Americans across the political spectrum supported the use of force against those who attacked us on 9/11. Now, as we approach our 10th year of combat in Afghanistan, there are those who are understandably asking tough questions about our mission there. But we must never lose sight of what’s at stake. As we speak, al Qaeda continues to plot against us, and its leadership remains anchored in the border regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan. We will disrupt, dismantle and defeat al Qaeda, while preventing Afghanistan from again serving as a base for terrorists. And because of our drawdown in Iraq, we are now able to apply the resources necessary to go on offense. In fact, over the last 19 months, nearly a dozen al Qaeda leaders — and hundreds of al Qaeda’s extremist allies — have been killed or captured around the world.

所有的美國人，無論其政治立場如何，都支持使用武力抗擊那些在9/11襲擊我們的人。今天，當我們在阿富汗的作戰行動持續將近10年之際，有些人可以理解地就我們在那里的使命提出了一些尖銳的問題，但我們決不能忘記什么是利害攸關的問題。就在此時此刻，“基地”組織正在陰謀策劃攻擊我們，該組織的頭目仍然窩藏在阿富汗與巴基斯坦接壤的邊境地區，我們一方面防止阿富汗再次成為恐怖主義分子的基地，另一方面也將挫敗、瓦解并戰勝“基地”組織。目前，隨著我們在伊拉克縮減人員，現在我們能夠為采取攻勢運用必要的資源。事實上，在過去19個月內，全世界各地有十來個“基地”組織的頭目以及數百名“基地”組織的極端主義同伙已經被擊斃或捕獲。

Within Afghanistan, I’ve ordered the deployment of additional troops who — under the command of General David Petraeus — are fighting to break the Taliban’s momentum.

在阿富汗，我已下令部署更多兵力，在戴維·彼得雷烏斯將軍指揮下英勇作戰，大滅塔利班的氣焰。

As with the surge in Iraq, these forces will be in place for a limited time to provide space for the Afghans to build their capacity and secure their own future. But, as was the case in Iraq, we can’t do for Afghans what they must ultimately do for themselves. That’s why we’re training Afghan Security Forces and supporting a political resolution to Afghanistan’s problems. And next August, we will begin a transition to Afghan responsibility. The pace of our troop reductions will be determined by conditions on the ground, and our support for Afghanistan will endure. But make no mistake: This transition will begin — because open-ended war serves neither our interests nor the Afghan people’s.

如同在伊拉克的增兵，這些部隊將僅在那里逗留有限的時間，為阿富汗人民提供機會建設自己的能力并為本身的未來提供安全保障。但是，就像在伊拉克的情形一樣，我們不能代替阿富汗人做最終必須由他們自己去做的事情。這就是我們正在訓練阿富汗安全部隊并支持對阿富汗面臨的問題采取政治解決方案的原因。明年8月，我們將開始向阿富汗轉交責任，我們撤軍的步調將根據當時當地的情形而定，但我們對阿富汗的支持仍將繼續。然而毫無疑問：責任的轉移必須開始 —— 因為沒有盡頭的戰爭既不符合我們的利益，也不符合阿富汗人民的利益。