【英语国际】奥巴马证实驻阿富汗美军将转为担任配角

President Barack Obama, under pressure over a series of setbacks in Afghanistan, for the first time affirmed U.S. plans to shift the military to a support role next year and let Afghan forces take the lead in combat operations.

The announcement kick-starts a push to get Afghanistan's forces into the forefront of the country's struggle for stability. The shift has been in the works for months, and was previewed in February by Defense Secretary Leon Panetta.

Mr. Obama, however, brushed aside calls to accelerate a drawdown set to be completed in 2014. 'We're going to complete this mission,' he said during a news conference with British Prime Minister David Cameron at the White House on Wednesday.

Mr. Obama called the war a 'hard slog,' borrowing a description made famous during the George W. Bush administration.

But he added there would no abrupt changes to troop withdrawal plans.

'In terms of pace, I don't anticipate at this stage that we're going to be making any sudden, additional changes to the plan that we currently have,' he said.

The president has faced questions about the merits of maintaining U.S. troops in the decadelong war, following a series of setbacks, the latest involving the shooting deaths of 16 Afghan civilians, most of them women and children, allegedly by a 38-year-old U.S. Army staff sergeant.

Mr. Obama has promised a full investigation into the matter, and the U.S. has detained the suspect accused of the shooting. But the incident has stoked tensions in Afghanistan, with Taliban leaders promising retaliation against U.S. forces, and the parliament calling for the suspect's trial by a local court.

The suspect was flown out of Afghanistan Wednesday evening, however, meaning he likely will be tried outside the country, a U.S. official said. Defense officials said the suspect was taken to a detention facility on a military base outside the U.S.

On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Panetta visited officials and coalition troops in Afghanistan to try to calm the firestorm.

In Washington, Messrs. Obama and Cameron were on the defensive Wednesday over their Afghanistan policy and appeared to be trying to bolster public support for the war, which is fading in both countries.

'Recent days have reminded us just how difficult this mission is,' Mr. Cameron said at the news conference. 'But we will not give up on this mission.'

The U.S. has about 90,000 troops serving in Afghanistan and is scheduled to withdraw 23,000 of them by the end of the summer. That follows the reduction of 10,000 troops at the end of last year.

Mr. Obama said on Wednesday that a meeting in May in Chicago of members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will determine the next phase of transition in Afghanistan. All U.S. and coalition combat troops are scheduled to leave by the end of 2014.

Carol E. Lee/Adam Entous/Cassell Bryan-Low

迫于美军最近在阿富汗遭遇的一系列挫折，美国总统奥巴马首次证实了驻阿富汗美军明年将转为担任配角的计划，该计划将允许阿富汗部队主导作战行动。

奥巴马宣布的这一决定是美国让阿富汗部队在该国实现稳定的努力中打头阵的第一步。这个计划已经筹备了数月，在2月份由美国国防部长帕内塔(Leon Panetta)进行了预审。

不过，奥巴马没有理睬要求美国加速从阿富汗撤军的呼吁。美国原计划于2014年完成从阿富汗的撤军。奥巴马周三在与英国首相卡梅伦(David Cameron)共同举行的新闻发布会上说，我们会完成这一使命。

奥巴马将阿富汗战争称为“长期难题”(hard slog)，这是从小布什(George W. Bush)政府流传下来的说法。

但他补充说，不会对美国从阿富汗撤军的计划做出突然改变。

他说，在撤军速度方面，我目前不认为我们会对现有计划做出突然或额外改动。

美军在阿富汗战场遭遇一系列挫折后，奥巴马目前正面临外界对美军继续留在阿富汗还有什么好处所产生的质疑。在最近的一起事件中，16名阿富汗平民被枪杀，其中大多数是妇女和儿童。据称肇事者是一名38岁的美国军人。

奥巴马承诺将对此事进行全面调查，美国已经拘留了枪击案的嫌犯。但是这件事已经加剧了阿富汗国内的紧张气氛，塔利班(Taliban)的领导人发誓将对美军进行报复，阿富汗议会要求在当地法庭对肇事者进行审判。

但一名美国官员说，这名嫌犯周三晚间已被送出阿富汗，这意味着对他的审判预计会在阿富汗之外进行。美国国防部的官员说，这名犯罪嫌疑人被带到了一个美国境外军事基地的拘留所。

周三，美国国防部长帕内塔(Leon Panetta)看望了驻阿官员官员和联军，试图平息事件造成的影响。

在华盛顿，奥巴马和卡梅伦周三为美英两国的阿富汗政策进行了辩护，此举似乎在努力提高公众对这场战争的支持。在这两个国家，人们对这场战争的支持正在下降。

卡梅伦在新闻发布会上说，最近几天发生的事提醒了我们这个任务是多么艰难。但是我们不会放弃。

美国现在有9万驻阿富汗士兵，计划在今年夏天结束之前撤出其中的2.3万人。去年年末，美国曾撤军1万人。

奥巴马周三说，5月份举行的北大西洋公约组织(North Atlantic Treaty Organization)成员国会议将确定阿富汗过渡期下一阶段的行动。所有美军和联军作战部队计划在2014年底之前从阿富汗撤出。

Carol E. Lee/Adam Entous/Cassell Bryan-Low