奧巴馬將把駐阿美軍保持在8400人

U.S. President Barack Obama’s plan to maintain 8,400 U.S. troops in Afghanistan through the end of his presidency leaves many unanswered questions about the best path forward as the security situation continues to worsen, experts said.

美國總統奧巴馬打算在離任前把留駐阿富汗的美軍維持在8400人。有關專家說，阿富汗的保安局勢持續惡化，奧巴馬的這一決定使接下來往哪裏走留下了很多沒有回答的問題。

The administration had initially planned to reduce the number of U.S. troops from the current 9,800 to around 5,500 by the end of 2016.

美國政府原計劃到2016年年底，把駐阿美軍從9800人減少到5500人左右。

But Obama announced Wednesday the security situation in Afghanistan "remains precarious" and so he is leaving more troops than originally planned through the end of his term, which ends January 20, 2017.

但是，奧巴馬星期三宣佈，阿富汗的安全局勢“依然很不穩定”，所以他準備在離任前讓更多的部隊留在阿富汗。奧巴馬將於2017年1月結束他的總統任期。

"The Taliban remains a threat. They have gained ground in some cases, they have continued attacks and suicide bombings including in Kabul," Obama said. "Because the Taliban deliberately target civilians more Afghan men, women and children are dying and often overlooked in the global refugee crisis."

奧巴馬說，“塔利班依然是威脅。他們在好幾次戰鬥中都擴大了地盤，他們繼續在喀布爾等地發動攻擊，實施自殺炸彈襲擊”。他還說，“由於塔利班有意針對平民，所以阿富汗有更多的男人、婦女和兒童喪生，這些人在全球難民危機中往往會被忽略。”

Obama said leaving more troops in Afghanistan when he leaves office will give the next U.S. president “a solid foundation for continued progress in Afghanistan as well as the flexibility to address the threat of terrorism as it evolves.”

奧巴馬錶示，讓更多美軍留在阿富汗爲下屆總統提供了“堅實基礎，繼續擴大在阿富汗的進展，也爲打擊恐怖主義的努力提供了很多靈活性。”