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U.S. Quietly Cuts Troop Strength In Afghanistan.
美国不动声色撤军阿富汗
By Thomas Gibbons-Neff and Mujib Mashal
文/托马斯·吉本斯-内夫，穆吉布·马沙尔
KABUL, Afghanistan — The United States has been quietly reducing its troop strength in Afghanistan despite the lack of a peace deal with the Taliban,
（阿富汗）喀布尔——美国已经不动声色地削减其在阿富汗的驻军兵力，尽管尚未同塔利班达成和平协议，
weakening its hand in any future negotiations with the insurgents.
此举势必削弱日后其与该股叛乱分子谈判的主动权。
The top American commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Austin S. Miller,
美国驻阿富汗最高指挥官奥斯汀·S·米勒将军周一表示，
said Monday that the size of the force in the country had dropped by 2,000 over the last year,
过去一年里，驻阿富汗部队的规模已经缩减2000人，
down to somewhere between 13,000 and 12,000.
目前已经缩减至1.3~1.2万人之间。
American negotiators had tried to use troop reduction as a bargaining chip in their long peace talks with the Taliban,
美国与塔利班的和谈一直僵持不下，美方谈判代表试图将此次撤军作为谈判筹码，
hoping to get some concessions from the insurgent group.
希望叛乱分子能够做出些许让步。
President Trump abruptly aborted those talks last month.
上个月，特朗普总统突然中止了与塔利班的谈判。
The disclosure that the United States has in fact already begun pulling back troops in Afghanistan, deal or no deal,
美国已经开始从阿富汗撤军，无论是否已经达成协议，
came just weeks after Mr. Trump stunned allies and adversaries alike by pulling American forces from parts of Syria.
消息公布的几周前，特朗普刚从叙利亚部分地区撤军，一举震惊了敌我各方所有人。
In both cases, critics said Washington was giving up invaluable leverage in negotiations to shape the future of the two countries.
批评人士评论称，两次撤军意味着华盛顿已经接连两次放弃在决定两国未来的谈判筹码。
In peace talks with the Taliban aimed at ending the United States’ longest war,
同塔利班和平谈判意在结束美国最长的一次战争，
American negotiators worked hard to try to convince the insurgents
为此，美方代表绞尽脑汁，试图说服叛乱分子相信
that Washington was truly committed to Afghanistan, and that they should not try to wait out the Americans.
华盛顿对阿富汗是势在必得，他们最好别动跟美国耗到底的心思。
But Mr. Trump has made no secret of his desire to pull the United States out of “endless wars” — and the Taliban knows that.
然而，特朗普毫不掩饰他想让美国退出这场“无休无止的战争”的愿望——塔利班又何尝不知。
Like much of the world, the insurgents have been closely watching the events in Syria,
特朗普政府已经同意土耳其政府对美军长期以来的友军——库尔德武装采取行动，
where the Trump administration allowed Turkey to move against Kurdish fighters who had long been closely allied with American forces.
世界各地都在密切关注着叙利亚的事态，塔利班也一样。
“The U.S. follows its interests everywhere, and once it doesn’t reach those interests, it leaves the area,”
“美国到处追逐自己的利益，一旦达不到这些利益，他们便会离开那个地方，”
Khairullah Khairkhwa, a senior Taliban negotiator, said in an interview posted on the group’s website recently.
塔利班高级谈判代表凯鲁拉·凯赫瓦最近在该组织的网站发布的采访中说道。
“The best example of that is the abandoning of the Kurds in Syria.
“最好的例子就是他们已经放弃了叙利亚境内的库尔德人。
It’s clear the Kabul administration will face the same fate.”
显然，喀布尔政府即将面临同样的命运。”
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
