PBS高端访谈:美国国防部计划在东欧部署军用装备

 　　HARI SREENIVASAN:For the first time since Russian forces annexed¹ Crimea last year, the United States is reportedly poised² to send heavy military equipment into several Eastern European and Baltic nations near Russia. It's meant to reassure³ American allies and to deter⁴ Russian President Vladimir Putin from what the West considers military aggression⁵.

　　New York Times reporter Steven Lee Myers broke the story, and joins me now from Washington, D.C., to explain the Pentagon's possible plan. So, what kind of equipment are we talking about here?

　　STEVEN LEE MYERS:We are talking about a brigade's worth of heavy equipment that would include tanks, armored vehicles, artillery⁶ pieces, and so forth⁷.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:And where would this be stationed?

　　STEVEN LEE MYERS:What they're looking to do is to deploy⁸ it in several of the NATO allies. A bulk of it would be in a place like Poland. They are looking at Bulgaria and Romania, and then smaller contingents⁹ of it that would be in the three Baltic nations, which are — are seen as the most vulnerable to a potential Russian attack.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:And are these countries or have these countries been asking for it? How — what is their sense on the ground on why they need this equipment now?

　　STEVEN LEE MYERS:They have been asking, actually.

　　And it's other NATO members who are a little bit reluctant, including the U.S. before. For many years after the end of the Cold War, NATO didn't look at Russia as an adversary¹⁰. And now, once again, after the events in Crimea, the war in Eastern Ukraine, they're looking at a need to reassure the allies about the United States, the alliance's willingness to defend these countries.

　　Since the annexation¹¹ of Crimea last year, NATO has stepped up a number of exercises that they have been doing, operations, training missions, and so forth. So, you have seen a lot of increased activity. Every time the United States participates in that, they have to send troops from — either from Germany, where there are bases, or all the way from the United States.

　　And when you're dealing¹² with heavy machinery¹³, heavy weapons like tanks, that is an enormous logistical lift. And so a lot of people in the Pentagon are saying, it makes a lot more sense now to have that equipment, as they say, prepositioned in the places where these troops will rotate more and more frequently, and for the time being.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:So, how far along is the plan to deploy these weapons, this equipment?

　　STEVEN LEE MYERS:The Pentagon has been working on this for a number of months now.

　　And it's expected that the secretary of defense¹⁴, Ashton Carter, will present this to the NATO defense ministers when they meet in Brussels later this month.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:Is it in anticipation¹⁵ of an increased amount of aggression from Russia?

　　STEVEN LEE MYERS:I think it's more of a response to the aggression that has been seen.

　　I mean, you have seen a lot of additional Russian overflights, a lot of Russian exercises right on the borders, in the Baltic area particularly, but also in the south, around, obviously, Eastern Ukraine.

　　And the — I think that they're — the — the NATO allies, NATO commanders are looking at this as a way to build up reassurance¹⁶, a trip wire, if you will, that, you know, any move against any of these NATO allies would encounter very quickly American military equipment and the troops who could quickly respond and fall in on it.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:So, one country's prepositioning could be another country's threat, right? So, what is the response from the Kremlin, or has there been one yet?

　　STEVEN LEE MYERS:There hasn't been so far today, that I have seen anyway.

　　And, you know, there's no question that they will — that they will view this as an aggressive act. I mean, Putin, for a long time, has been complaining that NATO, specifically the American military, is encroaching closer and closer to Russia's borders.

　　And the fact is, is that the United States really hasn't. And since the events over the last year, you know, it's now becoming a reality, exactly what Putin feared most.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:And so what are the likely outcomes here?

　　STEVEN LEE MYERS:I think there are a lot of people in the NATO alliance, in the United States that don't want to see us back into a cycle of response and counter-response, tit-for-tat kind of buildup.

　　But the fact is, is that, you know, with so many Russian troops so close to NATO's borders with the Baltic states, that, you know, they're — the Pentagon is considering and believes it necessary to show a little bit more resolve, commitment to the collective defense of the alliance.

　　HARI SREENIVASAN:All right, Steven Lee Myers of The New York Times joining us from D.C., thanks so much.

　　STEVEN LEE MYERS:Thank you.

1 annexed   

[法] 附加的，附属的

参考例句：

• Germany annexed Austria in 1938. 1938年德国吞并了奥地利。
• The outlying villages were formally annexed by the town last year. 那些偏远的村庄于去年正式被并入该镇。

2 poised   

a.摆好姿势不动的

参考例句：

• The hawk poised in mid-air ready to swoop. 老鹰在半空中盘旋，准备俯冲。
• Tina was tense, her hand poised over the telephone. 蒂娜心情紧张，手悬在电话机上。

3 reassure   

v.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• This seemed to reassure him and he continued more confidently.这似乎使他放心一点，于是他更有信心地继续说了下去。
• The airline tried to reassure the customers that the planes were safe.航空公司尽力让乘客相信飞机是安全的。

4 deter   

vt.阻止，使不敢，吓住

参考例句：

• Failure did not deter us from trying it again.失败并没有能阻挡我们再次进行试验。
• Dogs can deter unwelcome intruders.狗能够阻拦不受欢迎的闯入者。

5 aggression   

n.进攻，侵略，侵犯，侵害

参考例句：

• So long as we are firmly united, we need fear no aggression.只要我们紧密地团结，就不必惧怕外来侵略。
• Her view is that aggression is part of human nature.她认为攻击性是人类本性的一部份。

6 artillery   

n.(军)火炮，大炮；炮兵(部队)

参考例句：

• This is a heavy artillery piece.这是一门重炮。
• The artillery has more firepower than the infantry.炮兵火力比步兵大。

7 forth   

adv.向前；向外，往外

参考例句：

• The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
• He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。

8 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

9 contingents   

（志趣相投、尤指来自同一地方的）一组与会者( contingent的名词复数 )； 代表团； （军队的）分遣队； 小分队

参考例句：

• We were forced to rely on French contingents. 我们势必被迫依恃法国驻军。
• The internal security forces are composed of contingents and mobile divisions. 内卫部队由各总队和机动师组成。

10 adversary   

adj.敌手，对手

参考例句：

• He saw her as his main adversary within the company.他将她视为公司中主要的对手。
• They will do anything to undermine their adversary's reputation.他们会不择手段地去损害对手的名誉。

11 annexation   

n.吞并，合并

参考例句：

• He mentioned the Japanese annexation of Korea in 1910 .他提及1910年日本对朝鲜的吞并。
• I regard the question of annexation as belonging exclusively to the United States and Texas.我认为合并的问题，完全属于德克萨斯和美国之间的事。

12 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

13 machinery   

n.(总称)机械，机器；机构

参考例句：

• Has the machinery been put up ready for the broadcast?广播器材安装完毕了吗？
• Machinery ought to be well maintained all the time.机器应该随时注意维护。

14 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。

15 anticipation   

n.预期，预料，期望

参考例句：

• We waited at the station in anticipation of her arrival.我们在车站等着，期待她的到来。
• The animals grew restless as if in anticipation of an earthquake.各种动物都变得焦躁不安，像是感到了地震即将发生。

16 reassurance   

n.使放心，使消除疑虑

参考例句：

• He drew reassurance from the enthusiastic applause.热烈的掌声使他获得了信心。
• Reassurance is especially critical when it comes to military activities.消除疑虑在军事活动方面尤为关键。