【英语国际】美国前防长盖茨回忆录指责奥巴马 Gates Faults Obama Over Afghanistan

Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates compiled a pointed critique of President Barack Obama's oversight of the Afghanistan war in a new memoir that exposes strains within the administration over a vital period for U.S. military strategy.

Mr. Gates writes that the president lost faith in the very war strategy he approved, wanted most to find a way out of combat, soured on his handpicked commander and tried to micromanage Pentagon policy, with White House aides facing off against four-star generals.

But Mr. Obama is far from the only source of annoyance to Mr. Gates, who colleagues describe as a calm and courtly man whose tough appraisals are all the more surprising because of his stature as a civil and nonpartisan official.

He dishes out withering criticism of what he calls rude and incompetent lawmakers in Congress divided by partisanship and unwilling to compromise. He also aims criticism at a Pentagon bureaucracy unwilling to shift direction and at overly press-friendly senior military officers.

'I did not just have to wage war in Afghanistan and Iraq and against al Qaeda; I also had to battle the bureaucratic inertia of the Pentagon, surmount internal conflicts within both administrations, avoid the partisan abyss in Congress, evade the single-minded parochial self-interest of so many members of Congress,' he writes.

His views of Mr. Obama are sure to draw the broadest national and international attention, particularly coming from the highest-ranking cabinet member yet to write a book about his tenure.

The White House responded to the memoir by praising Mr. Gates, wishing him a full recovery from a fractured vertebrae suffered in a Jan. 1 fall, and disagreeing with the book's theses.

Mr. Gates's memoir, entitled 'Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War,' is being released Jan. 14. The Journal reviewed excerpts of the book. The New York Times and Washington Post first wrote about the 594-page book on Tuesday.

Mr. Gates's insider account could reverberate in the 2016 presidential contest. He offers sometimes unflattering assessments of at least two potential candidates: former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Vice President Joe Biden.

Of the two, Mr. Gates seems to have more regard for Mrs. Clinton. 'I found her smart, idealistic, but pragmatic, tough-minded, indefatigable, funny, a very valuable colleague, and a superb representative of the United States all over the world,' he writes.

At the same time, he recounts a conversation between Mrs. Clinton and Mr. Obama concerning the Bush administration's 2007 attempt to change the tempo of the Iraq war through a surge of U.S. troops.

'Hillary told the president that her opposition to the surge in Iraq had been political because she was facing him in the Iowa primary,' Mr. Gates writes. '...The president conceded vaguely that opposition to the Iraq surge had been political. To hear the two of them making these admissions, and in front of me, was as surprising as it was dismaying.'

A spokesman for Mrs. Clinton could not immediately be reached for comment. She also is composing a memoir, due out later this year.

As for Mr. Biden, Mr. Gates said he bristled at the vice president's attempts to give him orders, reminding him that he wasn't in the 'chain of command.'

He said Mr. Biden was suspicious of military leadership. 'I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue of the past four decades,' Mr. Gates writes.

The White House said Mr. Obama disagreed with Mr. Gates's views of Mr. Biden. 'From his leadership on the Balkans in the Senate, to his efforts to end the war in Iraq, Joe Biden has been one of the leading statesmen of his time, and has helped advance America's leadership in the world. President Obama relies on his good counsel every day,' said Caitlin Hayden of the White House National Security Council.

Responding more generally to Mr. Gates's book, Ms. Hayden said: 'The president deeply appreciates Bob Gates's service as Secretary of Defense, and his lifetime of service to our country. Deliberations over our policy on Afghanistan have been widely reported on over the years, and it is well known that the President has been committed to achieving the mission of disrupting, dismantling and defeating al Qaeda, while also ensuring that we have a clear plan for winding down the war, which will end this year.'

Ms. Hayden added: 'As has always been the case, the president welcomes differences of view among his national security team, which broaden his options and enhance our policies. The president wishes Secretary Gates well as he recovers from his recent injury, and discusses his book.'

Mr. Gates, a Republican, first served as defense secretary for former President George W. Bush, remaining on as Mr. Obama's defense chief when the Democrat moved into the White House in 2009 until he stepped down in 2011. At his retirement, Mr. Obama awarded Mr. Gates the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor.

Under Mr. Bush, the Afghanistan war effort languished as resources were redirected to Iraq, Mr. Gates writes. When Mr. Obama took office, he ordered a troop surge in an effort to turn the tide. It has long been believed that Mr. Obama quickly soured on the troop buildup and the counterinsurgency strategy he approved in December 2009.

Mr. Gates's memoir confirms that widely held supposition. He writes that he didn't doubt Mr. Obama's support for the troops, but did doubt the commander-in-chief's support for the mission.

A debate over Afghanistan strategy in the summer and fall of 2009 deeply divided the military and the Obama administration--divisions that continued when security gains didn't quickly materialize. Mr. Gates writes that the 'protracted, frustrating Afghanistan policy review' created ill will.

He writes that most of his conflicts with the administration in 2009 and 2010 weren't over policy, but over the National Security Council staff's 'micromanagement and operational meddling, which I routinely resisted.'

'For an NSS staff member to call a four-star combatant commander or field commander would have been unthinkable when I worked at the White House--and probably cause for dismissal. It became routine under Obama,' he writes. 'I directed commanders to refer such calls to my office.'

He added: 'The controlling nature of the Obama White House, and its determination to take credit for every good thing that happened while giving none to the career folks in the trenches who had actually done the work, offended Secretary Clinton as much as it did me.'

In what appears to be one of Mr. Gates most pointed critiques of Mr. Obama, he describes a White House meeting in March 2011 where Mr. Obama expressed doubts about Gen. David H. Petraeus, the man he had chosen to lead the war effort, as well as Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

'As I sat there, I thought: The president doesn't trust his commander, can't stand Karzai, doesn't believe in his own strategy and doesn't consider the war to be his,' Mr. Gates writes. 'For him, it's all about getting out.'

Through a spokesman, Gen. Petraeus declined to comment.

Mr. Gates also offered praise of Mr. Obama, saying the president was willing to make decisions counter to his advisers and unpopular with Democrats.

Mr. Gates also writes that he personally was treated well by the White House and Congress, but was frustrated by the difficulty of getting anything done in Washington.

'Over time, the broad dysfunction of today's Washington wore me down, especially as I tried to maintain a public posture of nonpartisan calm, reason and conciliation,' he writes.

Reflecting on the two presidents he served, Mr. Gates writes that he had fewer issues with Mr. Bush, but noted that by the time he arrived, that administration had made its big national security decisions and the 'sharp-elbowed political gurus' were gone.

In contrast, Mr. Gates served under Mr. Obama as the new administration to both find its way and break from the past.

'I joined a new, inexperienced president determined to change course--and equally determined from day one to win re-election,' Mr. Gates writes.

美国前国防部长盖茨(Robert Gates)在一部新的回忆录中尖锐地抨击总统奥巴马(Barack Obama)对阿富汗战争的疏忽。其回忆录暴露了美国军事策略关键时期政府内部的紧张关系。

盖茨写道，奥巴马对于他自己批准的战争策略没有信心，最希望找到从战争事务中脱身的办法，与他亲自挑选的指挥官交恶，并试图对国防部政策进行微观管理，情况就是白宫助手与四星上将发生了争执。

但奥巴马远非唯一令盖茨烦恼的源头。盖茨的同事们说他是个沉着威严的人，由于他身为非党派文职官员的地位，他的严厉评价更令人意外。

Bloomberg美国前国防部长盖茨在一部新的回忆录中抨击总统奥巴马对阿富汗战争的疏忽。他狠狠地指责他所说的无礼且无能的国会议员囿于党派之争、不愿妥协。他还将抨击目标对准了不愿意改变方针的国防部官僚，以及对媒体过于友好的军方高层。

他写道，我不光必须要在阿富汗和伊拉克开展战事，对抗基地组织(al Qaeda)；我还必须对抗国防部的官僚主义惰性，克服两个政府各自的内部矛盾，避免陷入国会的党派深渊，并避开众多国会议员一根筋的地方利己主义。

他对奥巴马的看法肯定会在美国国内和国际上吸引极大的关注，尤其是奥巴马本人的关注，这位美国最高级别官员尚未出书谈论自己的任期。

白宫对这部回忆录的回应是称赞盖茨，希望因1月1日摔伤颈椎的他完全康复，同时对他在书中的说法表示异议。

盖茨的回忆录题为《责任：战争中的部长回忆录》(Duty: Memoirs of a Secretary at War)，将于1月14日发布。《华尔街日报》看到了这本书的节选。《纽约时报》(New York Times)和《华盛顿邮报》(Washington Post)率先在周二评论了这本594页的回忆录。

盖茨以内部人士身份进行的叙述可能会影响2016年总统大选。他对至少两位潜在总统候选人进行了有时坦率直言的评价：前美国国务卿希拉里·克林顿(Hillary Clinton)和副总统拜登(Joe Biden)。

在这二人之中，盖茨似乎对克林顿更为尊重。他写道，我觉得她聪慧、理想主义，但同时又务实、意志坚定、不屈不挠、幽默，是一个非常难得的同僚，也是在全世界代表美国的卓越人物。

同时，他还回忆了克林顿与奥巴马之间的一场谈话，其内容是关于布什政府2007年试图通过增派美国军队改变伊拉克战争的进程。

盖茨写道，希拉里告诉总统，她反对增兵伊拉克是出于政治上的原因，因为她当时在艾奥瓦州的初选中与他对阵……总统含糊地同意了她反对增兵伊拉克是出于政治动机的说法。听到他们两人达成了这种共识，而且是当着我的面，这让我吃惊，同时也令人沮丧。

记者无法立即联络到克林顿的发言人置评。克林顿也在撰写回忆录，定于今年晚些时候出版。

至于拜登，盖茨说他对于这位副总统试图向他发号施令感到恼火，提醒拜登说他并不属于指挥系统。

他说，拜登对军方领导层抱有怀疑。盖茨写道，我认为他在过去40年中几乎所有重大外交政策和国家安全问题上的看法都是错的。

白宫说，奥巴马不同意盖茨对拜登的看法。白宫国家安全委员会(White House National Security Council)发言人海登(Caitlin Hayden)说，从他任参议员时在巴尔干问题上发挥的领导作用，到他为结束伊拉克战争所做的努力，拜登一直是他所在时代的优秀政治家之一，帮助推进了美国在全世界的领导地位；奥巴马总统每天都依赖他的良言忠告。

海登在对盖茨这本书做出一般性回应时说，总统非常感激盖茨在担任国防部长时所做的工作，以及他有生之年为美国做出的贡献；这些年来，有关我们的阿富汗政策的反思一直广有报道，而且众所周知的是，总统一直致力于达成破坏、瓦解和击败基地组织这一使命，同时确保我们有一个逐步结束这场战争的清晰方案，该战争将于今年结束。

海登还说，总统一贯欢迎自己的国家安全团队成员抱持不同观点，这能够拓宽他的选择，让我们的政策更加坚实。总统希望盖茨防长身体健康，早日从不久前所遭受的创伤中恢复，并与他讨论他的这本书。

盖茨是共和党人，第一次出任国防部长是在前总统小布什(George W. Bush)主政期间，2009年民主党人奥巴马入主白宫，他又在奥巴马政府留任防长一职，并于2011年离任。盖茨退休的时候，奥巴马授予盖茨总统自由勋章(Presidential Medal of Freedom)，该勋章是美国对非军方人员的最高表彰形式。

盖茨写道，在小布什主政时期，美国并不积极在阿富汗用兵，因为当时的精力主要在伊拉克。在奥巴马上台之后，他下令大幅增兵阿富汗，意图改变当时的局势。长期以来人们一直认为，2009年12月奥巴马批准了增兵计划和平叛战略后，很快就对此失去了兴趣。

盖茨的回忆录证实了这一广为流传的猜想。他写道，他并不怀疑奥巴马对军队的支持，但他怀疑三军总司令对这次使命的支持。

2009年夏季和秋季的一次有关阿富汗战略的辩论令军方与奥巴马政府产生了深刻的分歧，这一分歧在安全得益没有很快实现的时候得益继续。盖茨写道，旷日持久、令人愤懑的阿富汗政策审议滋生了不满情绪。

他写道，2009年和2010年间，他与行政分支的大多数摩擦都与政策无关，而在于国家安全委员会办事人员的“微观管理”和干涉，我对此类事情相当抵触。

他写道，我在白宫做事的时候，国家安全系统的一个办事人员给四星作战指挥官或是战地指挥官打电话这种事是不可想象的，而且很可能会导致这个人被开除；但在奥巴马政府，这种事成了惯例；我让指挥官们把这类电话转给我的办公室。

他补充道，奥巴马主持下的白宫有很强的控制欲，一旦发生什么好事就要争功，而前线的人则什么功劳都得不到，但事情确是这些人干的，不仅我对此感到不满，国务卿克林顿也不满。

盖茨在书中写了这样一件事，在这件事上盖茨对奥巴马提出了最尖锐的批评。2011年3月白宫的一次会议上，奥巴马表达了对阿富汗总统卡尔扎伊(Hamid Karzai)和彼得雷乌斯(David H. Petraeus)的疑虑，彼得雷乌斯是奥巴马选来担任战争领导者的人。

盖茨写道，我坐在那里想：这个总统不信任他的司令，忍受不了卡尔扎伊，不相信自己的战略，也不认为这是他的战争；对他来说，最重要的就是摆脱战争。

彼得雷乌斯通过发言人表示不予置评。

盖茨也称赞了奥巴马，说他不惮做出与他的顾问们所提意见不同的、不受民主党人士欢迎的决策。

盖茨还写道，白宫和国会对他本人很好，但在华盛顿想要办成什么事太难了，这让他感到沮丧。

他写道，华盛顿无法正常运转，久而久之我对此感到非常疲惫，特别是，我还得努力保持一种没有党派倾向的冷静、理性、有调停能力的公共形象。

盖茨在书中对他服务过的两位总统进行了反思，他写道，他跟小布什的矛盾较少，但他指出，在他上任时，小布什政府已经就重大国家安全事项做出了决策，那些爱耍手腕的政治导师已经不在了。

相比之下，盖茨在奥巴马政府任职时，新政府正在试图找到自己的路，走与过去不同的路。

盖茨写道，我搭档的这位新总统毫无经验，他决心要改弦更张，而且从上任第一天起就决心要赢得连任。