Good morning. Last December — more than 13 years after our nation was attacked by al Qaeda on 9/11 — America's combat mission in Afghanistan came to a responsible end. That milestone was achieved thanks to the courage and the skill of our military, our intelligence, and civilian personnel. They served there with extraordinary skill and valor, and it's worth remembering especially the more than 2,200 American patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice in Afghanistan. 早上好。去年12月——在我国遭受基地组织9·11袭击13年多之后——美国在阿富汗的作战任务负责任地结束了。这一里程碑的实现，归功于我们军队、情报部门和文职人员的勇气与能力。他们以非凡的技能和英勇在那里服役，尤其值得铭记的是，2200多名美国爱国者在阿富汗做出了最大牺牲。
I visited our troops in Afghanistan last year to thank them on behalf of a grateful nation. I told them they could take great pride in the progress that they helped achieve. They struck devastating blows against the al Qaeda leadership in the tribal regions, delivered justice to Osama bin Laden, prevented terrorist attacks, and saved American lives. 我去年访问了我们在阿富汗的驻军，代表一个感恩的国家向他们致谢。我告诉他们，他们可以为自己帮助取得的进展感到无比自豪。他们对部落地区的基地组织领导层造成了毁灭性打击，将奥萨马·本·拉登绳之以法，阻止了恐怖袭击，挽救了美国人的生命。
They pushed the Taliban back so the Afghan people could reclaim their communities, send their daughters to school, and improve their lives. Our troops trained Afghan forces so they could take the lead for their own security and protect Afghans as they voted in historic elections, leading to the first democratic transfer of power in their country's history. 他们击退了塔利班，让阿富汗人民得以重建家园、送女儿上学、改善生活。我们的军队训练了阿富汗部队，使他们能够牵头负责自身安全，并在历史性选举中保护阿富汗人，这促成了该国历史上第一次民主权力交接。
Today, American forces no longer patrol Afghan villages or valleys. Our troops are not engaged in major ground combat against the Taliban. Those missions now belong to Afghans, who are fully responsible for securing their country. 今天，美国军队不再在阿富汗的村庄或山谷巡逻。我们的军队没有参与针对塔利班的大规模地面战斗。这些任务现在属于阿富汗人，他们对保卫自己的国家负有全部责任。
But as I've said before, while America's combat mission in Afghanistan may be over, our commitment to Afghanistan and its people endures. As Commander-in-Chief, I will not allow Afghanistan to be used as safe haven for terrorists to attack our nation again. Our forces therefore remain engaged in two narrow but critical missions — training Afghan forces, and supporting counterterrorism operations against the remnants of al Qaeda. Of course, compared to the 100,000 troops we once had in Afghanistan, today fewer than 10,000 remain, in support of these very focused missions. 但正如我之前所说，虽然美国在阿富汗的作战任务可能已经结束，但我们对阿富汗及其人民的承诺依然存在。作为总司令，我不会允许阿富汗被用作恐怖分子再次袭击我们国家的避风港。因此，我们的部队继续执行两项有限但至关重要的任务——训练阿富汗部队，以及支持针对基地组织残余势力的反恐行动。当然，与我们曾在阿富汗部署的10万军队相比，如今剩下不到1万人，用于支持这些目标非常明确的任务。
I meet regularly with my national security team, including commanders in Afghanistan, to continually assess, honestly, the situation on the ground — to determine where our strategy is working and where we may need greater flexibility. I have insisted, consistently, that our strategy focus on the development of a sustainable Afghan capacity and self-sufficiency. And when we've needed additional forces to advance that goal, or we've needed to make adjustments in terms of our timetables, then we've made those adjustments. Today, I want to update the American people on our efforts. 我定期与我的国家安全团队，包括阿富汗的指挥官们会面，诚实地持续评估地面局势——确定我们的战略在哪里有效，以及在哪里可能需要更大的灵活性。我一直坚持认为，我们的战略应聚焦于发展阿富汗可持续的能力和自给自足。当我们需要增派部队来推进这一目标，或需要在时间表上做出调整时，我们就做出了这些调整。今天，我想向美国人民通报我们的努力进展。
Since taking the lead for security earlier this year, Afghan forces have continued to step up. This has been the first fighting season where Afghans have largely been on their own. And they are fighting for their country bravely and tenaciously. Afghan forces continue to hold most urban areas. And when the Taliban has made gains, as in Kunduz, Afghan forces backed by coalition support have been able to push them back. This has come at a very heavy price. This year alone, thousands of Afghan troops and police have lost their lives, as have many Afghan civilians. 自今年早些时候牵头负责安全事务以来，阿富汗部队继续加强行动。这是第一个阿富汗人基本上独立作战的战斗季。他们勇敢而顽强地为自己的国家而战。阿富汗部队继续控制着大多数城市地区。当塔利班取得进展时，比如在昆都士，得到联军支持的阿富汗部队能够将他们击退。这付出了沉重的代价。仅今年一年，就有数千名阿富汗士兵和警察丧生，许多阿富汗平民也遇难。
At the same time, Afghan forces are still not as strong as they need to be. They're developing critical capabilities — intelligence, logistics, aviation, command and control. And meanwhile, the Taliban has made gains, particularly in rural areas, and can still launch deadly attacks in cities, including Kabul. Much of this was predictable. We understood that as we transitioned, that the Taliban would try to exploit some of our movements out of particular areas, and that it would take time for Afghan security forces to strengthen. 与此同时，阿富汗部队仍然不够强大，未能达到所需水平。他们正在发展关键能力——情报、后勤、航空、指挥与控制。与此同时，塔利班取得了进展，特别是在农村地区，并且仍然能够在包括喀布尔在内的城市发动致命袭击。这在很大程度上是可以预见的。我们明白，随着我们的过渡，塔利班将试图利用我们从特定地区撤出的机会，而阿富汗安全部队的壮大需要时间。
Pressure from Pakistan has resulted in more al Qaeda coming into Afghanistan, and we've seen the emergence of an ISIL presence. The bottom line is, in key areas of the country, the security situation is still very fragile, and in some places there is risk of deterioration. 来自巴基斯坦的压力导致更多基地组织成员进入阿富汗，我们还看到了伊斯兰国势力的出现。归根结底，在该国关键地区，安全局势仍然非常脆弱，某些地方存在恶化的风险。
Fortunately, in President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah there is a national unity government that supports a strong partnership with the United States. During their visit earlier this year, President Ghani and I agreed to continue our counterterrorism cooperation, and he has asked for continued support as Afghan forces grow stronger. 幸运的是，加尼总统和首席执行官阿卜杜拉领导的民族团结政府支持与美国建立强有力的伙伴关系。在他们今年早些时候访问期间，加尼总统和我同意继续我们的反恐合作，他还要求在阿富汗部队壮大过程中继续提供支持。
Following consultations with my entire national security team, as well as our international partners and members of Congress, President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah, I'm therefore announcing the following steps, which I am convinced offer the best possibility for lasting progress in Afghanistan. 在与我的整个国家安全团队、我们的国际伙伴以及国会议员，以及加尼总统和首席执行官阿卜杜拉磋商后，我因此宣布以下措施，我坚信这些措施为阿富汗实现持久进步提供了最佳可能。
First, I've decided to maintain our current posture of 9,800 troops in Afghanistan through most of next year, 2016. Their mission will not change. Our troops will continue to pursue those two narrow tasks that I outlined earlier — training Afghan forces and going after al Qaeda. But maintaining our current posture through most of next year, rather than a more rapid drawdown, will allow us to sustain our efforts to train and assist Afghan forces as they grow stronger — not only during this fighting season, but into the next one. 首先，我决定在2016年的大部分时间里，维持我们目前在阿富汗9800名驻军的态势。他们的任务不会改变。我们的军队将继续执行我前面提到的两项有限任务——训练阿富汗部队和打击基地组织。但在明年大部分时间里维持我们目前的态势，而不是更快撤军，将使我们能够持续努力训练和协助阿富汗部队壮大——不仅在这个战斗季，而且持续到下一个战斗季。
Second, I have decided that instead of going down to a normal embassy presence in Kabul by the end of 2016, we will maintain 5,500 troops at a small number of bases, including at Bagram, Jalalabad in the east, and Kandahar in the south. 其次，我已决定，我们不会在2016年底前缩减到仅在喀布尔保留正常大使馆人员规模，而是将在少数基地维持5500名驻军，包括巴格拉姆、东部的贾拉拉巴德和南部的坎大哈。
Again, the mission will not change. Our troops will focus on training Afghans and counterterrorism operations. But these bases will give us the presence and the reach our forces require to achieve their mission. In this sense, Afghanistan is a key piece of the network of counterterrorism partnerships that we need, from South Asia to Africa, to deal more broadly with terrorist threats quickly and prevent attacks against our homeland. 同样，任务不会改变。我们的军队将专注于训练阿富汗人和反恐行动。但这些基地将为我们的部队提供完成任务所需的存在和覆盖范围。从这个意义上说，阿富汗是我们所需反恐伙伴关系网络的关键一环，从南亚到非洲，以便更广泛地快速应对恐怖威胁，防止对我们本土的袭击。
Third, we will work with allies and partners to align the steps I am announcing today with their own presence in Afghanistan after 2016. In Afghanistan, we are part of a 42-nation coalition, and our NATO allies and partners can continue to play an indispensable role in helping Afghanistan strengthen its security forces, including respect for human rights. 第三，我们将与盟友和伙伴合作，使我今天宣布的措施与他们2016年后在阿富汗的驻军保持一致。在阿富汗，我们是一个由42个国家组成的联盟的一部分，我们的北约盟友和伙伴可以继续在帮助阿富汗加强其安全部队方面发挥不可或缺的作用，包括在尊重人权方面。
And finally, because governance and development remain the foundation for stability and progress in Afghanistan, we will continue to support President Ghani and the national unity government as they pursue critical reforms. New provincial governors have been appointed, and President Ghani is working to combat corruption, strengthen institutions, and uphold rule of law. As I told President Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah yesterday, efforts that deliver progress and justice for the Afghan people will continue to have the strong support of the United States. 最后，由于治理和发展仍然是阿富汗稳定与进步的基础，我们将继续支持加尼总统和民族团结政府推行关键改革。新的省长已经任命，加尼总统正在努力打击腐败、加强机构、维护法治。正如我昨天对加尼总统和首席执行官阿卜杜拉所说，为阿富汗人民带来进步和正义的努力将继续得到美国的坚定支持。
And we cannot separate the importance of governance with the issues of security. The more effective these reforms happen, the better off the security situation is going to be. 我们不能将治理的重要性与安全问题分开。这些改革越有成效，安全局势就会越好。
We also discussed American support of an Afghan-led reconciliation process. By now it should be clear to the Taliban and all who oppose Afghanistan's progress the only real way to achieve the full drawdown of U.S. and foreign troops from Afghanistan is through a lasting political settlement with the Afghan government. Likewise, sanctuaries for the Taliban and other terrorists must end. 我们还讨论了美国对阿富汗主导的和解进程的支持。现在应该很清楚了，对塔利班和所有反对阿富汗进步的人来说，实现美国和外国军队从阿富汗全面撤军的唯一真正途径，是通过与阿富汗政府达成持久的政治解决方案。同样，塔利班和其他恐怖分子的避风港必须终结。
Next week, I'll host Prime Minister Sharif of Pakistan, and I will continue to urge all parties in the region to press the Taliban to return to peace talks and to do their part in pursuit of the peace that Afghans deserve. 下周，我将接待巴基斯坦总理谢里夫，我将继续敦促该地区所有方向塔利班施压，使其重返和谈，并为阿富汗人民应得的和平尽自己的一份力量。
In closing, I want to speak directly to those whose lives are most directly affected most by the decisions I'm announcing today. To the Afghan people, who have suffered so much — Americans' commitment to you and to a secure, stable and unified Afghanistan, that remains firm. Our two nations have forged a strategic partnership for the long term. And as you defend and build your country, today is a reminder that the United States keeps our commitments. 最后，我想直接对那些今天受到我宣布的决定影响最直接的人说。对遭受了如此多苦难的阿富汗人民——美国对你们的承诺，对一个安全、稳定、统一的阿富汗的承诺，是坚定不移的。我们两国建立了长期的战略伙伴关系。当你们保卫和建设自己的国家时，今天的决定提醒着人们，美国信守承诺。
And to our men and women in uniform — I know this means that some of you will rotate back into Afghanistan. With the end of our combat mission, this is not like 2010, when nearly 500 Americans were killed and many more were injured. But still, Afghanistan remains dangerous; 25 brave Americans have given their lives there this year. 对我们的军人——我知道这意味着你们中的一些人将再次轮换到阿富汗。随着我们作战任务的结束，这与2010年不同，当时有近500名美国人丧生，更多人受伤。但尽管如此，阿富汗仍然危险；今年已有25名勇敢的美国人在那里献出了生命。
I do not send you into harm's way lightly. It's the most solemn decision I make. I know the wages of war in the wounded warriors I visit in the hospital and in the grief of Gold Star families. But as your Commander-in-Chief, I believe this mission is vital to our national security interests in preventing terrorist attacks against our citizens and our nation. 我不会轻易派你们去冒险。这是我做出的最庄严的决定。我从在医院探望的受伤战士和金星家属的悲痛中了解战争的代价。但作为你们的总司令，我相信这项任务对我们的国家安全利益至关重要，可以防止针对我们公民和国家的恐怖袭击。
And to the American people — I know that many of you have grown weary of this conflict. As you are well aware, I do not support the idea of endless war, and I have repeatedly argued against marching into open-ended military conflicts that do not serve our core security interests. 对美国人民——我知道你们中的许多人已经对这场冲突感到厌倦。正如你们所深知的，我不支持无休止战争的想法，我也一再反对卷入不符合我们核心安全利益的开放式军事冲突。
Yet given what's at stake in Afghanistan, and the opportunity for a stable and committed ally that can partner with us in preventing the emergence of future threats, and the fact that we have an international coalition, I am firmly convinced that we should make this extra effort. In the Afghan government, we have a serious partner who wants our help. And the majority of the Afghan people share our goals. 然而，考虑到阿富汗的利害关系，以及拥有一个稳定、坚定的盟友与我们合作防止未来威胁出现的机会，再加上我们有一个国际联盟的事实，我坚信我们应该做出这一额外努力。在阿富汗政府中，我们有一个认真的伙伴，他需要我们的帮助。大多数阿富汗人民与我们有着共同的目标。
We have a bilateral security agreement to guide our cooperation. And every single day, Afghan forces are out there fighting and dying to protect their country. They're not looking for us to do it for them. 我们有双边安全协议指导我们的合作。每一天，阿富汗部队都在那里为保卫自己的国家而战斗和牺牲。他们不指望我们替他们做这件事。
I'm speaking of the Afghan army cadet who grew up seeing bombings and attacks on innocent civilians who said, "because of this, I took the decision to join the army, to try and save innocent people's lives." Or the police officer training to defuse explosives. "I know it's dangerous work," he says, but "I have always had a dream of wearing the uniform of Afghanistan, serving my people and defending my country." 我所说的是那位阿富汗军校学员，他从小目睹对无辜平民的爆炸和袭击，他说："正因为如此，我决定参军，努力拯救无辜人民的生命。"还有那位正在接受拆除爆炸物训练的警官。"我知道这是危险的工作，"他说，但"我一直梦想着穿上阿富汗的军装，为我的人民服务，保卫我的国家。"
Or the Afghan commando, a hardened veteran of many missions, who said, "If I start telling you the stories of my life, I might start crying." He serves, he said, because, "the faster we bring peace, the faster we can bring education, and the stronger our unity will grow. Only if these things happen will Afghanistan be able to stand up for itself." 还有那位阿富汗突击队员，一位经历过许多任务的老练老兵，他说："如果我开始给你讲我人生的故事，我可能会哭出来。"他说，他服役是因为，"我们越快带来和平，就能越快带来教育，我们的团结就会越强大。只有这些事情发生了，阿富汗才能自立。"
My fellow Americans, after so many years of war, Afghanistan will not be a perfect place. It's a poor country that will have to work hard on its development. There will continue to be contested areas. But Afghans like these are standing up for their country. If they were to fail, it would endanger the security of us all. And we've made an enormous investment in a stable Afghanistan. Afghans are making difficult but genuine progress. This modest but meaningful extension of our presence — while sticking to our current, narrow missions — can make a real difference. It's the right thing to do. 我的美国同胞们，经过这么多年的战争，阿富汗不会是一个完美的地方。这是一个贫穷的国家，必须在发展上付出巨大努力。将继续存在争议地区。但像这样的阿富汗人正在为他们的国家挺身而出。如果他们失败，将危及我们所有人的安全。我们已经对一个稳定的阿富汗进行了巨大投资。阿富汗人正在取得困难但真正的进展。我们这次适度但有意义的驻军延长——同时坚持我们当前有限的任务——可以产生真正的影响。这是正确的做法。
May God bless our troops and all who keep us safe. And may God continue to bless the United States of America. 愿上帝保佑我们的军队和所有保护我们安全的人。愿上帝继续保佑美利坚合众国。
Question: Mr. President, can you tell us how disappointing this decision is for you? Is this — can you tell us how disappointing this decision is for you? 提问：总统先生，您能告诉我们这个决定对您来说有多令人失望吗？这——您能告诉我们这个决定有多令人失望吗？
President Obama: This decision is not disappointing. Continually, my goal has been to make sure that we give every opportunity for Afghanistan to succeed while we're still making sure that we're meeting our core missions. 奥巴马总统：这个决定并不令人失望。我的目标一直是确保我们为阿富汗的成功提供一切机会，同时确保我们完成核心任务。
And as I've continually said, my approach is to assess the situation on the ground, figure out what's working, figure out what's not working, make adjustments where necessary. This isn't the first time those adjustments have been made; this won't probably be the last. 正如我一直所说的，我的做法是评估地面局势，找出哪些有效，哪些无效，必要时进行调整。这不是第一次做出这些调整；可能也不会是最后一次。
What I'm encouraged by is the fact that we have a government that is serious about trying to deliver security and the prospects of a better life for the Afghan people. We have a clear majority of the Afghans who want to partner with us and the international community to achieve those goals. 令我感到鼓舞的是，我们有一个认真致力于为阿富汗人民提供安全和更美好生活前景的政府。我们有绝大多数阿富汗人希望与我们和国际社会合作实现这些目标。
We have a bilateral security arrangement that ensures that our troops can operate in ways that protect them while still achieving their mission. And we've always known that we had to maintain a counterterrorism operation in that region in order to tamp down any reemergence of active al Qaeda networks, or other networks that might do us harm. 我们有双边安全安排，确保我们的部队能够在保护自身安全的同时执行任务。而且我们一直知道，我们必须在该地区维持反恐行动，以遏制活跃的基地组织网络或其他可能伤害我们的网络的任何重新抬头。
So this is consistent with the overall vision that we've had. And, frankly, we anticipated, as we were drawing down troops, that there would be times where we might need to slow things down or fill gaps in Afghan capacity. And this is a reflection of that. And it's a dangerous area. 所以这与我们的整体愿景是一致的。而且，坦率地说，我们预计到，在撤军过程中，有时我们可能需要放慢速度或填补阿富汗能力上的空白。这正反映了这一点。而且这是一个危险的地区。
So part of what we're constantly trying to balance is making sure that Afghans are out there, they're doing what they need to do, but that we are giving them a chance to succeed and that we're making sure that our force posture in the area for conducting those narrow missions that we need to conduct, we can do so relatively safely. There are still risks involved, but force protection, the ability of our embassies to operate effectively — those things all factor in. 所以我们不断试图平衡的部分是，确保阿富汗人在那里，做他们需要做的事情，但我们正在给他们成功的机会，并且确保我们在该地区的驻军态势能够相对安全地执行我们需要执行的那些有限任务。仍然存在风险，但部队保护、我们大使馆有效运作的能力——这些都是考虑因素。
And so we've got to constantly review these approaches. The important thing I want to emphasize, though, is, is that the nature of the mission has not changed. And the cessation of our combat role has not changed. 所以我们必须不断审视这些做法。不过，我想强调的重要一点是，任务的性质没有改变。我们作战角色的终止也没有改变。
Now, the 25 military and civilians who were killed last year, that always weighs on my mind. And 25 deaths are 25 too many, particularly for the families of the fallen. But understand, relative to what was involved when we were in an active combat role and actively engaged in war in Afghanistan was a very different scenario. 现在，去年丧生的25名军事人员和平民，一直萦绕在我心头。25人死亡就是25个太多了，尤其是对逝者的家人而言。但要明白，与我们处于积极作战角色、积极参与阿富汗战争时的情况相比，这是完全不同的局面。
So here, you have a situation where we have clarity about what our mission is. We've got a partner who wants to work with us. We're going to continually make adjustments to ensure that we give the best possibilities for success. And I suspect that we will continue to evaluate this going forward, as will the next President. And as conditions improve, we'll be in a position to make further adjustments. 所以现在的情况是，我们对自己的任务有清晰的认识。我们有一个愿意与我们合作的伙伴。我们将不断做出调整，以确保我们提供最大的成功可能性。我怀疑我们将继续评估这一情况，下一位总统也会如此。随着情况的改善，我们将能够做出进一步的调整。
But I'm absolutely confident this is the right thing to do. And I'm not disappointed because my view has always been how do we achieve our goals while minimizing the strain and exposure on our men and women in uniform, and make sure that we are constantly encouraging and sending a message to the Afghan people, this is their country and they've got to defend it, but we're going to be a steady partner for them. 但我绝对相信这是正确的做法。我并不感到失望，因为我的观点一直是，我们如何在最大限度减少我们军人压力和风险的同时实现我们的目标，并确保我们不断向阿富汗人民传递一个信息，这是他们的国家，他们必须保卫它，但我们将是他们坚定的伙伴。
Thank you, everybody. 谢谢大家。
