作为一个曾自诩比将军们还了解伊斯兰国(ISIS)的人，唐纳德.特朗普(Donald Trump)似乎渴望得到军方人士的意见。

　　With the likely nomination of John Kelly to run the homeland security department, Mr Trump will have chosen a third retired general for his national security team,

　　他可能提名约翰.凯利(John Kelly)执掌国土安全部(DHS)，这将是他为自己的国家安全团队选择的第三位退役将军。

　　after the selection of James Mad Dog Mattis as defence secretary and Michael Flynn, a controversial intelligence officer, as national security adviser.

　　之前他已选了疯狗(Mad Dog)詹姆斯.马蒂斯(James Mattis)担任国防部长、有争议的情报官员迈克尔.弗林(Michael Flynn)担任国家安全顾问。

　　At the Central Intelligence Agency, Mr Trump has nominated Mike Pompeo, a West Point graduate and retired army captain.

　　他还提名西点军校(West Point)毕业的退役陆军上尉麦克.庞贝(Mike Pompeo)执掌中央情报局(CIA)，

　　And he is considering retired general David Petraeus for secretary of state and Admiral Michael Rogers, head of the National Security Agency, for director of national intelligence, the role that oversees the entire US intelligence community.

　　并且正在考虑让退役将军戴维.彼得雷乌斯(David Petraeus)担任国务卿，让国家安全局(NSA)局长、海军上将迈克尔.罗杰斯(Admiral Michael Rogers)担任国家情报总监(Director of National Intelligence)、掌管美国的整个情报体系。

　　The reliance on military figures has prompted warnings about national security strategy in the Trump administration — both that the military could become more politicised and that policy could become too militarised.

　　特朗普对军方人物的倚重，引发了许多人士对其政府的国家安全战略的警告——军方可能变得更加政治化，而政府政策可能变得更加军事化。

　　Republicans in Congress are already paving the way to arrange a waiver to allow Mr Mattis to serve despite a decades-old rule

　　在国会，共和党议员已经在为促成一项豁免条款、使马蒂斯能够出任国防部长铺路子。

　　that military officers must be out of uniform for seven years before being appointed Pentagon chief.

　　根据一条实行了几十年的法律，军官必须退役满7年后才能被任命为国防部长，这是为了确保文官对军队的控制。

　　But some Democrats want to block any effort to circumvent a law that was put in place to ensure civilian control of the military.

　　一些民主党议员希望阻止任何试图绕过这条法律的努力。

　　Few critics would go as far as Kenneth Roth, executive director of Human Rights Watch, who warned on Twitter that the cabinet was starting to look like a military junta.

　　批评者中最疾言厉色的当数肯尼斯.罗思(Kenneth Roth)，这位人权观察(Human Rights Watch)的执行主任在Twitter上警告称，这个内阁开始像军政府了。

　　But many believe the appointments could erode the necessary political buffers that separate the civilian and military worlds.

　　但很多人的确认为这些任命可能削弱把文官和军方分隔开所必需的政治缓冲区。

　　Many of these generals stand out because what they can do is so remarkable, says Phillip Carter, a retired army officer at the Center for a New American Security in Washington.

　　很多将军脱颖而出，这是因为他们能够做的事不同寻常，退役军官、在华盛顿的新美国安全中心(Center for a New American Security)任职的菲利普.卡特(Phillip Carter)称，

　　But one of the dangers is that it militarises the approach to different policy issues.

　　但有一个危险是，这种安排会使得处理不同政策问题的方式变得军事化。

　　The presence of so many generals might not come as a surprise, given the military’s status as the most respected institution in the US.

　　考虑到军队是美国最受尊敬的机构，如此多的将军进入特朗普政府或许并不令人意外。

　　American voters have shown they resent the decade and a half of wars the country has been involved in, but they lionise the veterans who have fought in them.

　　美国选民对15年来自己国家所参与的战争表现出憎恨情绪，但是他们崇拜那些曾经参战的老兵。

　　A former student of New York Military Academy, Mr Trump often veered during the election campaign between veneration of past generals, notably George S Patton

　　特朗普曾就读纽约军事学院(New York Military Academy)，在竞选期间，他一方面对乔治.巴顿(George S. Patton)、

　　and Douglas Mac-Arthur, and biting attacks on the current generation of commanders who he claimed had been reduced to rubble.

　　道格拉斯.麦克阿瑟(Douglas MacArthur)等已故将军崇拜不已，一方面又对当今的指挥官们大加抨击，说他们是废柴。

　　The first risk of having so many senior military figures in his cabinet is the impact on the active military.

　　在内阁中任命众多军方人物，第一个风险是会对现役军人造成影响。

　　With their eyes on high-level posts in a future administration once they retire, some commanders might be tempted to tailor their advice to politicians in order to win favour.

　　一些指挥官谋求退役后进入新政府中担任高级职位，他们在提出建议时，可能会不由自主地迎合政治人物的观点，以博取对方好感。

　　Martin Dempsey, former chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, warned in the summer about the growing presence in political campaigns of retired military personnel, including Mr Flynn and John Allen, a former Marine general who was supporting Hillary Clinton.

　　前参谋长联席会议主席马丁.邓普西(Martin Dempsey)在今年夏天对退役军官日益参与政治活动的情况发出警告，其中包括弗林和当时支持希拉里.克林顿(Hillary Clinton)的前海军陆战队上将约翰.艾伦(John Allen)。

　　I worry?.?.?.?about military people angling for political jobs as retirement approaches, says Kori Schake, a Stanford scholar who co-wrote a book with Gen Mattis on civil-military relations.

　　我担心……快退役的谋求政治职位的军人，科里.斯卡克(Kori Schake)表示，这位斯坦福大学的学者与马蒂斯将军合著了一本有关文武关系的书。

　　The second potential problem is that in a Trump administration dominated by generals, there is a risk the military may be seen as the solution for many problems and that other approaches will be played down.

　　第二个潜在问题是，在将军们占据重要地位的特朗普政府，军事途径可能被视为很多问题的解决办法，其他解决办法可能被忽视。

　　With a budget that dwarfs other parts of the government, the tendency to look first to the Pentagon for answers during a crisis could become more pronounced.

　　在军事预算远超其他政府部门的情况下，在危机中以五角大楼马首是瞻的倾向可能变得更加突出。

　　The symbolism of having a former general running the homeland department, which is responsible for border security and a range of other domestic security issues, has left some uncomfortable.

　　把负责边境安全及一系列其他国内安全问题的国土安全部交给一位退役将军来执掌，其中的象征意义让一些人感到不安。

　　However, some of Mr Trump’s generals do not fit easily into a warmongering stereotype.

　　不过特朗普提名的一些将军不太符合军人好战的刻板印象。

　　Mr Kelly is the highest ranking recent officer to have lost a child in war after his son Robert, also a Marine, was killed in Afghanistan.

　　凯利是近年在战争中承受丧子之痛的级别最高的军官，他的儿子罗伯特(Robert)（也是海军陆战队员）在阿富汗遇难。

　　Mr Mattis, who has often called for an increase in the state department budget, warned this year that Americans had forgotten the huge death tolls that came with war.

　　常常呼吁增加国务院预算的马蒂斯在今年警告称，美国人已经忘记了伴随战争而来的庞大死亡数字。

　　He said the public view was that we can do what we wish with the Petri dish called the military and there is no consequence, and that there needs to be a little more humility and a little more modesty on the part of those who may have statutory, legal, constitutional authority over the military.

　　他表示，民众的观点是我们可以用被称为军队的培养皿来实现我们的意图，而且没有任何后果，那些可能对军队拥有法定、合法以及宪法权力的人，应该多一点谦卑和谦虚。

　　And while some Democrats have raised concerns about civilian control of the military, others have welcomed the appointment of Mr Mattis to the Pentagon because they believe he will act as a restraining influence on Mr Trump, rather than push him into action.

　　一些民主党人对文官控制军队提出了担忧，而其他人对马蒂斯被提名为国防部长表示欢迎，因为他们认为马蒂斯将会促使特朗普克制，而不会推动特朗普采取行动。

　　The final problem is that military officers do not always make good politicians or White House officials.

　　最后一个问题是，军官并不总能成为出色的政治家或白宫官员。

　　The most respected national security adviser, Brent Scowcroft, was an Air Force general, but Alexander Haig, a former army general, had to resign as Ronald Reagan’s secretary of state after just over a year after causing a civil-military crisis following an assassination attempt on the president.

　　最受尊敬的国家安全顾问布伦特.斯考克罗夫特(Brent Scowcroft)曾是空军将军，但前陆军上将亚历山大.黑格(Alexander Haig)为罗纳德.里根(Ronald Reagan)担任国务卿仅1年多便被迫辞职，因为他在里根遇刺后引发了文官与军方的关系危机。

　　Michael Mullen, former chairman of the joint chiefs, recently said he was worried about the militarisation of the government.

　　前参谋长联席会议主席迈克尔.穆伦(Michael Mullen)最近表示，他担心政府军事化。

　　Mr Mullen said many military brass did not understand enough about politics to navigate that world:

　　穆伦称，很多高级军官对政治的理解不足以使他们在政界应付裕如。

　　I don’t care what any of them say, they don’t know what they are getting into.

　　我不关心他们任何一个人说什么，他们不知道自己要面对什么。