驻阿富汗美军将关闭快餐供应点

Fast food joints¹ where soldiers wolf down burgers and pizza will soon be a thing of the past at bases in Afghanistan, as the US military reminds soldiers they are at war and not in "an amusement park".

在美军驻阿富汗军事基地，你再也看不到士兵们在快餐供应点大吃汉堡和比萨的景象了。美国军方日前提醒驻阿士兵，他们现在是在战场，而不是在“游乐园”。

Airfield² May 14, 2009." width="399" height="266" src="http://www.enread.com/upimg/100410/4_053704_1.jpg" />
US soldiers walk in front of a meal station at Kandahar Airfield May 14, 2009.

In the sprawling³（蔓生的） military base at Kandahar, the fast food outlets⁵ facing the axe⁶ include Burger King, Pizza Hut, and the US chain restaurant T.G.I. Friday's that features a bar with alcohol-free margaritas and other drinks - all set along the bustling⁷（忙乱的，熙熙攘攘的） "Boardwalk" area of the base.

On any given day, the giant square-shaped walkway features the surreal（超现实主义的，离奇的） sight of soldiers sipping⁸（啜饮） gourmet⁹ coffee（精制的咖啡） and eating chocolate pastries¹⁰（甜点，点心） with guns slung¹¹ across their shoulders, while Canadians play ice hockey at a nearby rink and fighter jets thunder overhead.

The US military says its beef with the burger joints is that they take up valuable resources like water, power, flight and convoy¹² space and that cutting back on non-essentials is key to running an efficient military operation.

"This is a war zone - not an amusement park," Command Sgt. Maj. Michael Hall wrote in a blog earlier this year.

"Supplying nonessential luxuries to big bases like Bagram and Kandahar makes it harder to get essential items to combat outposts（前哨站，警戒部队） and forward operating bases, where troops who are in the fight each day need resupply with ammunition¹³（弹药，军火） , food and water."

Warning that concessions¹⁴（优惠，让步） like Orange Julius, Dairy Queen and Military Car Sales were also on the exit list, Hall said less-obvious changes were coming too - including fewer canned and bottled goods coming into the country as well as fewer first-run movie showings and some entertainment programs.

For now, fast food joints like Burger King which operate out of little shacks¹⁵（棚户） along the Kandahar boardwalk are still doing brisk（敏锐的，轻快的） business, with lines snaking outside their counters, but their contracts are not expected to be renewed when they expire（终止，期满） .

A motley（杂色的，混杂的） crew of other stores selling Afghan books, jewelry¹⁶ and phone cards and the busy Canadian Tim Horton's outlet⁴ that sells coffee and doughnuts（甜甜圈） will stay on.

Some US soldiers privately¹⁷ grumble¹⁸ about（发牢骚，抱怨） the cutbacks（削减，裁员） , but others said they were not bothered by the new edict.

Those desperate for comfort food always have the option of the "Chef's short order" section at the dining halls, where fried calamari（鱿鱼） rings, fish fingers（炸鱼条） and burgers are free for soldiers and available in abundance.