評論
打印
I'm going to ask and try to answer in some ways, kind of an uncomfortable question.
接下來我會問一些而且也會回答一些令人感到不太舒服的問題。
Both civilians, obviously, and soldiers,suffer in war; I don't think any civilian has ever missed,the war that they were subjected to.
很顯然，不管是老百姓還是士兵。都深受戰爭之苦。我覺得老百姓中不會有哪個人會想念曾經經歷過的戰爭。
I've been covering wars for almost 20 years, and one of the remarkable things for me, is how many soldiers find themselves missing it.
20多年來我一直致力于戰地報道。有一件事讓我感觸很深。那就是許多士兵會懷念戰爭。
How is it someone can go through,the worst experience imaginable, and come home, back to their home, and their family, their country, and miss the war?
而當一個人在經歷了無法想象的艱難困苦之后終于回到故土，回到自己的家。回到親人中間，回到祖國之后，卻怎么會懷念戰爭？。
How does that work? What does it mean?
這是為什么？這又意味著什么？。
We have to answer that question,
我們必須要回答這個問題。
because if we don't, it'll be impossible to bring soldiers back,to a place in society where they belong, and I think it'll also be impossible to stop war, if we don't understand how that mechanism works.
因為不這樣的話，就不能夠讓士兵們重新融入他們曾經生活的社會環境中。而且要想阻止戰爭就必須知道這其中的道理。
The problem is that war, does not have a simple, neat truth, one simple, neat truth.
但是，關于戰爭有個問題。那就是沒有一個簡單、清楚的評述。哪怕是一個這樣的評述都沒有。
Any sane person hates war, hates the idea of war, wouldn't want to have anything to do with it, doesn't want to be near it, doesn't want to know about it.
任何一個有理智的人都厭惡戰爭。厭惡打仗這種想法。不想與戰爭有任何干系。不想聽，也不想知道。
That's a sane response to war.
這是對于戰爭應有的反應。
But if I asked all of you in this room, who here has paid money to go to a cinema, and be entertained by a Hollywood war movie, most of you would probably raise your hands.
但如果我問在座的各位。有沒有花過錢去電影院。看精彩的好萊塢戰爭大片？應該大多數人都會舉手。
That's what's so complicated about war.
這就是為什么很難評說戰爭。
And trust me, if a room full of peace-loving people, finds something compelling about war, so do 20-year-old soldiers who have been trained in it, I promise you.
而且我敢說，即使一群和平愛好者中間。也不乏有人認為戰爭具有吸引力。更何況是對于一個20歲出頭的小伙子經受了戰爭的洗禮，他更能感受戰爭的誘惑。
That's the thing that has to be understood.
我們必須要明白這一點。
I've covered war for about 20 years, as I said, but my most intense experiences in combat, were with American soldiers in Afghanistan.
我從事戰地報道20年。記憶最深的當數和在阿富汗的美國士兵們在戰場上出生入死的經歷。
I've been in Africa, the Middle East, Afghanistan in the '90s, but it was with American soldiers in 2007, 2008, that I was confronted with very intense combat.
我去過非洲、中東。早在90年代就去過阿富汗。但是和美國士兵在一起的經歷是2007和08年。當時，我參加了一場非常激烈的戰爭。
I was in a small valley called the Korengal Valley in eastern Afghanistan.
當時我在一個叫科倫加爾山谷的小村莊。位于東阿富汗。
It was six miles long.
戰線有六公里長。
There were 150 men of Battle Company in that valley, and for a while, while I was there, almost 20 percent of all the combat in all of Afghanistan was happening in those six miles.
當地的戰地部隊有150人。而且當時，也就是我在當地停留期間將近百分之二十的戰斗發生在阿富汗全境中這條6公里長的戰線上。
A hundred and fifty men were absorbing almost a fifth of the combat for all of NATO forces in the country, for a couple months.
這150名士兵參與了1/5的傾注了北約所有兵力的戰斗。這些發生在阿富汗持續了幾個月。
It was very intense.
戰斗異常激烈。
I spent most of my time at a small outpost called Restrepo.
我大部分的時間都是在一個叫雷斯特雷波的小哨站度過的。
