President Barack Obama announced on Thursday that he will slow the planned withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan. The announcement came a day after the president said he would send troops to Cameroon to help in the fight against Boko Haram militants. Under Mr. Obama's leadership, the U.S. has led an international coalition against the Islamic State group for more than a year. Islamic State forces control parts of both Syria and Iraq.
美国总统奥巴马周四宣布，他将放缓美军从阿富汗撤军的计划。在公告前一天，奥巴马总统表示他将派军队到喀麦隆帮助打击博科圣地武装分子。在奥巴马先生的领导下，美国领导着一个打击伊斯兰国组织的国际联盟已经长达一年多时间。伊斯兰国部队控制了叙利亚和伊拉克的部分地区。

Mr. Obama was elected in 2008 partly because he promised to bring American troops home and end the long wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Many Americans had grown tired of the wars and wanted their sons and daughters who were fighting them to come home. On Thursday, the president said he knows this is still what the American people want.
奥巴马先生2008年当选的部分原因是他承诺将美军撤回国内，结束在阿富汗和伊拉克的长期战争。许多美国人已经厌倦了战争并希望他们参战的儿女回到家中。周四奥巴马表示，他知道这仍然是美国人的愿望。

"I know that many of you have grown weary of this conflict. As you all are well aware, I do not support the idea of endless war."
奥巴马说，“我知道你们很多人已经厌倦了这场冲突。大家也都清楚地知道，我也不喜欢无休止的战争。”

Mr. Obama has said many times during his two terms that he wants American troops removed from conflict areas by the time he leaves office. In May of 2014, he spoke to soldiers at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. He told them that most of the American troops who were then in Afghanistan would be home by the time he left office in January 2017.
奥巴马先生在他的两届任期期间已经多次表示，他希望在他离任之前把美军从冲突地区撤回来。2014年5月，他在美国西点军校对士兵们发表了讲话。他对士兵们说，当时在阿富汗的大部分美军在他2017年1月离任时将会回到国内。

But Afghan troops have not been able to provide security for the country. On Thursday, President Obama said "Afghan forces are still not as strong as they need to be." Afghanistan's former Taliban rulers and their supporters continue to threaten security. The Taliban has surprised U.S. officials with its strength and ability to control rural areas and launch deadly attacks on cities.
但是阿富汗军队一直未能为该国提供安全保障。上周四，奥巴马总统表示，阿富汗军队仍然没有他们需要的那么强大。阿富汗前塔利班领导人及其支持者继续威胁着该国的安全。塔利班以其实力控制农村地区并在城市发动致命袭击，这让美国官员很是吃惊。

"The bottom line is in key areas of the country, the security situation is still very fragile, and in some places there's risk of deterioration."
“最根本的是在该国的重点地区，安全形势仍然十分脆弱，在一些地区还有恶化的威胁。”

So Mr. Obama announced this week that he has decided to keep the number of American troops in Afghanistan at 9,800 through most of 2016. He plans to reduce that number to 5,500 by the time he leaves office in early 2017. At one time, there were 100,000 American troops in the country. Two thousand, two hundred Americans have died in the fighting.
因此奥巴马先生本周表示，他已经决定2016年大部分时间将阿富汗美军人数维持在9800人。他计划到2017年初离任时将这一数字降低到5500人。美军驻阿富汗人数一度达到了10万人。已经有2200名美军在战斗中牺牲。

Officials say the president made his decision after months of talks with U.S. military leaders and Afghan officials. Many officials were worried when Afghan forces lost control of the northern city of Kunduz for a short time to Taliban militants.
有关官员表示，奥巴马总统在同美军领导人及阿富汗官员会谈数月后做出了决定。在阿富汗军队失去对北方城市昆都士的控制，该市短时间落到塔利班武装分子手里的时候，许多官员都很担心。

Also this week, President Obama ordered the military to send about 300 American troops to the central African nation of Cameroon. He announced the deployment in a letter sent to the heads of the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. Mr. Obama wrote that about 90 U.S. troops began deploying to Cameroon on Monday. They will use unmanned aircraft to find Boko Haram militants.
同样是在本周，奥巴马总统下令军方向中非国家喀麦隆派遣300名左右的美国士兵。他在发给美国参众两院领袖的信中宣布了这一部署。奥巴马写道，大约90名美国士兵周一开始部署到喀麦隆。他们将利用无人机寻找博科圣地武装分子。

A U.S. defense official said that Cameroon invited the troops as part of a larger international effort to stop the spread of violent extremists. The official said the need for international action has, in the official's words, become "more urgent as Boko Haram and other organizations ramped up their violent activities." Boko Haram has been active in northern Cameroon. The area is near their main base in northeastern Nigeria. The group has killed hundreds of civilians in Cameroon and at least 10,000 in Nigeria over the past few years.
美国国防部一位官员表示，喀麦隆邀请该部队是作为阻止暴力极端分子蔓延的一项大型国际努力的一部分。这位官员表示，随着博科圣地和其它组织加强了他们的暴力活动，采取国际行动的需求更加迫切。博科圣地一直活跃在喀麦隆北部，该地区靠近他们在尼日利亚东北部的老巢。过去几年，该集团杀害了数百名喀麦隆平民，在尼日利亚至少杀害了一万人。

An American defense official said it is not known how long the troops would be in Cameroon. The official said they would stay "as long as (their) presence is requested."
美国国防部一位官员表示，目前尚不清楚美军在喀麦隆会呆多久。该官员表示，只要有需要他们就会留下来。