美国国家公共电台 NPR Former National Guard Chief On What A 2006 Border Deployment Tells Us Today

 

MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:

President Trump¹ has started filling in the details about his plan to send the National Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump says he would like to see 2,000 to 4,000 Guard troops sent to back up the U.S. Border Patrol. Now, this has been done before. An even larger deployment² happened under President George W. Bush. And that was overseen³ by my next guest, retired⁴ Lieutenant⁵ General Steve Blum. He led the National Guard from 2003 to 2008. And General Blum, welcome to the program.

STEVE BLUM: Thank you.

KELLY: Let me ask you the basic question. Is this a good plan, to send troops to the U.S.-Mexico border?

BLUM: Well, frankly⁶, Mary Louise, I don't have enough specifics on what the plan currently is that's being proposed to really make a judgment⁷ call on whether it's a good idea or it's a less-than-good idea. But if they clearly define the effects that they want and the tasks that they want the Guard to perform, I have absolutely zero concern that the Guard is not up to the task. They are trained. They are equipped. They're available. They're ready. And they have shown very, very many times in their recent history that they're more than up to this kind of a nuanced task.

KELLY: Let me press you on the tasks that they would be doing. What exactly would the National Guard be doing, if deployed⁸ to the U.S.-Mexico border? I mean, just specifically, just - typical day.

BLUM: That has to be clearly defined by the agency that they're supporting. The National Guard will probably be deployed in some arrangement under the Department of Defense⁹, probably will be left under the command and control or - of the governors of the states where they're deployed.

KELLY: But in term...

BLUM: If the list of tasks...

KELLY: Forgive me. In terms of actual - the job that they would be doing, I have read descriptions that include things like repairing fences, you know, rebuilding roads, keeping a lookout¹⁰ with binoculars¹¹ for people crossing. Is that kind of the typical-type thing that the...

BLUM: Well, that's exactly...

KELLY: ...Border Patrol would do?

BLUM: That - those tasks are among the tasks that we did perform for President Bush. The idea is to free up badges back to the border. In other words, let as many Border Patrol people as possible do their primary job, which is protect our borders and to handle immigrants that do not come into our country through a legal process. And...

KELLY: So you're describing a complementary role here - that in an ideal world, if the Border Patrol is freed up from some of the logistics and support roles, they have more time to focus on actually arresting, detaining, patrolling that border.

BLUM: That's right. And they get more out of the numbers of agents that they actually have because they don't have to do other tasks that are not specifically related to that.

KELLY: Let me turn you to the question of timing¹². President Trump has said he would like to see the National Guard at the border until his border wall is built, and we don't know when that - when or if that might materialize. What do you think about the very undefined nature of the timeline?

BLUM: I really can't comment on that. Can the Guard stay there for a sustained period of time, or even indefinitely? The answer is yes.

KELLY: We spoke¹³ this morning - my colleagues on Morning Edition spoke with Jim Stavridis, retired Navy admiral, former commander of U.S. Southern Command and NATO. And he told us he thinks this is a bad idea. Let me let you listen to why.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED BROADCAST)

JIM STAVRIDIS: The choice of active-duty military National Guard on that border is an opportunity cost in the sense that we can no longer train and prepare for the actual mission of those troops, which is combat.

KELLY: General Blum, what do you think of that?

BLUM: Without understanding how the National Guard deploys¹⁴ and generates its forces, that's a reasonable concern. However, you have to remember the National Guard almost approaches a half a million people. So when you're talking about 2,000 people out of a half a million people, what Admiral Stavridis talked about...

KELLY: It's a drop in the bucket of total troop size.

BLUM: ...It would affect that 2,000. But it does not affect the ability of the National Guard to provide forces for the federal mission, for the secretary of defense and the president and/or the governors of our states.

KELLY: That's retired Lieutenant General Steve Blum. He led the National Guard from 2003 to 2008, a period that includes, as you heard, the last major deployment of the Guard to the U.S.-Mexico border. General Blum, thanks so much.

BLUM: OK. Thank you.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

3 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

4 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

5 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

6 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

7 judgment   

n.审判；判断力，识别力，看法，意见

参考例句：

• The chairman flatters himself on his judgment of people.主席自认为他审视人比别人高明。
• He's a man of excellent judgment.他眼力过人。

8 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

9 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

10 lookout   

n.注意，前途，瞭望台

参考例句：

• You can see everything around from the lookout.从了望台上你可以看清周围的一切。
• It's a bad lookout for the company if interest rates don't come down.如果利率降不下来，公司的前景可就不妙了。

11 binoculars   

n.双筒望远镜

参考例句：

• He watched the play through his binoculars.他用双筒望远镜看戏。
• If I had binoculars,I could see that comet clearly.如果我有望远镜，我就可以清楚地看见那颗彗星。

12 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

13 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

14 deploys   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的第三人称单数 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• It then deploys "decoy" programs designed to attract the virus. 然后，它释放“诱饵”去吸引病毒。
• But when that doesn't work, he deploys his secret defense mechanism. 但没有效果，它要施展绝密自卫武器了。