Remarks by President Biden on Afghanistan

Good afternoon. I want to speak today to the unfolding situation in Afghanistan: the developments that have taken place in the last week and the steps we’re taking to address the rapidly evolving events.

下午好。今天我想谈谈阿富汗目前正在上演的局势,谈谈过去一周的形势演变和我们为快速发酵的事件所采取的措施。

My national security team and I have been closely monitoring the situation on the ground in Afghanistan and moving quickly to execute the plans we had put in place to respond to every constituency, including — and contingency — including the rapid collapse we’re seeing now.

我的安全团队和我早已在紧密地观测阿富汗土地上发生的事情,并根据早已制定好的措施快速行动来应对每一个可能发生的事件,包括我们正在目睹的阿富汗的迅速崩溃。

I’ll speak more in a moment about the specific steps we’re taking, but I want to remind everyone how we got here and what America’s interests are in Afghanistan.

过一会儿我将详细谈论我们正在采取的措施,但在此之前,我想提醒诸位两点:1.我们是如何走到今天这一地步的;2.美国在阿富汗的真正利益所在。

We went to Afghanistan almost 20 years ago with clear goals: get those who attacked us on September 11th, 2001, and make sure al Qaeda could not use Afghanistan as a base from which to attack us again.

二十年前我们带着清晰的目标前往阿富汗:打倒那些在2001年9月11日袭击我们的人,并且确保基地组织不能使用阿富汗作为基地来再次袭击我们。

We did that. We severely degraded al Qaeda in Afghanistan. We never gave up the hunt for Osama bin Laden, and we got him. That was a decade ago.

我们做到了。我们沉痛打击了阿富汗境内的基地组织。我们持之以恒地搜索奥萨马·本·拉登,并且击毙了他。那已经是十年前发生的事了。

Our mission in Afghanistan was never supposed to have been nation building. It was never supposed to be creating a unified, centralized democracy.

我们在阿富汗的使命从不是,也不该是国家建设。从不是,也不该是建立一个统一的,集中的民主。

Our only vital national interest in Afghanistan remains today what it has always been: preventing a terrorist attack on American homeland.

我们在阿富汗的唯一关键国家利益一如既往,那就是防止对美国本土的恐怖袭击。

I’ve argued for many years that our mission should be narrowly focused on counterterrorism — not counterinsurgency or nation building. That’s why I opposed the surge when it was proposed in 2009 when I was Vice President.

我多年来一直强调我们的使命应该聚焦在反恐上,而不是镇压反抗势力或国家建设。那就是为什么我在2009年身为副总统时反对向阿富汗增兵的原因。

And that’s why, as President, I am adamant that we focus on the threats we face today in 2021 — not yesterday’s threats.

这也是为什么现在身为总统的我坚持把资源集中在我们今天在2021年所面临的威胁上,而不是昨天的威胁上。

Today, the terrorist threat has metastasized well beyond Afghanistan: al Shabaab in Somalia, al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, al-Nusra in Syria, ISIS attempting to create a caliphate in Syria and Iraq and establishing affiliates in multiple countries in Africa and Asia. These threats warrant our attention and our resources.

今天,恐怖威胁已经从阿富汗远远地扩散开去:索马里的青年党,阿拉伯半岛的基地组织,叙利亚的征服沙姆战线,企图在叙利亚和伊拉克建立哈里发国并在非洲和亚洲的多个国家建立分部的伊斯兰国。这些威胁需要我们加以注意并投入资源。

We conduct effective counterterrorism missions against terrorist groups in multiple countries where we don’t have a permanent military presence.

我们目前已经在多个国家有效地开展反恐,即便我们在那里没有常驻的军事力量。

If necessary, we will do the same in Afghanistan. We’ve developed counterterrorism over-the-horizon capability that will allow us to keep our eyes firmly fixed on any direct threats to the United States in the region and to act quickly and decisively if needed.

如果有必要,我们在阿富汗也会这样做。我们发展出的超视距反恐能力能使我们紧盯任何来自该区域的对美国的直接威胁,并在必要时迅速及果断地行动。

When I came into office, I inherited a deal that President Trump negotiated with the Taliban. Under his agreement, U.S. forces would be out of Afghanistan by May 1, 2021 — just a little over three months after I took office.

当我入驻白宫时,我继承了一项由川普政府和塔利班商订的协议。在他的协议中,美国将在2021年5月1日前从阿富汗撤军,也就是在我上任后的三个多月。

U.S. forces had already drawn down during the Trump administration from roughly 15,500 American forces to 2,500 troops in country, and the Taliban was at its strongest militarily since 2001.

川普执政期间,美军在阿富汗就已经从15500人缩减到2500人,而塔利班却处于自2001来最强的军事实力。

The choice I had to make, as your President, was either to follow through on that agreement or be prepared to go back to fighting the Taliban in the middle of the spring fighting season.

作为你们的总统,我必须作出抉择:要么贯彻执行该协议,要么做好在春季军事行动周期已过去一半时重新开始对抗塔利班的准备。

There would have been no ceasefire after May 1. There was no agreement protecting our forces after May 1. There was no status quo of stability without American casualties after May 1.

(如果我选择后者,)就不会有5月1日后的停火。没有协议来在5月1日后保护我们的军队。5月1日后不会有不通过美军伤亡来换取的稳定现状。

There was only the cold reality of either following through on the agreement to withdraw our forces or escalating the conflict and sending thousands more American troops back into combat in Afghanistan, lurching into the third decade of conflict.

面对我们的只有冰冷的现实:要么继续遵守协议,要么将冲突升级并将数以千计的美国军队重新投入阿富汗战场,蹒跚进入阿富汗冲突的第三个十年。

I stand squarely behind my decision. After 20 years, I’ve learned the hard way that there was never a good time to withdraw U.S. forces.

我毫不避讳地坚持我的决定。二十年过去了,在付出沉重的代价后,我已经明白了理想的撤军时间从未到来。

That’s why we were still there. We were clear-eyed about the risks. We planned for every contingency.

那就是为什么我们还在那儿。我们清醒地意识到风险。我们为每一个可能状况做好打算。

But I always promised the American people that I will be straight with you. The truth is: This did unfold more quickly than we had anticipated.

但是我一直向美国民众承诺我要对你们诚实。真相是:事情确实发展得比我们预期的要快。

So what’s happened? Afghanistan political leaders gave up and fled the country. The Afghan military collapsed, sometimes without trying to fight.

那么发生了什么呢?阿富汗政治领导人临阵脱逃,抛弃了国家。阿富汗军队崩溃了,有时甚至连抵抗都没抵抗。

If anything, the developments of the past week reinforced that ending U.S. military involvement in Afghanistan now was the right decision.

如果我们能得出什么结论的话,那就是过去这周发生的事愈加表明从阿富汗撤出美军是正确的决定。

American troops cannot and should not be fighting in a war and dying in a war that Afghan forces are not willing to fight for themselves. We spent over a trillion dollars. We trained and equipped an Afghan military force of some 300,000 strong — incredibly well equipped — a force larger in size than the militaries of many of our NATO allies.

美军不能够也不应该为一场连阿富汗军队自己也不愿意为自己而打的战争冲锋陷阵并牺牲。我们花费了一万多亿美元。我们训练了一支装备精良,多达三十万人的阿富汗军队——这支军队在规模上超过了我们的许多北约盟友。

We gave them every tool they could need. We paid their salaries, provided for the maintenance of their air force — something the Taliban doesn’t have. Taliban does not have an air force. We provided close air support.

我们给了他们每个他们可能需要的工具。我们给他们付工资,替他们维护空军——塔利班都没有空军。我们提供了紧密的空中支援。

We gave them every chance to determine their own future. What we could not provide them was the will to fight for that future.

我们给了他们每一个决定他们未来的机会。而我们给不了他们的是为那个未来而战的决心。

There’s some very brave and capable Afghan special forces units and soldiers, but if Afghanistan is unable to mount any real resistance to the Taliban now, there is no chance that 1 year — 1 more year, 5 more years, or 20 more years of U.S. military boots on the ground would’ve made any difference.

有些阿富汗特种部队和士兵的确很骁勇善战,但如果阿富汗不能在现在表现出对塔利班像样的抵抗,那么即便美军再在这片土地上驻扎1年,5年,乃至20年,同样无济于事。

And here’s what I believe to my core: It is wrong to order American troops to step up when Afghanistan’s own armed forces would not. If the political leaders of Afghanistan were unable to come together for the good of their people, unable to negotiate for the future of their country when the chips were down, they would never have done so while U.S. troops remained in Afghanistan bearing the brunt of the fighting for them.

我深以为:如果阿富汗自身的武装力量没有战斗的意愿,那让美军出手便是错误的。如果阿富汗的政治领袖们在这最紧要关头不能为他们的人民奔走呐喊,不能为他们的国家纵横斡旋,那他们就永远也不会有能做到这一点的那一天,即便美军持续驻扎在阿富汗为他们承担战争之殇。

And our true strategic competitors — China and Russia — would love nothing more than the United States to continue to funnel billions of dollars in resources and attention into stabilizing Afghanistan indefinitely.

而我们真正的战略竞争者——中国和俄罗斯——看到美国为了稳定阿富汗局势而源源不断,无止境地将数以亿计的资源和注意力倾倒在阿富汗后会乐得合不拢嘴。

When I hosted President Ghani and Chairman Abdullah at the White House in June and again when I spoke by phone to Ghani in July, we had very frank conversations. We talked about how Afghanistan should prepare to fight their civil wars after the U.S. military departed, to clean up the corruption in government so the government could function for the Afghan people. We talked extensively about the need for Afghan leaders to unite politically.

当我今年6月在白宫接见贾尼总统和阿卜杜拉主席,和7月与贾尼通话时,我们进行了坦诚的对话。我们探讨了在美军撤离后,阿富汗应如何进行内战,如何清除政府腐败以使政府为阿富汗人民服务。我们深入探讨了各位阿富汗领导人们政治团结的必要性。

They failed to do any of that.

这些他们一样也没做到。

I also urged them to engage in diplomacy, to seek a political settlement with the Taliban. This advice was flatly refused. Mr. Ghani insisted the Afghan forces would fight, but obviously he was wrong.

我也敦促他们开展外交,寻求和塔利班达成政治和解。这项建议被干脆地拒绝了。贾尼先生坚持认为阿富汗军队会与塔利班誓不两立,但显然他错了。

So I’m left again to ask of those who argue that we should stay: How many more generations of America’s daughters and sons would you have me send to fight Afghans — Afghanistan’s civil war when Afghan troops will not? How many more lives — American lives — is it worth? How many endless rows of headstones at Arlington National Cemetery?

如此一来,我不得不再次质问那些坚称我们应该留下的人:你们要我再送几代美国儿女去为阿富汗而战——一场连阿富汗自己的军队也不愿打的阿富汗内战?还要付出多少生命——美国人的生命——的代价?艾灵顿国家公墓还要再添几多排墓碑?

I’m clear on my answer: I will not repeat the mistakes we’ve made in the past — the mistake of staying and fighting indefinitely in a conflict that is not in the national interest of the United States, of doubling down on a civil war in a foreign country, of attempting to remake a country through the endless military deployments of U.S. forces.

我的答案是明确的:我不会重复我们过去所犯的错误——不会再在一场不符合美国国家利益的争端中无休止地纠缠,不会再在一场外国内战中加倍下注,不会再尝试为了重建一个国家而无止境地部署美军。

Those are the mistakes we cannot continue to repeat, because we have significant vital interests in the world that we cannot afford to ignore.

这些是我们不能继续犯的错误,因为我们在这个世界上有更重要的利益,不容许我们忽视的利益。

I also want to acknowledge how painful this is to so many of us. The scenes we’re seeing in Afghanistan, they’re gut-wrenching, particularly for our veterans, our diplomats, humanitarian workers, for anyone who has spent time on the ground working to support the Afghan people.

我也对我们中的许多人感受到的切肤之痛感同身受。我们目睹到的阿富汗场景,它们是如此的痛彻肺腑,尤其是对我们的退役老兵,我们的外交人员,人道主义工作者,任何在这片土地上曾挥洒青春帮助阿富汗人民的人。

For those who have lost loved ones in Afghanistan and for Americans who have fought and served in the country — serve our country in Afghanistan — this is deeply, deeply personal.

对那些在阿富汗失去心爱之人,对那些在这个国家战斗并服务——在阿富汗为我们国家服务——的美国人,这种痛楚只有他们自己知道。

It is for me as well. I’ve worked on these issues as long as anyone. I’ve been throughout Afghanistan during this war — while the war was going on — from Kabul to Kandahar to the Kunar Valley.

对我而言,同样如此。我在这些问题上工作的时间不亚于任何人。我在战争期间穿梭于阿富汗境内——在战事如火如荼时——从克布尔到坎大哈,再到库纳尔山谷。

I’ve traveled there on four different occasions. I met with the people. I’ve spoken to the leaders. I spent time with our troops. And I came to understand firsthand what was and was not possible in Afghanistan.

我去了那里四次。我与那里的人民相见。我与那里的领导人交谈。我与我们的军队度过一些时光。通过这些第一手的情报,我认识到在阿富汗什么是可能的,什么是不可能的。

So, now we’re fercus $[sic]$ — focused on what is possible.

因此,现在我们专注于什么是可能的。

We will continue to support the Afghan people. We will lead with our diplomacy, our international influence, and our humanitarian aid.

我们将继续支援阿富汗人民。我们将通过我们的外交,我们的国际影响力,和我们的人道援助来帮助他们。

We’ll continue to push for regional diplomacy and engagement to prevent violence and instability.

我们将继续致力于区域外交和参与,来防止暴力和不稳定。

We’ll continue to speak out for the basic rights of the Afghan people — of women and girls — just as we speak out all over the world.

我们将继续为阿富汗人民——特别是妇女和女孩——的基本权利大声疾呼,正如我们在全世界大声疾呼一样。

I have been clear that human rights must be the center of our foreign policy, not the periphery. But the way to do it is not through endless military deployments; it’s with our diplomacy, our economic tools, and rallying the world to join us.

我已经明确地指出人权必须处于我们外交政策的中心位置,而非边缘。但具体的实践方法并不是通过无休止的军事部署;而是通过我们的外交,我们的经济工具,并号召全世界加入我们。

Now, let me lay out the current mission in Afghanistan. I was asked to authorize — and I did — 6,000 U.S. troops to deploy to Afghanistan for the purpose of assisting in the departure of U.S. and Allied civilian personnel from Afghanistan, and to evacuate our Afghan allies and vulnerable Afghans to safety outside of Afghanistan.

现在,让我阐明我们阿富汗的目前任务。我被要求授权——我也授权了——6000名美军士兵部署到阿富汗来协助美国和盟国的文职人员撤离,把阿富汗盟友和脆弱的阿富汗人疏散到阿富汗境外安全的地方。

Our troops are working to secure the airfield and to ensure continued operation of both the civilian and military flights. We’re taking over air traffic control.

我们的军队正在开赴机场以确保民用和军用航线的持续运行。我们正在接管空中交通控制。

We have safely shut down our embassy and transferred our diplomats. Our dip- — our diplomatic presence is now consolidated at the airport as well.

我们已安全地关闭了我们的大使馆并转移了我们的外交人员。我们的外交职能目前也集中到了机场。

Over the coming days, we intend to transport out thousands of American citizens who have been living and working in Afghanistan.

在接下来的日子,我们打算将几千名在阿富汗生活和工作的美国公民迁出。

We’ll also continue to support the safe departure of civilian personnel — the civilian personnel of our Allies who are still serving in Afghanistan.

我们也将继续支援文职人员——在阿富汗工作的我们盟友的文职人员——的安全离开。

Operation Allies Refugee $[\text{Refuge}]$, which I announced back in July, has already moved 2,000 Afghans who are eligible for Special Immigration Visas and their families to the United States.

我在7月宣布的盟友避难行动,已经将2000名有资格获得特殊移民签证的阿富汗人及其家人迁入美国。

In the coming days, the U.S. military will provide assistance to move more SIV-eligible Afghans and their families out of Afghanistan.

在接下来的日子,美军将提供援助将更多有资格获得特殊移民签证的阿富汗人及其家人迁出阿富汗。

We’re also expanding refugee access to cover other vulnerable Afghans who worked for our embassy: U.S. non-governmental agencies — or the U.S. non-governmental organizations; and Afghans who otherwise are at great risk; and U.S. news agencies.

I know that there are concerns about why we did not begin evacuating Afghans — civilians sooner. Part of the answer is some of the Afghans did not want to leave earlier — still hopeful for their country. And part of it was because the Afghan government and its supporters discouraged us from organizing a mass exodus to avoid triggering, as they said, “a crisis of confidence.”

American troops are performing this mission as professionally and as effectively as they always do, but it is not without risks.

As we carry out this departure, we have made it clear to the Taliban: If they attack our personnel or disrupt our operation, the U.S. presence will be swift and the response will be swift and forceful. We will defend our people with devastating force if necessary.

Our current military mission will be short in time, limited in scope, and focused in its objectives: Get our people and our allies to safety as quickly as possible.

And once we have completed this mission, we will conclude our military withdrawal. We will end America’s longest war after 20 long years of bloodshed.

并且一旦我们完成这项使命,我们就结束了我们的军事撤军。我们将在长达20年之久的流血牺牲后结束美国最长的战争。

The events we’re seeing now are sadly proof that no amount of military force would ever deliver a stable, united, and secure Afghanistan — as known in history as the “graveyard of empires.”

我们现在所看到的事情令人难过地证明了,无论多少军事力量都无法带来一个稳定,团结,和安全的阿富汗——这个在历史上被成为“帝国的墓地”的地方。

What is happening now could just as easily have happened 5 years ago or 15 years in the future. We have to be honest: Our mission in Afghanistan has taken many missteps — made many missteps over the past two decades.

现在正在发生的事也能轻易地在5年前或15年后发生。我们必须诚实地面对这一切:我们在阿富汗的行动在过去的二十年间走了很多错路。

I’m now the fourth American President to preside over war in Afghanistan — two Democrats and two Republicans. I will not pass this responsibly on — responsibility on to a fifth President.

我是阿富汗战争期间的第四任总统——两名民主党人和两名共和党人。我不会把这份重担转交到第五任总统。

I will not mislead the American people by claiming that just a little more time in Afghanistan will make all the difference. Nor will I shrink from my share of responsibility for where we are today and how we must move forward from here.

我不会向美国民众宣称再多给阿富汗一些时间事情就会变得不一样,这是在误导他们。我也不会逃避我们今天的处境和迈向明天的义务。

I am President of the United States of America, and the buck stops with me.

我是美利坚合众国的总统,推卸责任的游戏从我这里终止。

I am deeply saddened by the facts we now face. But I do not regret my decision to end America’s warfighting in Afghanistan and maintain a laser-focus on our counterterrorism missions there and in other parts of the world.

我为我们目前所处的情景而深深悲痛。但我不后悔我结束阿富汗战争和维持我们将镭射聚焦的反恐策略应用于这里和世界其它地方的决定。

Our mission to degrade the terrorist threat of al Qaeda in Afghanistan and kill Osama bin Laden was a success.

我们成功地降级了阿富汗的基地组织的恐怖威胁,杀死了奥萨马·本·拉登。

Our decades-long effort to overcome centuries of history and permanently change and remake Afghanistan was not, and I wrote and believed it never could be.

我们数十年来为了克服阿富汗几个世纪的历史和永远地将阿富汗改造成它不是的东西的努力失败了,而且我相信它永远不会成功。

I cannot and I will not ask our troops to fight on endlessly in another — in another country’s civil war, taking casualties, suffering life-shattering injuries, leaving families broken by grief and loss.

我不能也不会要求我们的军队继续无休止地为另一个国家的内战而战,造成伤亡,受到危及生命的创伤,让亲人们在丧亲之痛中沉沦。

This is not in our national security interest. It is not what the American people want. It is not what our troops, who have sacrificed so much over the past two decades, deserve.

这不符合我们的国家安全利益。这不是美国人想要的。这不是我们在过去20年中付出了那么多的军队所应受到的待遇。

I made a commitment to the American people when I ran for President that I would bring America’s military involvement in Afghanistan to an end. And while it’s been hard and messy — and yes, far from perfect — I’ve honored that commitment.

我在竞选总统时向美国人民作出了承诺:我将为美国在阿富汗的军事行动画上句号。尽管这个句号艰难且狼狈——是的,一点也不完美——但我遵守了那个承诺。

More importantly, I made a commitment to the brave men and women who serve this nation that I wasn’t going to ask them to continue to risk their lives in a military action that should have ended long ago.

更重要的是,我向那些为这个国家服役的男男女女作出了承诺:我不会要求他们继续在这早该结束的军事行动中抛头颅,洒热血。

Our leaders did that in Vietnam when I got here as a young man. I will not do it in Afghanistan.

我们曾经的领导人在越战中作出了这样的决定,那时我才来到这里,风华正茂。我不会重蹈他们的覆辙。

I know my decision will be criticized, but I would rather take all that criticism than pass this decision on to another President of the United States — yet another one — a fifth one.

我知道我的决定会被批评,但是我情愿承担这所有的批评,也不愿把这个决定推卸给下一任总统来做。

Because it’s the right one — it’s the right decision for our people. The right one for our brave service members who have risked their lives serving our nation. And it’s the right one for America.

因为这是正确的决定——这是对我们人民的正确决定。这是对我们勇于为国家利益赴汤蹈火的军人的正确决定。这是对美国的正确决定。

So, thank you. May God protect our troops, our diplomats, and all of the brave Americans serving in harm’s way.

所以,谢谢你们。愿上帝保佑我们的军队,我们的外交人员,和所有在危险面前服务的美国人。

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