经济学人下载:下降星座-战神火星

Lexington
来克星敦               

Mars in the descendant
下降星座——战神火星

America is tired of war. That would suit Barack Obama, if not for the one he entered in Libya

美国已经厌倦战争。这对奥巴马来说正合适，只要他们不讨厌利比亚战争就行

Jun 23rd 2011 | from the print edition

“I VENTURE to say that no war can be long carried on against the will of the people.” Edmund Burke should be alive today. None of America’s several wars is popular. According to a Pew Research poll this week, a majority of Americans (56%) now believe that their troops should come home from Afghanistan as soon as possible. Only 39% favour waiting for the situation there to stabilise, even though most still think that the original decision to go to war was right. In the case of Libya there was never any equivalent enthusiasm to intervene in the fighting between Muammar Qaddafi and the rebels. And most Americans are delighted that the present plan is to quit Iraq by the end of this year.

“我敢说任何违背人民意愿的战争都打不长。”埃德蒙·伯克曾如是说。他真应该活着看看今天的情况。美国参与的战争没有一个是受欢迎的。皮尤研究中心本周的民意测验显示，虽然大多数美国人仍然认为当初进攻阿富汗的决定是正确的，但是大部分人（56%）现在都认为美军应尽快撤出阿富汗，只有39%的民众愿意等待局势稳定。而对于利比亚，民众从一开始就没什么热情干预卡扎菲和反对派之间的战争。大部分人都很高兴听到目前计划年底撤出伊拉克。

America has reason to be war-weary. Since September 2001 it has spent some $1.3 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, in which some 6,000 service personnel have died. Even conservative Republicans, the group keenest on “staying the course”, have started to tell pollsters that America should pay less attention to problems overseas and more to the growing ones at home. In their New Hampshire debate several Republican presidential candidates joined the cry to bring the boys home—“as soon as we possibly can,” said Mitt Romney, the putative front-runner.

美国患上战争疲倦症不是没有道理。自从2001年9月起，美国已为伊拉克和阿富汗战争花费1.3万亿美元，牺牲约6千名士兵。即使是最热衷于“按既定道路走下去”的保守共和党人都开始告诉民意调查员，美国应少管些国外的麻烦，多关注与日俱增的国内问题。在新罕布什尔州的辩论中，几个共和党总统竞选人齐声呼吁要让男孩们回家，而且用米特·罗姆尼的话说，“越快越好”。罗姆尼是普遍认为最有希望的竞选人。