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General Miller discussed the troop reductions on Monday at a news conference in Kabul.
周一，米勒将军在喀布尔举行的新闻发布会上讨论了撤军问题。
Other American and Afghan officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss details of the plan,
其他美国和阿富汗官员，为讨论该计划的细节，他们均要求匿名，
said that the eventual force size could drop to as low as 8,600 —
据他们透露，部队规模最终可能缩减至8600人以下，
roughly the size of an initial reduction envisioned in a draft agreement with the Taliban before Mr. Trump halted peace talks last month.
大致相当于上个月停止和平谈判之前，特朗普与塔利班达成的一份初步协议草案中设想的削减规模。
Rather than issuing a formal withdrawal order, they are reducing the force gradually by not replacing troops that cycle out.
他们没有发布正式的撤军命令，而是以不替换换走的部队的形式在逐步减少兵力。
A senior Afghan official said the Afghan government had signed off on the reduction.
一名阿富汗高级官员表示，阿富汗政府已经签署了削减协议。
Officials would not discuss other details of the drawdown, including any specific timeline for it.
官员们不愿讨论撤军的其他细节，包括任何具体的时间表。
The confirmation of the troop reduction came as the American defense secretary, Mark T. Esper, was making a visit to Afghanistan.
美国国防部长马克·T.埃斯珀访问阿富汗之行证实了撤军消息。
Earlier in his visit, Mr. Esper had seemed to allude to some potential reduction in American forces,
访问之初，埃斯珀疑似已经暗示美国可能撤军阿富汗，
saying that drawing down to 8,600 troops would not affect important counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan.
他表示，将驻阿美军削减到8600人并不会影响美国在阿富汗的重要反恐行动。
For months, there has been debate within the Trump administration on meeting the president’s goal
几个月来，特朗普政府内部一直在讨论如何实现总统的目标，
of stopping what he has described as open-ended American military entanglements in foreign conflicts.
停止他所谓的用武力无休无止地纠缠于外国冲突的做法。
Amid the president’s growing frustration,
总统的挫败感日益强烈，
diplomats negotiating a peace deal in Afghanistan dangled troop reductions before the Taliban,
尽管长期以来塔利班一直要求美国彻底撤出阿富汗，
which has long demanded a complete American troop withdrawal.
率先提出削减驻军规模这一条件的却是负责在阿和谈的美方外交官。
The decision to reduce American troops even without a deal
官员们表示，在尚未达成协议之际决定缩减驻军
does not just give the United States less leverage over the terms of any settlement with the Taliban.
不仅会让美国丧失在与塔利班达成协议，无论是何种协议，拟定协议条款时的主动权，
It is also likely to mean a significant shift away from the United States military’s longstanding mission of training the Afghan military
还可能意味着在美国官员专注于反恐行动的关头，
as American officials concentrate on counterterrorism operations, officials said.
美国军方训练阿富汗军队这一长期任务或许也将发生重大转变。
Reducing the number of troops ahead of a complete departure from the country
在完全撤离阿富汗之前削减驻军规模
was always the most important American bargaining chip in any negotiations with the Taliban to end the long war.
一直是美方在同塔利班协商结束这一旷日持久的战争的谈判中最为重要的筹码。
But from the start, Mr. Trump made it abundantly clear that he wanted out of Afghanistan.
然而，从一开始，特朗普就已经非常明确地表示，他想从阿富汗撤军。
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