VOA慢速英语：美国军队面临来自恐怖主义组织和国家的威胁

The United States military says it must prepare to dealwith two different threats at the same time. The threatscome from aggressive moves by Russia and Chinaand the influence of extremist groups like theself-proclaimed Islamic State.

美国军事方面称必须同时应对来自两方面的威胁。这两方面分别是俄罗斯与中国以及像IS这样自称是伊斯兰国家的极端组织。

Experts say it will not be easy for the military to do.

专家解说：美国军事很难做到

This month, U.S. Secretary of Defense Ashton Carterspoke to soldiers at Fort Bragg in the state of NorthCarolina. He says their skills and experiences of fightingterrorists in Iraq and Afghanistan will be useful in futureconflicts.

本月，美国国防部长阿仕顿·卡特在北卡罗来纳州布拉格军事基地向士兵们发表讲说。他称，他们对付伊拉克和阿富汗地区的恐怖分子的技能和经验在将来冲突中大有用处。

US and Ukrainian servicemen talk during the opening ceremony for the Rapid Trident/Saber Guardian 2015 military exercises in Ukraine, July 20, 2015. (AP Photo/Pavlo Palamarchuk)

He says the military is, “moving into a different directionin the future, where we try to capture what we learned -- and we learned a lot in the course of those two wars -- and turn that skill and that experience to the kinds ofconflicts that are going to determine our future.”

他提到，军事在将来会有不同的方向转变，那时候需要我们用之所学，在这两次战争中，我们学到很多，我们应该把学到的技能和经验应用到将来的冲突中去。

Large countries are still the biggest threat

大国仍然是最主要的威胁

In June, American military officials published a new National Military Strategyafter four years. The document says the threat of a war with another countryis low, but growing. It says the American military will closely watch Russia,Iran, North Korea and China.

六月，美国军事方面在四年后公布了新的国家军事战略。文件中标明，和另一个国家展开战争的威胁较小，但是在逐渐增长。美国将密切注视俄罗斯、伊朗、韩国和中国的举动。

Bryan Clark is a former U.S. Navy strategist. He is now a senior fellow at theCenter for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. The center researchessecurity and defense issues. Mr. Clark says Russia, Iran, North Korea andChina have security goals that are likely to conflict with those of the U.S. in the near future.

原美国海军战略家布莱特·克拉克现在是战略预算评估中心的高级官员。这个中心研究安全和国防问题。克拉克表示，俄罗斯、伊朗、韩国和中国的安全目标有可能与美国未来的目标冲突。

He says the American strategy is changing because of Russia’s aggression inEastern Europe and China’s activities in the South China Sea. The U.S. mustprepare to fight a war with a large country while fighting terrorists at the sametime.

他说美国战略计划正在改变，因为俄罗斯在东欧地区活动频繁以及。。美国必须在准备抗击恐怖主义的同时也要做好和大国作战的准备。

China not an enemy -- but not a friend, either

中国不是敌人

The strategy document says Iran, Russia and North Korea are threats toworld peace. But it describes China differently. It says the United States wantsto help China grow. It hopes a strong China will help increase internationalsecurity. But that does not mean the military believes there is no risk ofconflict with China.

战略文件中标明，伊朗、俄罗斯和韩国威胁世界和平。但是对中国的描述稍显不同。他说美国想要帮助中国增强实力。美国希望强大的中国能够保证更多的国际和平。但是这并不意味着没有和中国发生军事冲突的危险。

In Mr. Clark’s words, the American military “sees China as a much moresignificant threat to U.S. national security interests.” China has a largereconomy and more population than other nations. He notes that China hasadvanced military weapons similar to Russia, and many more of them. AndChina is moving aggressively against American allies in the South China Sea.

用克拉克的话说，美国军事将中国视为美国国家安全最大的威胁。中国拥有比别的国家更强大的经济实力和更多的人口。。。

Fighting more than one war at the same time

同时面临更多的战争

Defense Secretary Carter says the U.S. military must be able to deal withchallenges in more than one area. He says the country needs a military that is not only big enough but has enough equipment and well-trained troops. And hesays military pay must be high enough to attract and keep good troops.

国防部长卡特称美国军事必须应对不止一个地区的变化。他说美国需要一个不仅队伍壮大而且武器先进的，训练有素的军事队伍。军队必须付出足够高的代价得到和训练质量优良的军队。

Whatever happens, the American military will need to meet the challengeswith fewer soldiers than it has now. The Defense Department has announcedplans to reduce the size of the Army by 40,000 soldiers.

不管发生什么，美国军队将需要比现在更少的士兵去应对不同的变化。国防部宣布了将军队士兵数量减少到40.000名的裁员计划。

I’m Christopher Jones-Cruise.

VOA's Li Bao reported this story from Washington. Christopher Jones-Cruiseadapted it for VOA Learning English. Hai Do was the editor.

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Words in This Story

self-proclaimed– adj. giving yourself or your group a particular name or title,often without any reason or proof that would cause other people to agree withyou

strategy – n. a careful plan or method for achieving a particular goal, usuallyover a long period of time

conflict– v. disagrees with; takes a different position from

significant– adj. large enough to be noticed or have an effect