阿富汗：为什么塔利班无法被击败：英语精读讲义

Afghanistan is the longest war in American history. 語法

阿富汗战争是美国历史上最长的战争。

After the terrorist attacks on September 11th, 2001,

在2001年9月11日的恐怖袭击之后，

America and its allies invaded the country.

美国及其盟友入侵了该国。

The Taliban,

塔利班，

the hardline Islamist group that ruled over Afghanistan,

统治阿富汗的强硬伊斯兰组织，

had sheltered al-Qaeda and its leader, 語法

庇护了基地组织及其领导人，

Osama bin Laden.

奥萨马·本·拉登。

Nearly 20 years later, 表達脈絡

近20年后，

the conflict has achieved very little.

这场冲突几乎没有任何成效。

It's a country in ruin.

这是一个满目疮痍的国家。

The Taliban still controls much of it.

塔利班仍控制着大部分地区。

And the war is showing no signs of slowing down. 短語搭配

而且战争没有丝毫放缓的迹象。

So, levels of violence are enormous.

因此，暴力程度极高。

In 2018,

在2018年，

25,000 people died in Afghanistan.

有25,000人在阿富汗丧生。

So,

那么，

what has made America's war in Afghanistan unwinnable? 表達脈絡

是什么让美国在阿富汗的战争无法获胜？

Afghanistan has been mired in conflict for over 40 years. 習語

阿富汗陷入冲突已超过40年。

In 1979,

1979年，

the Soviet Union invaded the country to support the Afghan communist regime.

苏联入侵该国以支持阿富汗共产主义政权。

In response, 表達脈絡

作为回应，

America funded Mujahideen rebels to fight the Soviet forces

美国资助圣战者叛军对抗苏联军队

as part of an American proxy war. 用詞

作为美国代理人战争的一部分。

In 1989,

1989年，

Soviet forces withdrew from Afghanistan,

苏联军队从阿富汗撤军，

which sparked years of infighting among tribal warlords. 短語搭配

这引发了部落军阀之间多年的内斗。

The chaos created fertile ground for the Taliban to grab power, 講解

混乱为塔利班夺取政权创造了肥沃的土壤，

and in 1996,

在1996年，

they took control of Kabul,

他们控制了喀布尔，

Afghanistan's capital,

阿富汗的首都，

and established themselves as the government in much of the country. 短語搭配

并在该国大部分地区确立了自己作为政府的地位。

Three years after the American invasion in 2001,

在2001年美国入侵三年后，

democratic elections were held in the country.

该国举行了民主选举。

But neither military reinforcement nor peace talks have ended the fighting. 語法

但军事增援与和平谈判都未能结束战斗。

So,

因此，

every president in their own way has tried to win the war in Afghanistan.

每一位总统都以自己的方式试图赢得阿富汗战争。

They've put troops in, 表達脈絡

他们投入了军队，

they've taken troops out.

他们撤出了军队。

None of them have really managed to fundamentally change the course of the war itself. 習語

但没有一人真正能够从根本上改变战争本身的进程。

My fellow citizens, 語氣意圖

我的同胞们，

events in Iraq have now reached the final days of decision.

伊拉克的局势现在已到了最后决断的日子。

President George W. Bush pulled resources away from Afghanistan to focus on his war in Iraq. 短語搭配

乔治·W·布什总统将资源从阿富汗撤出，集中精力应对他在伊拉克的战争。

In one of the most difficult decisions that I've made as president, 語法

在作为总统所做出的最艰难的决定之一中，

I ordered an additional 30,000 American troops into Afghanistan.

我下令向阿富汗增派30,000名美军。

President Barack Obama put huge amounts of troops into Afghanistan

巴拉克·奥巴马总统向阿富汗派遣了大量军队

to try and knock the Taliban into a deal to try and win the war there. 講解

试图迫使塔利班达成协议，以试图赢得那里的战争。

And the American presence hasn't been all bad. 語氣意圖

而且美国的存在也并非全无是处。

For all the good they've done, 語法

尽管他们做了许多好事，

allowing girls to go back to school,

允许女孩重返学校，

creating a democratic government,

建立了一个民主政府，

there's no real sense in which much of that can survive 語法

但在美国人离开且资金枯竭之后，

beyond the period in which the Americans leave and the funds dry up. 短語動詞

这些成果大部分能否存续下去还很难说。

That's because the Taliban are now in control of more of Afghanistan since 2001.

那是因为自2001年以来，塔利班现在控制了阿富汗更多的地方。

Today,

今天，

almost 18% of all Afghan districts are under Taliban control, 短語搭配

阿富汗几乎18%的地区在塔利班控制之下，

and 48% are contested.

48%的地区存在争议。

How have they been able to extend their power? 表達脈絡

他们是如何能够扩展势力的？

The Taliban don't have military might.

塔利班没有强大的军事力量。

They don't have warplanes or tanks or advanced equipment.

他们没有战机、坦克或先进装备。

What they do have is local legitimacy. 語法

他们拥有的是当地的合法性。

They have persuaded many people

他们已经说服了许多人，

that their version of swift Islamic justice is more legitimate than the corrupt Afghan government. 語法

让他们相信其所施行的迅速的伊斯兰司法比腐败的阿富汗政府更为正当。

And they've been propped up by neighboring Pakistan. 短語動詞

而且他们一直得到邻国巴基斯坦的支持。

Some people will say Pakistan,

有些人会说，巴基斯坦，

which helped form the Taliban in the early 1990s,

在20世纪90年代初帮助组建了塔利班，

was too committed to helping their Islamist allies survive. 語法

太过于执着地帮助其伊斯兰盟友生存。

They sheltered the Taliban leadership in Pakistan.

他们在巴基斯坦庇护了塔利班领导层。

They gave arms and weapons to the Taliban to help them gain support in Afghanistan. 短語搭配

他们向塔利班提供武器装备，帮助他们在阿富汗获得支持。

There is also drug

还有毒品的

money.

资金。

90% of the world's heroin comes from Afghanistan,

世界上90%的海洛因来自阿富汗，

and this is a strong source of funding for the Taliban. 短語搭配

这是塔利班强大的资金来源。

Opium has been a big part of the war has been a part of the conflict economy.

鸦片一直是战争的重要组成部分，也是冲突经济的一部分。

The profits help fund them,

这些利润帮助资助了他们，

making the Taliban one of the wealthiest armed non-state groups in the world. 講解

使得塔利班成为世界上最富有的非国家武装团体之一。

Efforts to destroy the opium crop effectively destroyed the livelihoods of farmers

摧毁鸦片作物的行动实际上摧毁了农民的生计

and in some cases made them more sympathetic to the Taliban. 語法

在某些情况下甚至让他们对塔利班更加同情。

And more hostile to the government the Americans installed after 2001.

并且对美国在2001年后扶持的政府更加敌视。

People will say that the West created an overly centralized, 用詞

人们会说西方在阿富汗建立了一个过度集权、

domineering state in Afghanistan

专横的国家，

run by an overly powerful president who didn't pay attention to the ethnic, 短語搭配

由一位过于强势的总统领导，他没有注意到这个国家的民族、

tribal,

部落、

social heterogeneity of the country. 用詞

社会的多样性。

I think all of these were reasons,

我认为所有这些都是原因，

but I think it's also the case that 表達脈絡

但我也认为是这样，

no big counterinsurgency campaign with lots of troops 用詞

投入大量军队的大型反叛乱行动，

has ever really worked in a society like Afghanistan in recent years.

近年来在像阿富汗这样的社会中从未真正奏效过。

Is it time for America to leave? 表達脈絡

美国是时候离开了吗？

President Donald Trump has been trying to strike a deal with the Taliban 短語搭配

唐纳德·特朗普总统一直试图与塔利班达成协议

to reduce the amount of American troops in Afghanistan.

以减少在阿富汗的美军数量。

Donald Trump kicked off the most serious negotiations 短語動詞

唐纳德·特朗普启动了

between America and the Taliban that have ever occurred,

美国和塔利班之间发生过的最严肃的谈判，

only to have decided to walk away at the last minute. 講解

却在最后一刻决定退出。

As both parties were about to meet in September 2019, 語法

就在双方准备于2019年9月会面时，

a Taliban attack killed an American soldier.

一次塔利班袭击导致一名美军士兵丧生。

Donald Trump doesn't want to go into his election

唐纳德·特朗普不想带着

with 14,000 troops in Afghanistan.

14,000名驻阿富汗美军进入大选。

If America is seen to be in a rush, 短語搭配

如果美国表现出急于离开的样子，

the Taliban will simply count down the clock until everyone leaves

塔利班就会干耗时间，直到所有人都离开

and they can take over Afghanistan. 短語動詞

然后他们就可以接管阿富汗。

If and when the Trump administration and the Taliban strike a deal, 語法

如果特朗普政府和塔利班达成协议，

the worry is that Mr. Trump will quickly reduce troops in Afghanistan

人们担心特朗普先生会迅速减少在阿富汗的驻军，

without securing lasting peace. 語法

而无法确保持久的和平。

What's absolutely important is that 語法

绝对重要的是

the Americans and the international community are patient

美国人和国际社会要保持耐心，

and they encourage a power-sharing agreement in Afghanistan between the Afghans, 用詞

他们应当鼓励在阿富汗的各方之间达成权力分享协议，

between the Taliban,

包括塔利班在内，

that isn't cobbled together in a few months. 短語動詞

这不是在几个月内就能匆忙拼凑出来的。

But does the Trump administration have the will to do it? 短語搭配

但是特朗普政府有这个意愿去这么做吗？

If you enjoyed this film,

如果你喜欢这部影片，

you can find more Economist coverage on Afghanistan in the links below.

你可以在下面的链接中找到《经济学人》关于阿富汗的更多报道。

To stay tuned for more Economist films,

想继续关注更多《经济学人》的影片，

click subscribe.

请点击订阅。

Thanks for watching.

感谢观看。