美稱拉登仍在活動 擬繼續追捕
US National security adviser James Jones says Al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden still spends some time inside Afghanistan.
Most recent US estimates have placed bin Laden inside Pakistan. But Jones, a retired general, told CNN the Al-Qaida leader is "sometimes on the Pakistani side of the border, sometimes on the Afghan side of the border."
Jones says the US military and its allies in Afghanistan are "going to have to get after that" to ensure bin Laden is "once again on the run or captured or killed."
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made similar comments on another Sunday morning talk show.
Earlier, Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in one of three talk-show appearances that the US hasn't had any good intelligence for years on bin Laden's whereabouts.
Gates said he couldn't confirm recent reports that bin Laden had been seen recently in Afghanistan.
The defense chief also said Americans should expect a significant US military presence in Afghanistan for another two to four years.
Gates says the initial US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan in July 2011 might involve only a small number of troops.
Gates says that just as in Iraq, the US will turn over provinces to homegrown security forces, allowing the United States to bring the number of troops down steadily.
He noted that Afghan President Hamid Karzai talked in his inaugural address about taking over security control in all of Afghanistan in five years.
Gates rejected any suggestion that setting a transition date for withdrawing US forces in Afghanistan will embolden the Taliban.
He said the Taliban read the newspapers and are able to determine public opinion in the United States and Europe.
He doesn't believe the Taliban will become more aggressive and he would welcome it if they lay low until July 2011 - President Barack Obama's target date for the beginning of a withdrawal.
Gates said that would give coalition troops opportunities to make great progress in stabilizing Afghanistan.
美國國家安全事務顧問詹姆斯•瓊斯近日稱，基地組織領導人奧薩瑪·本·拉登現在仍不時活動在阿富汗境內。
而據美國有關方面最近估計，本·拉登現在藏身於巴基斯坦境內。但退役將軍瓊斯在接受美國有線新聞網採訪時稱，這名基地組織頭目“現在活動於巴基斯坦和阿富汗交界處，有時在巴基斯坦這邊，有時在阿富汗那邊。”
瓊斯稱，美軍及其在阿富汗的盟軍“有必要繼續追捕行動”，“以活捉或殺死本拉登，至少也要逼得他再次潛逃”。
美國國務卿希拉里•克林頓在另外一檔週日早間訪談節目中也做出了類似評論。
美國國防部長羅伯特•蓋茨在其早些時候受邀參加的三檔訪談節目中的其中一次訪談中稱，美國情報部門已數年來沒有得到有關本·拉登行蹤的情報。
蓋茨稱，他無法確定近日有關本·拉登現身阿富汗的報道。
他說，美軍還將大規模在阿富汗駐紮兩到四年。
蓋茨稱，2011年7月首批撤軍涉及的將只是一小部分部隊。
他說，和在伊拉克一樣，美國將把各省移交給阿富汗本國的安全部隊，從而使美國可以逐步撤軍。
他指出，阿富汗總統哈米德•卡爾扎伊在就職演說中談到，要在五年內接管阿富汗各地的安全防務。
蓋茨否認了有關設定撤軍時限將爲”塔利班“壯膽的論調。
他表示，塔利班武裝分子也看報，他們能夠判斷美國和歐洲的公衆輿論。
蓋茨認爲塔利班不會因此變得更爲狂妄，並表示如果塔利班在奧巴馬總統設定的撤軍時限2011年7月之前能變得低調一點，美國方面將非常歡迎。
蓋茨稱，這能讓駐阿聯軍有機會在穩定阿富汗局勢方面取得更大進展。
Vocabulary:
get after：追捕，攻擊
inaugural address：就職演說
embolden：to make bold or bolder; hearten; encourage（使大膽，使有膽量）
