羅姆尼承諾 若當選將強化美國軍力

In U.S. politics, Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney pledged Friday to strengthen the U.S. military to deal with threats from abroad if he is elected president next year. The former Massachusetts governor and current Republican front-runner gave a sweeping foreign policy address at the Citadel, a military college in South Carolina.

在美國政壇，共和黨總統參選人羅姆尼10月7日(星期五)承諾，如果他明年選上總統將加強美國軍力應對來自海外的威脅。羅姆尼是前麻薩諸塞州州長，現在在共和黨參選人中處於領先地位，他在南卡羅來納州要塞軍事學院發表了全面的外交政策演說。

Mitt Romney, while sharply criticizing President Barack Obama, told cadets at the Citadel that when America is strong, the world is safer, and that the United States should embrace its foreign policy challenges and not crawl back into an isolationist shell.

羅姆尼一面嚴詞抨擊奧巴馬總統，一面對要塞軍事學院的學生說，當美國強壯時世界會比較安全，美國應該正面迎接外交政策上的挑戰，而不是躲進一個自我孤立的保護殼內。

“I will not surrender America’s role in the world," he said. "This is very simple. If you do not want America to be the strongest nation on Earth, I am not your president. You have that president today.”

羅姆尼說：“我不會放棄美國在世界的角色。就這麼簡單。如果你不希望美國是世界上最強大的國家，那我並不是適合你的總統。你現在就有那樣的總統了。”

Romney’s speech came on the 10th anniversary of the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan and he said if elected next year he would order a full review of the transition to the Afghan military handling the war but gave few other details.

羅姆尼演說的時刻正是美國對阿富汗發動軍事行動十週年。他說，如果他明年當選，他將下令對交由阿富汗軍隊處理後續戰事進行全面的檢視，但他沒有提供相關細節。

He said he would also work to restore U.S. defense capabilities by reversing cuts to the U.S. Navy and missile defense systems.

他說，他也會停止縮減美國海軍和導彈防禦系統來恢復美國的國防能力。

The former Massachusetts governor listed his top foreign policy concerns as Islamic fundamentalism, the struggle for freedom in the Middle East, the threat of failed nation states and what he called anti-American regimes in Iran, North Korea, Venezuela and Cuba.

這位前麻薩諸塞州州長列出了他外交政策的關注點，包括伊斯蘭原教旨主義、中東爭取自由的奮戰、一些失敗國家的威脅，還有他稱之爲反美政權的伊朗、北韓、委內瑞拉和古巴。

“American foreign policy must be prosecuted with clarity and resolve," said Romney. "Our friends and allies have no doubts about where we stand. And neither should our rivals. If the world knows we are resolute, our allies will be comforted and those who wish us harm will be far less tempted to test that resolve.”

羅姆尼說：“必需清楚和堅決地執行美國的外交政策。讓我們的友邦和盟國對我們的立場沒有懷疑，讓敵人也對我們的立場沒有懷疑。如果全世界都知道我們堅決無比，我們的盟國將感到安心，而那些想傷害我們的將不敢去試探我們的決心。”

Romney's critique was quickly dismissed at the White House by presidential spokesman Jay Carney.

羅姆尼的批評很快就在白宮遭到總統發言人卡尼的駁斥。"His record on foreign policy and national security policy speaks for itself. We are stronger. We are safer. We have taken the fight to our principal enemy with a level of aggression and success that is unprecedented," said Carney.

卡尼說：“他在外交政策和國家安全政策上的記錄說明了一切。我們比以前更強大，我們也更安全了。我們對主要敵人主動出擊，攻擊的力度和成功是前所未有的。”

Romney and the other Republican contenders generally focus on the domestic economy and a critique of President Obama in their campaign speeches, and foreign policy has received significantly less attention.

羅姆尼和其他共和黨參選人的競選演說通常將焦點放在國內經濟和批評奧巴馬總統上，外交政策明顯獲得較少的注意。

But one of Romney’s main rivals, Texas Governor Rick Perry, recently suggested the U.S. may need to send troops into neighboring Mexico to deal with violent drug cartels.

但羅姆尼的主要敵手德克薩斯州州長佩裏最近也暗示，美國應該派遣部隊到鄰國墨西哥解決猖狂的毒梟問題。

“The way that we were able to stop the drug cartels in Colombia was with a coordinated effort," said Perry. "It may require our military in Mexico working in concert with them to kill these drug cartels and to keep them off of our border and to destroy their networks.”

佩裏說：“我們通過協調的努力，成功地阻止哥倫比亞的毒梟。也許我們得派遣軍隊到墨西哥協助他們殺死這些毒梟，將他們阻隔在我們的邊境外，並摧毀他們的網絡。”

Quinnipiac pollster Peter Brown says American voters are far more focused on economic issues for the 2012 election than foreign policy concerns.

昆尼皮亞克的民意調查專家彼得.布朗說，在2012選戰，美國選民對經濟問題的關心程度遠遠大於外交政策。

“Mr. Obama’s numbers went up somewhat after Osama bin Laden was killed and then they went back down again," he said. "I think that is a reflection of the fact that to voters, issues one through 129 are the economy. Everything else pales.”

布朗說：“奧巴馬的支持率在本拉登被殺死後上升了一些，然後又下降。我想這反映了一個事實，那就是對選民來講他們只關心經濟。其他事都不重要。”

Foreign policy issues could come up at the next Republican candidate’s debate, which will be held Tuesday in the early primary state of New Hampshire.

外交政策問題可能會出現在下次共和黨參選人辯論會上。下次辯論將在下星期二在早期初選所在地新罕布什爾州舉行。