考研英语阅读篇章：奥巴马西点军校2014年毕业演讲

　　And the need for a new strategy reflects the fact that today’s principal threat no longer comes from a centralized al-Qaida leadership. Instead it comes from decentralized al-Qaida affiliates and extremists, many with agendas focused in the countries where they operate. And this lessens the possibility of large-scale 9/11-style attacks against the homeland, but it heightens the danger of U.S. personnel overseas being attacked, as we saw in Benghazi. It heightens the danger to less defensible targets, as we saw in a shopping mall in Nairobi. So we have to develop a strategy that matches this diffuse threat, one that expands our reach without sending forces that stretch our military too thin or stir up local resentments.

　　并且，对新战略的需求反映出一个事实：今天我们主要的威胁不再是来自于基地组织的集中领导，而是来自分散的 “基地”组织分支机构和极端分子，其中很多都在他们从事活动的国家内进行活动。虽然这种情况降低了美国本土遭受大规模911式袭击的可能性，但是就像我们 在班加西(Benghazi)看到的那样，这会增加美国海外人员遇险的可能性。就像我们在内罗毕(Nairobi)购物商场看到的那样，这还会增加防备薄 弱目标遇险的可能性。因此，我们需要制定战略应对这种传播式的威胁，这一战略必须能够在不派遣军队、避免战线过长、避免引发当地不满情绪的前提下扩大我们 的影响力。

　　We need partners to fight terrorists alongside us. And empowering partners is a large part of what we have done and what we are currently doing in Afghanistan. Together with our allies, America struck huge blows against al-Qaida core and pushed back against an insurgency that threatened to overrun the country.

　　我们需要合作伙伴一起打击恐怖分子。我们在阿富汗已经完成和正在进行的工作，很大一部份是为了增进伙伴的自治能力。在 与盟友的共同努力下，美国给基地组织核心造成了沉重的打击，挫败了其试图颠覆国家的叛乱活动。

　　But sustaining this progress depends on the ability of Afghans to do the job. And that’s why we trained hundreds of thousands of Afghan soldiers and police. Earlier this spring, those forces -- those Afghan forces -- secured an election in which Afghans voted for the first democratic transfer of power in their history. And at the end of this year, a new Afghan president will be in office, and America’s combat mission will be over.

　　但是，决定这个进程能否持续下去的是阿富汗人民在处理这一问题上的能力。这就是我们训练成千上万的阿富汗士兵和警察的原因。今年春天早些时候，这些部队，这些阿富汗部队保障了选举的进行，阿富汗人为该国史上第一次政权的民主移交进行了投票。今年年底，阿富汗新总统将上任，届时美国作战部队的使命也将完成。

　　Now -- (applause) -- that was an enormous achievement made because of America’s armed forces. But as we move to a train and advise mission in Afghanistan, our reduced presence there allows us to more effectively address emerging threats in the Middle East and North Africa. So earlier this year I asked my national security team to develop a plan for a network of partnerships from South Asia to the Sahel.

　　现在——(掌声)——这就是美军取得的巨大成就。但是当我们在阿富汗的使命转向训练和顾问时，我们减少驻军以后可以更有效地应对中东和北非新出现的威胁。因此在今年早些时候，我让国家安全事务部门就南亚和萨赫勒地区的合作伙伴关系网制定了一个计划。

　　Today, as part of this effort, I am calling on Congress to support a new counterterrorism partnerships fund of up to $5 billion, which will allow us to train, build capacity and facilitate partner countries on the front lines. And these resources will give us flexibility to fulfill different missions, including training security forces in Yemen who’ve gone on the offensive against al-Qaida, supporting a multinational force to keep the peace in Somalia, working with European allies to train a functioning security force and border patrol in Libya and facilitating French operations in Mali.

　　今天，作为我们行动的一部分，我呼吁国会支持通过数额为50亿美元的新反恐合作基金，以帮助我们的同盟伙伴训练军队、提升能力、支援他们的前线。这些资金也让我们又更大的自由度完成各项任务。这些任务包括：为打击基地组织的也门政府训练安全部队以支持多国部队维护索马里地区和平，同欧洲盟友一起在利比亚训练出合格的安全部队和边防军，以及协助法国在马里的行动。

　　A critical focus of this effort will be the ongoing crisis in Syria. As frustrating as it is, there are no easy answers there, no military solution that can eliminate the terrible suffering anytime soon. As president, I made a decision that we should not put American troops into the middle of this increasingly sectarian civil war, and I believe that is the right decision. But that does not mean we shouldn’t help the Syrian people stand up against a dictator who bombs and starves his own people. And in helping those who fight for the right of all Syrians to choose their own future, we are also pushing back against the growing number of extremists who find safe haven in the chaos.

　　我们努力的重中之重是叙利亚危机。令人沮丧的是，解决这一危机没有捷径。军事行动不能立马消除当地人民的深重灾难。作为总统，我决定不派遣军队卷入这场愈演愈烈的宗派内战。我相信这是一个正确的决定。但是这并不意味着我们不去帮助叙利亚人民奋起反抗，反对杀害自己人民、让人民挨饿的独裁者。我们协助那些为了叙利亚人民能选择自己未来而奋斗的人，同时也积极打击在越来越多混乱之中找到避风港的极端分子。

　　So with the additional resources I’m announcing today, we will step up our efforts to support Syria’s neighbors -- Jordan and Lebanon, Turkey and Iraq -- as they contend with refugees and confront terrorists working across Syria’s borders. I will work with Congress to ramp up support for those in the Syrian opposition who offer the best alternative to terrorists and brutal dictators. And we will continue to coordinate with our friends and allies in Europe and the Arab World to push for a political resolution of this crisis and to make sure that those countries and not just the United States are contributing their fair share of support to the Syrian people.

　　有了今天我所宣布的资金，我们将会加大力度，支持约旦、黎巴嫩、土耳其、伊拉克这些叙利亚的邻国。因为他们得处理叙利亚边境的难民、并打击叙边境的恐怖活动。我将与国会一起，加大对叙利亚反对派的支持。他们是替代恐怖分子和残忍的独裁者管理叙利亚最好的选择。我们会继续与我们的朋友、欧洲盟友和阿拉伯世界一起合作，推进叙利亚危机的政治解决途径，以保证在支持叙利亚人民的努力中，并非仅有美国在做出努力，其他这些国家也都参与其中。

　　Let me make one final point about our efforts against terrorism. The partnerships I’ve described do not eliminate the need to take direct action when necessary to protect ourselves. When we have actionable intelligence, that’s what we do, through capture operations, like the one that brought a terrorist involved in the plot to bomb our embassies in 1998 to face justice, or drone strikes, like those we’ve carried out in Yemen and Somalia.

　　让我就我们在反恐上的努力最后说一点。我所描述的伙伴关系并不排除为了保护美国而采取直接行动的可能。只要我们有可靠的情报，我们就会采取行动，比如1998年在我们大使馆抓捕策划安放炸弹的恐怖分子的行动，又如我们在也门和索马里采取的无人机袭击。

　　There are times when those actions are necessary and we cannot hesitate to protect our people. But as I said last year, in taking direct action, we must uphold standards that reflect our values. That means taking strikes only when we face a continuing, imminent threat, and only where there is no certainty -- there is near certainty of no civilian casualties, for our actions should meet a simple test: We must not create more enemies than we take off the battlefield.

　　有时我们必须马上采取行动，因为我们在保护国民方面决不能有半点犹豫。但就像我去年说的，采取直接行动时，我们也要坚守我们的价值观。这就意味着只有我们面临持续的或是眼前的威胁才会进行打击。在没有把握的时候，即便我们几乎能避免平民伤亡，我们的行动也必须达到一个简单的标准，那就是我们不能为了在战场上击毙敌人而树立更多的敌人。

　　I also believe we must be more transparent about both the basis of our counterterrorism actions and the manner in which they are carried out. We have to be able to explain them publicly, whether it is drone strikes or training partners. I will increasingly turn to our military to take the lead and provide information to the public about our efforts. Our intelligence community has done outstanding work and we have to continue to protect sources and methods, but when we cannot explain our efforts clearly and publicly, we face terrorist propaganda and international suspicion, we erode legitimacy with our partners and our people, and we reduce accountability in our own government.

　　我也相信我们必须在反恐行动的出发点和具体行动方式方面更为公开。不管是无人机打击或是训练盟友的军队，我们必 须向公众解释我们的行动。我将会要求美军带头，向公众提供与我们行动相关的信息。我们的情报机构工作出色，我们必须继续保护我们的信息来源和获取途径。但 如果我们不能清楚、公开地解释我们的行动，我们就会面对恐怖分子的大肆宣传和国际社会的质疑，就会在我们伙伴国和人民面前失去合法性，就会失去我们政府的 信誉。

　　And this issue of transparency is directly relevant to a third aspect of American leadership, and that is our effort to strengthen and enforce international order.

　　公开透明直接与美国领导地位的第三个方面相关，也就是我们强化国际秩序的努力。

　　After World War II, America had the wisdom to shape institutions to keep the peace and support human progress -- from NATO and the United Nations, to the World Bank and IMF. These institutions are not perfect, but they have been a force multiplier. They reduce the need for unilateral American action and increase restraint among other nations.

　　二战之后，美国高瞻远瞩，设立了从北约、联合国到世界银行、国际货币组织一系列机构来维护人类和平、支持人类进步。这 些机构并不完美，但是他们将我们的力量放大了数倍。他们减少美国进行单边行动的需要，同时也增强了其他国家之间的制约能力。

【英语阅读资料】这里有↑↑↑