美国军方高官警告不要再削减军费预算

The top U.S. defense officials, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen, are cautioning U.S. lawmakers against mandating more budget cuts to the military.

美国军方最高官员，国防部长帕内塔和参谋长联席会议主席马伦警告美国议员们不要再要求对军事预算进行更多地削减。

In his first official briefing in the Pentagon as the new U.S. defense secretary, Leon Panetta told reporters Thursday that he believes the military can manage its $350 billion in budget cuts signed into law by President Barack Obama earlier this week.

利昂·帕内塔8月4日(星期四)在担任美国国防部长之后，首次在五角大楼举行的正式通报会上对记者表示，他认为军方可以应付得了奥巴马总统本周早些时候签署成为法律，对军方进行3千500亿美元的预算削减。

But he warned that he thinks it would be "completely unacceptable" if the U.S. military was, as he put it, "hollowed out," by additional, across-the-board cuts to spending. "That approach would be particularly harmful because we are a nation at war. We face a broad and growing range of security threats and challenges that our military must be prepared to confront. From terrorist networks, to rogue nations, to dealing with rising powers that always look at us to determine whether or not we will in fact maintain a strong defense," Panetta said.

但是他警告说，他认为如果美国军方再次遭受全面削减开支，如他所说的“被掏空的话”，那将是“完全不可接受的”。他说：“那种局面会非常有害，因为我们是一个处于战争中的国家。我们面临的安全威胁和挑战非常大，而且范围在不断扩展，我们的军队必须准备好应对。从恐怖分子网络，到流氓国家，再到应对崛起的大国，这些大国总是在盯着我们，看我们是否真的保持着一支强大的国防力量。”

These further budget cuts would happen across government agencies, in what Panetta calls a "doomsday mechanism" included in the deal to raise the debt ceiling. However, the automatic cuts would only occur if lawmakers cannot come up with a plan for more targeted cuts to spending in the future.

在提高债务上限的法案中，包括有帕内塔称之为“末日机制”的条款，这些条款会导致政府各部门进一步预算削减。

Speaking alongside Panetta, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike Mullen addressed the prospect of what could be nearly $1 trillion in military spending cuts over the next 10 years if lawmakers cannot agree. "We've looked into that abyss, if you will, and we know that that is, my view is, the service chiefs' view is that is very dangerous for the country," Mullen said.

跟帕内塔一道出席通报会的美军参谋长联席会议主席马伦上将强调如果国会议员们达不成协议，在未来10年内军方可能会被削减开支近1万亿美元。他说：“我们已经仔细考虑过这种深渊绝境般的处境。如果你们要这样，那我的观点是，国防部长的观点是，那样做对国家来说非常危险。”

Mullen repeated his view that the U.S. debt is the greatest national security threat. He said military programs that are behind schedule and over budget are under much scrutiny as the military tries on its own to cut costs.

马伦上将重申了他的观点，那就是美国的债务是国家安全最大的威胁。他说，落后于预定计划，并且超支的军队项目正在受到密切关注，军方自身也在试图削减开支。

Panetta also urged lawmakers to look away from the defense spending and consider making concessions on entitlement programs, which account for most of the federal budget, and increasing taxes as they seek ways to save more money.

帕内塔也敦促国会议员们不要再紧盯着国防开支，要考虑从占联邦预算绝大部分开支的政府补贴社会项目上寻找节省开支的途径，并且在寻求节约资金途径的同时增加税收。

And despite acknowledging the fact that the United States is involved in two wars, a NATO-led operation in Libya and disaster relief missions abroad, both defense leaders vowed to work with President Obama and lawmakers to do everything they can to cut costs.

尽管承认美国正卷入两场战争，一场由北约领导的针对利比亚的行动，以及海外救灾行动，但是这两位军方领导人都誓言要和奥巴马总统以及国会议员们一道，尽一切可能削减开支。