U.S. officials 'repeatedly lied about Afghanistan war for 18 years and hid
the fact it was unwinnable', according to bombshell Washington Post report
dubbed 'the Pentagon Papers of today'
根據《華盛頓郵報》的重磅炸彈報導《今日五角大樓的文件》稱，美國官方“對阿富
汗戰爭反覆說謊18年，掩蓋了這場戰爭無法戰勝的事實”
Daily Mail 英國《每日郵報》
https://tinyurl.com/v247em6
編譯報導前半段如下：
摘要
‧The Washington Post published 2,000 pages of documents obtained via FOIA
request on Monday
星期一，《華盛頓郵報》發布了2,000頁通過《資訊自由法》請求獲得的文件。
‧They contain interviews from senior military personnel between 2014 and
2018
文件包含2014年至2018年之間對高級軍事人員的採訪。
‧The interviews were part of a government investigation into the Afghanistan
war
採訪是政府對阿富汗戰爭進行調查的一部分。
‧They paint a picture where officials were 'woefully deficient' in
intelligence
採訪者描繪了一幅官方“嚴重缺乏”情報的畫面。
‧Troops did not know 'who the bad guys were and where to find them', it
claims
它聲稱，部隊不知道“壞人是誰，在哪裡”。
‧There was also confusion over the point of the war; what began as a fight
against terror turned into an effort to democratize Afghanistan, they say
戰爭的重點讓人困惑。他們說，從反恐鬥爭開始變成了使阿富汗民主化。
‧Officials 'routinely distorted data' to make it appear as though the US was
winning
官員們“例行性扭曲數據”，使其看起來好像美國正在獲勝。
‧At the same time, Presidents Bush and Obama made speeches describing the
military's success and progress in the region
同時，布希總統和歐巴馬總統發表誤導談話，描述了軍方在該地區的成功與進步。
‧The reality, the report claims, was the war was 'unwinnable', senior
officials knew it but nearly $1 trillion was spent and 2,400 lives were lost。
報告稱，現實是戰爭“無法獲勝”。高級官員知道這個事實，但仍花費了近1兆美元，並
造成2400人喪生。
US officials repeatedly lied to the public about the war in Afghanistan for
its 18 year duration by hiding the fact that it was unwinnable and troops
were out of their depth, The Washington Post has claimed.
《華盛頓郵報》聲稱，美國官員對阿富汗戰爭長達18年之久一再對公眾撒謊，掩蓋了這場
戰爭無法勝利，部隊步入深淵的事實。
In a lengthy article published on Monday, the Post claims that top officials
knew the military's chances were slim but that they routinely hid the grave
reality and made 'rosy pronouncements' about it instead.
在星期一發表的一篇長文中，《華盛頓郵報》聲稱高級官員知道軍事獲勝的機會微乎其微
，但他們例行性隱藏事實，反而發表了“樂觀的聲明”。
The cache of documents - dubbed the 'Pentagon Papers of Afghanistan' -
includes interviews that the government carried out with senior military
personnel which the newspaper obtained through a Freedom of Information
request. They took place between 2014 and 2018 and contain the comments of
nearly 400 people.
《華盛頓郵報》通過《資訊自由法》的要求獲得“阿富汗五角大樓文件”，裡面包括政府
在2014年至2018年之間對高級軍事人員的採訪，包含近400人的評論。
In addition to the interview transcripts, the Post obtained memos dictated by
former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld between 2001 and 2006, during the
first phase of the war.
除了採訪筆錄外，《華盛頓郵報》還獲得了前國防部長Donald H. Rumsfeld在戰爭第一階
段期間於2001年至2006年間的備忘錄。
Together, they paint a picture of a confused military who did not know who
the 'bad guys' were, let alone where to find them or how to defeat them.
兩者整合起來，描繪出一個困惑的軍隊，他們不知道誰是“壞蛋”，更不用說找到或擊敗
他們了。
Among the interviews is a 2015 transcript of one in which Michael Flynn, the
disgraced former United States National Security Advisor, said: 'If we are
doing such a great job, why does it feel like we are losing?'
在採訪中有一份2015年的採訪記錄，其中一位不名譽的前美國國家安全顧問邁克爾·弗林
在談話中說：“如果我們做得如此出色，為什麼我們反而覺得正在失敗？”
The military personnel also describe how top brass officials distorted data
to make it appear as though the US was winning when in fact thousands were
being needlessly killed.
軍事人員還描述了高級官員如何歪曲數據，使其看起來好像美國在獲勝，而實際上卻有數
千人被不必要地殺害。
The alleged failures which troops complained about included not knowing what
the point of the war was - whether they were there to fight terror or to make
Afghanistan a democratic country - and lacking crucial intelligence which
would have helped form their strategies.
部隊抱怨的所謂失敗包括不知道戰爭的目的是什麼，不知道他們在那裡戰鬥是為了對抗恐
怖主義還是使阿富汗成為民主國家，以及缺乏能夠幫助制定其戰略的關鍵情報。
John Sopko, Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, whose
agency was in charge of the investigation, told the newspaper in light of the
unearthed interviews: 'The American people have constantly been lied to.'
負責調查的機構是阿富汗重建特別監察長John Sopko，根據未發掘的採訪告訴本報：“美
國人民一直在受騙。”
The alleged failures include;
失敗總結起來包括：
‧Nearly $1 trillion wasted; troops said they were expected to spend money
with no reason in areas that were overwhelmed by the sudden influx of cash
and resources.
浪費了近1兆美元；軍方表示，他們在突然湧入現金和資源的地區無道理的花錢。
‧Misguided attempts to build an Afghan army when all their troops were
'incompetent' and some were 'drug addicts' .
錯誤嘗試建立阿富汗軍隊，尤其是當他們的所有部隊都“無能”，有些人是“吸毒者”時
。
‧'Fatally flawed' fighting strategies which put US lives at risk.
有“致命缺陷”的戰鬥策略使美國人生命處於危險之中。
‧Distorting data and figures to make it look like the US was winning.
歪曲的數據和數字，使其看起來像美國正在獲勝。
‧Years of false statements to the American people that progress was being
made when it was not.
在沒有取得進展的情況下，多年來對美國人民的虛假陳述。
‧Confusion over what the mission was; it started as a war on terror but
later priorities became building a democracy and improving women's rights .
對任務是什麼感到困惑；它開始於反恐戰爭，但後來優先事項卻變成建立民主和改善婦女
權利。
‧'Woeful' deficiency in intelligence from the beginning.
從一開始就“糟糕”的缺乏情報。
*****
補充：《華盛頓郵報》長文報導 AT WAR WITH THE TRUTH
https://tinyurl.com/tccwbpt