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战争的政治The politics of war
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The politics of war
战争的政治
Aug 9th 2007 | OTTAWA
From The Economist print edition
The minister, the general and pacifist
部长，将军和反战分子
Quebec
魁北克
IN THE past year 22 soldiers from Canada's 2,500-strong force serving in Afghanistan's Kandahar province have been killed. So when Brigadier-General Guy Laroche, the force's commander, said that a recently arrived contingent from Quebec was going into harm's way, he seemed to be stating the obvious. In fact, he was stepping into a sharpening political debate on the main foreign-policy commitment of Stephen Harper's Conservative government.
过去的一年里，在加拿大派驻阿富汗坎大哈省的2500名士兵中，有22人阵亡。因此当这支部队的指挥官盖伊•拉罗什准将说新来的一支魁北克部队将遇到更严峻挑战时，没有人会对此表示怀疑。其实，他已经陷入了一场关于史蒂芬•哈勃保守党政府外交政策的争论，而这场争论正越演越烈。
Support for the Afghanistan deployment has weakened across Canada but it has collapsed in Quebec (see chart). The French-speaking province has long had a pacifist streak, born of past reluctance to fight for the British empire. That is awkward for Mr Harper. His main chance of converting his government's minority status into a majority at the next election lies in picking up more seats in the province.
虽然在全国范围内支持向阿富汗派兵的人数在不断下降，但在魁北克，这已经非常不得人心了。魁北克省当年就是因为那里的人民不愿武力反抗英国而成立的，因此这个以法语为官方语言的省有着悠久的反战传统。这对哈勃总理来说就不是什么好消息。因为如果他想要在下次选举中改变自己党在议会中只占少数的状况，他必须在魁北克省赢得更多的席位。
So opponents seized on remarks by the defence minister, Gordon O'Connor, suggesting that the newly arrived troops would do more training than fighting. Yet another special deal for Quebec? No, shot back General Rick Hillier, the outspoken chief of the defence staff. There are more Afghan troops to train, he said. Others add that there are fewer Taliban rebels to fight in Kandahar.
正是因为这样，反对党这次抓住了国防部长戈登•奥康纳的讲话发起反击。奥康纳曾暗示说这支新派往阿富汗的部队将更多负责训练阿富汗士兵，而较少参与作战。难道这又是与魁北克的另一次交易吗？一向口无遮拦的国防部参谋长里克•希勒上将否认了反对党的指控。他表示现在有太多阿富汗士兵需要接受训练，有人补充了他没有说出的下半句话，即在坎大哈并没有那么多塔利班武装分子。
General Hillier complained that the armed forces suffered a “decade of darkness” under previous Liberal governments. But he has clashed several times with Mr O'Connor, who has yet to set out a comprehensive defence policy. In the past, such tensions have tended to be resolved by finding a new military commander. This time it is the minister who might go: Mr O'Connor is praised by some for raising defence spending but he is a poor public speaker. He may lose his job in a summer cabinet reshuffle.
希勒将军抱怨军队在过去十年自由党政府的领导下没有得到很好的照顾。但是同时他也与奥康纳发生过多次争执，而奥康纳至今仍未能提出一个全面的国防政策纲领。以前如果遇到这种问题，政府一般会重新认命一位指挥官，但这次或许应该重新认命的是国防部长了。奥康纳因为他扩大了国防支出而得到一些人的好评，但他并不是一个出色的演说者。他很可能在夏季的议会重组中被撤职。
Some officials hope that media coverage of French-speaking soldiers telling their battle stories could win over Quebeckers to the Afghanistan mission. The government is trying to raise the army's presence in the province. A military college near Montreal, which was mothballed by the Liberals, will be reopened. A new air unit, costing C$300m ($285m) and creating 550 jobs, will be based near Quebec City. Even so, expect the new defence minister, if there is one, to speak better French than Mr O'Connor.
一些政府官员希望媒体对说法语的士兵进行的战地追踪报道可以赢得魁北克人对向阿富汗派兵的支持。政府正极力增加军队在该省的上镜率。蒙特利尔附近的一所被自由党政府关闭的军事院校将重新开放。一个新成立的、耗资3亿加元、并创造550个就业岗位的空军中队将驻扎在魁北克城附近。即便如此，或许他们还应该期待，如果可能的话，一个法语说得比奥康纳好的新国防部长。
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