美国国家公共电台 NPR 100 Days In, Trump's Generals Seen As A Moderating Force

 

DAVID GREENE, HOST:

Tomorrow is President Donald Trump¹'s hundredth day in office, and we have been taking stock of his early days in the White House. Today we turn to the generals. Donald Trump is clearly enamored with the military. He went to a military high school. He said he always wanted a Purple Heart. Some of his first trips as president were to military installations. And of course, he turned to generals to fill some senior positions in his administration.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING² MONTAGE)

PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP: General James Mad Dog Mattis.

That General H.R. McMaster will become the national security adviser³.

I said, find General John Kelly. I want to meet him.

GREENE: Let's turn to someone who has covered generals for a very long time. It's NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman.

Hey, Tom.

TOM BOWMAN, BYLINE⁴: Hey, David.

GREENE: So there was some fear or concern early on that Donald Trump was hiring too many generals, that he might be almost militarizing a civilian⁵ government. I mean, what can you say about that? What impact are they having?

BOWMAN: Well, David, I think there's a pretty widespread sense in Washington that it's a good thing these generals are on the job. They're all serious, experienced, well-thought-of on Capitol Hill by both parties. And I think they've moderated President Trump on some issues - you know, pushing him away from his support of torture, having him embrace NATO as a necessary partner. But there is some concern that if you go with generals, that they'll maybe favor military action over other kinds of actions - diplomacy⁶, for example. It's the old, if you choose a hammer, everything's a nail.

Now, some see these generals as a mixed bag. And I spoke⁷ with Mieke Eoyang. She worked on defense⁸ and intelligence issues in Congress and is now at the think tank the Third Way. And this is what she said.

MIEKE EOYANG: On the one hand, they bring a real pragmatism and thoroughness to a policy discussion on the military side. But on the other side, they are very familiar with a certain set of tools and some of the other things that you need - diplomacy, sanctions - you might not have these people putting that forward.

GREENE: Well, Tom, what have we seen? I mean, has there been an overreliance on the military hammer as the tool of choice?

BOWMAN: Well, there has been a robust⁹ effort against the Islamic State. And you're also seeing expanded military action in Yemen and Somalia. And there's a possibility also of sending a few thousand more troops to Afghanistan. General McMaster, the national security adviser, said in a visit to Kabul that if the Taliban don't lay down their arms, they'll be defeated on the battlefields. Now that's something the Afghans haven't been able to do and the U.S. was unable to do, David, with 100,000 troops there years ago, let alone the current 8,500.

GREENE: Well, when you talk about the conflicts, like in Afghanistan and others, I mean, has there been - looking at this in a different way - a reluctance¹⁰ to look at diplomacy, to look at political solutions as a real possibility?

BOWMAN: You know, I don't think so. General Mattis has talked about the need for a political solution in Yemen, for example. And he also said you really need to fully¹¹ fund the State Department, but that's something the Trump budget is not putting forward. He's actually cutting the State Department pretty heavily.

GREENE: The country that is on a lot of minds right now is North Korea. We've seen the U.S. aircraft carrier Carl Vinson steam toward the region. Is this an example of the Trump administration maybe turning to military threats sooner than some would like?

BOWMAN: This appears to be different. I'm told the Pentagon is taking a back seat to the State Department on North Korea. The main thrust is a diplomatic one now, pressuring China in particular. Secretary Mattis and Secretary of State Rex Tillerson have forged a very strong relationship. And those military moves we've been seeing - this is all about sending a message.

GREENE: All right. NPR Pentagon correspondent Tom Bowman.

Thanks, Tom.

BOWMAN: You're welcome, David.

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 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

6 diplomacy   

n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕

参考例句：

• The talks have now gone into a stage of quiet diplomacy.会谈现在已经进入了“温和外交”阶段。
• This was done through the skill in diplomacy. 这是通过外交手腕才做到的。

7 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。

8 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。

9 robust   

adj.强壮的，强健的，粗野的，需要体力的，浓的

参考例句：

• She is too tall and robust.她个子太高，身体太壮。
• China wants to keep growth robust to reduce poverty and avoid job losses,AP commented.美联社评论道，中国希望保持经济强势增长，以减少贫困和失业状况。

10 reluctance   

n.厌恶，讨厌，勉强，不情愿

参考例句：

• The police released Andrew with reluctance.警方勉强把安德鲁放走了。
• He showed the greatest reluctance to make a reply.他表示很不愿意答复。

11 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。