋斗。最终,我们有了一位杰出的将军和最终获得了成功的策略。
This strategy has succeeded. And we are winning in Iraq. And we will come home with victory and with honor. And that withdrawal is the result of every counterinsurgency that succeeds.
这个策略成功了。我们在伊拉克即将胜利。而我们将带着胜利和荣誉回家。而我们的回家将是每一次成功镇压叛乱的结果。
MCCAIN: And I want to tell you that now that we will succeed and our troops will come home, and not in defeat, that we will see a stable ally in the region and a fledgling democracy.
麦凯恩:我想告诉你们的是,我们我们的队伍将带着胜利回家,而不是失败。我们将在那个地区(伊拉克)看到一个稳固的盟友和新的民主国家。
The consequences of defeat would have been increased Iranian influence. It would have been increase in sectarian violence. It would have been a wider war, which the United States of America might have had to come back.
而(在伊拉克)失败的后果是:伊朗的影响力将增大,宗派间的暴力冲突将更多,更大范围的战争将被触发,而美利坚合众国将不得不再回到战争。
So there was a lot at stake there. And thanks to this great general, David Petraeus, and the troops who serve under him, they have succeeded. And we are winning in Iraq, and we will come home. And we will come home as we have when we have won other wars and not in defeat.
所以那里有着我们相当多的利益。而多亏这位杰出的将军,大卫.佩崔斯,还有他手下的部队,他们获得了成功。我们将在伊拉克胜利并回家。而我们将像经历过其他那些战斗(注:指以前的胜利的战争)一样回家,而不是失败。
LEHRER: Two minutes, how you see the lessons of Iraq, Senator Obama.
主持人:两分钟,你如何看待伊拉克战争的教训,奥巴马议员?
OBAMA: Well, this is an area where Senator McCain and I have a fundamental difference because I think the first question is whether we should have gone into the war in the first place.
奥巴马:嗯,这是一个麦凯恩议员和我有着本质上区别的地方。因为我认为首要的问题是在最开始的时候我们应该开始战争吗?
Now six years ago, I stood up and opposed this war at a time when it was politically risky to do so because I said that not only did we not know how much it was going to cost, what our exit strategy might be, how it would affect our relationships around the world, and whether our intelligence was sound, but also because we hadn't finished the job in Afghanistan.
六年前,我站起来反对这场战争,当时这样做有着(巨大的)政治风险。我(当时)说不仅仅是因为我们不知道它(伊拉克战争)要花多少钱,不知道我们的撤退方针,不知道它会怎样影响我们和世界的关系,不知道我们的情报是否可靠,但更因为我们当时还没有完成在阿富汗的工作。
We hadn't caught bin Laden. We hadn't put al Qaeda to rest, and as a consequence, I thought that it was going to be a distraction. Now Senator McCain and President Bush had a very different judgment.
我们没有抓到本拉登。我们没有让基地组织(阿尔-凯达)停下来休息,而正因为此,我当时认为它(伊拉克战争)将转移我们的注意力。而当时麦凯恩议员和布什总统做出了完全不同的判断。
And I wish I had been wrong for the sake of the country and they had been right, but that's not the case. We've spent over $600 billion so far, soon to be $1 trillion. We have lost over 4,000 lives. We have seen 30,000 wounded, and most importantly, from a strategic national security perspective, al Qaeda is resurgent, stronger now than at any time since 2001.
而为了这个国家的利益,我希望我是错的,他们是对的,但事实情况却不是这样。我们已经花掉了6000多亿美元,很快就要1万亿美元了。我们失去了4000 多位(战士的)生命,我们看到了3万的伤员。而从一个民族的安全角度来说最重要的是,基地组织复活了,比从2001年来的任何时候都还要强大。
We took our eye off the ball. And not to mention that we are still spending $10 billion a month, when they have a $79 billion surplus, at a time when we are in great distress here at home, and we just talked about the fact that our budget is way overstretched and we are borrowing money from overseas to try to finance just some of the basic functions of our government.
我们把我们的注意力从(应该注意的地方)挪开了。更别说在现在我们在家遭到了一次大危难的时候,我们现在每个月还要花100亿美元(在伊拉克),而他们(伊拉克政府)有着790亿美元的盈余。我们刚才谈到我们的预算铺得太开的这个事实,我们现在为了维持我们政府运作的一些基本功能还要从海外(国家)借钱。
So I think the lesson to be drawn is that we should never hesitate to use military force, and I will not, as president, in order to keep the American people safe. But we have to use our military wisely. And we did not use our military wisely in Iraq.
所以我认为(伊拉克战争)引出的教训是我们绝不应该犹豫使用武力,如果我是美国总统,为了保护美国人民的安全,我也不会(犹豫)。但是我们必须明智地使用我们的武力。而我们没有在伊拉克明智地使用我们的武力。
LEHRER: Do you agree with that, the lesson of Iraq?
主持人:(对麦凯恩)你同意那个吗,伊拉克战争的教训?
MCCAIN: The next president of the United States is not going to have to address the issue as to whether we went into Iraq or not. The next president of the United States is going to have to decide how we leave, when we leave, and what we leave behind. That's the decision of the next president of the United States.
麦凯恩:下一届美国总统不是解决我们应不应该去伊拉克的问题。下一届的美国总统应该决定我们如何离开(伊拉克),而当我们离开时,我们留下了什么。那(才)是下一届美国总统应该决定的事。
Senator Obama said the surge could not work, said it would increase sectarian violence, said it was doomed to failure. Recently on a television program, he said it exceed our wildest expectations.
奥巴马议员说过(2007年的)增派部队不会起作用,说过那会增加教派间的暴力冲突,说过那注定要失败。在最近的一次电视节目上,他还说那(增兵伊拉克)超出了最疯狂的预期。
(注: Surge,这里指的是2007年布什总统计划向伊拉克增加部队,以维护巴格达和安巴尔省的稳定。安巴尔是伊拉克西部的一个省,首都是拉马迪。安巴尔是伊拉克境内最大的省份,与叙利亚、约旦和沙特阿拉伯接壤。在伊拉克战争之后,伊拉克的叛乱在安巴尔省内最为激烈,人民对占领军的敌对状态也特别强烈,所以直到今天,美国的武装部队仍然在为取得该地区的控制而费尽心思。安巴尔省内,特别是拉马迪和费卢杰两个城市,以其居民强烈的部落和宗教情节而闻名,甚至前总统萨达姆·侯塞因的政权都对该地区动荡的天性而保持高度的机警。)
But yet, after conceding that, he still says that he would oppose the surge if he had to decide that again today. Incredibly, incredibly Senator Obama didn't go to Iraq for 900 days and never asked for a meeting with General Petraeus.
而在他不情愿地让步后,他还在说如果今天再给他一次机会让他做决定,他将反对增兵。神奇的是,神奇的是奥巴马议员900天来(根本)没有去过伊拉克而且从没有要求过一次和佩崔斯将军的会面。
LEHRER: Well, let's go at some of these things...
主持人:好的,让我们讨论一下这些事情……
MCCAIN: Senator Obama is the chairperson of a committee that oversights NATO that's in Afghanistan. To this day, he has never had a hearing.
麦凯恩:(打断)奥巴马议员是一个监管北约在阿富汗的委员会的主席。直到今天,他还从没有举行过一次会议。
(注:这一次轮到奥巴马的尾巴被麦凯恩抓住了。正如刚才大家看到,奥巴马强烈抨击本拉登在逃,基地组织复活等,不料麦凯恩抖出奥巴马在阿富汗本有职务的这个事实。这样一来,奥巴马所攻击的阿富汗局面反而看起来是在攻击自己没做好工作了。而麦凯恩如果成为总统,他本来就要取消掉那些没有做好工作的政府部门和官员。)
LEHRER: What about that point?
主持人:(对奥巴马)对这一点你怎么说?
MCCAIN: I mean, it's remarkable.
麦凯恩:(打断)我指的是,这真是印象深刻啊。
LEHRER: All right. What about that point?
主持人:(打断)好了好了。(对奥巴马)对这一点你怎么说? |