时代周刊:前情报长官提醒大家警惕特朗普主义的危险性(1)

THE SPY MASTERS

间谍大师

Two former intelligence chiefs chart the collapse¹ of faith in government and warn of the dangers of Trumpism.

两名前情报长官描绘了政府公信力的崩坍，提醒大家要警惕特朗普主义的危险性。

IT SOUNDED LIKE A SCANDAL.

听起来像是一场丑闻。

IN A SERIES OF late-May tweets, President Trump² alleged³ that the Obama Administration had placed a spy in his 2016 campaign for political purposes.

五月底，特朗普总统发表了一系列推文，声称2016年大选时，奥巴马政府曾出于政治目的在其阵营中部署间谍。

“This is bigger than Watergate!” he wrote.

“这件事的性质比水门事件还要严重！”他写道。

But “SPYGATE,” as Trump dubbed⁴ it, was not exactly what he said it was.

然而，特朗普所谓的“间谍门”的真相并非他所说的那样。

The FBI had reportedly deployed⁵ an informant to covertly⁶ question low-level members of Trump’s circle who had been contacted by Russian operatives.

据报道，联邦调查局的确部署了一名线人秘密询问特朗普圈子里与俄罗斯特工有往来的一些低层成员。

The goal, according to Democratic and Republican members of Congress who have seen the intelligence, was to figure out what Moscow was up to, not to infiltrate⁷ Trump’s campaign.

据看到过有关情报的国会民主党和共和党议员透露，其目的是为摸清莫斯科的动向，而非渗透特朗普的竞选活动。

To James Clapper and Michael Hayden, two long-serving, retired⁸ leaders of the U.S. intelligence community,

在现已退休的资深情报机构领导人詹姆斯·克拉珀和迈克尔·海登看来，

Trump’s tirade⁹ was just the latest in a string of politically motivated attacks on America’s spies.

特朗普的这番长篇大论不过是他针对美国间谍做出的一系列带有政治动机的攻击中最新的一例。

“(Trump) is undercutting the validity of institutions on which we’re going to have to rely long after he’s left office,”

“(特朗普)正在动摇我们的政府机构，而他离任后的很长一段时间我们都还需仰仗这些机构，”

says Hayden, who led the Central Intelligence Agency from 2006 to 2009 and the National Security Agency from 1999 to 2005.

1999年至2005年间任安全局局长，2006年至2009年任中央情报局局长的海登说道。

Trump “is constitutionally illiterate¹⁰ (and) a real test of our institutions and values, and the country’s resilience,”

1991年至1995年曾任美国国防情报局局长，2010年至2017年担任国家情报总监的克拉珀也表示，

says Clapper, who led the Defense¹¹ Intelligence Agency from 1991 to 1995 and was Director of National Intelligence from 2010 to 2017.

特朗普“对宪法一无所知，他考验着我们的制度和价值观，也考验着我们国家的弹性”。

That is unusually tough talk from two former Republican appointees.

作为共和党任命的两名前官员，两人的言辞可谓出奇的强硬。

But Hayden and Clapper say the schism¹² between the President and the U.S. intelligence community

但海登和克拉珀表示，总统和美国情报机构之间的分歧，

is really about the breakdown¹³ of trust between the government and the governed.

其实质是政府和民众信任的崩坍。

Over the course of their careers, they have watched Americans’ faith in their government collapse.

在他们的职业生涯中，他们就亲眼目睹了美国民众对政府信心的崩溃。

In 1964, 77% of Americans trusted the federal government most or all of the time, according to the Pew Research Center.

皮尤研究中心的数据显示，1964年，77%的美国民众大多数时候甚至是一直都十分信任联邦政府。

As of December 2017, that number was 18%, nearing an all-time low.

截至2017年12月，这一数字已经跌至18%，接近历史最低水平。

Now both men have written books arguing that Trump is tapping this distrust to advance his own power, threatening the stability of the Republic in the process.

如今，两人都已著书立说，证明特朗普在利用这种不信任谋取个人权力，其行为已威胁到了共和国的稳定。

They worry that the steps taken after Watergate to restore public trust in government are collapsing¹⁴.

他们担心，水门事件后采取的重振政府公信力的举措正在坍塌。

Ultimately, they fear that the consensus¹⁵ that holds the nation together— objective truth—is breaking down.

归根结底，他们担心的是，维系国家统一的共识——客观事实——正在瓦解。

That, they say, has been a precursor¹⁶ to government collapse, civil war and dictatorship in other countries,

从其他国家的情形来看，这一共识的瓦解也是政府垮台，内战，走向独裁统治的前兆，

and they worry the same thing can happen here.

他们担心美国重蹈那些国家的覆辙。

“That’s why this really scares me,” says Hayden.

“这就是我害怕的原因，”海登说。

Clapper and Hayden are quick to say that Trump is more a symptom of America’s dysfunction than its cause.

克拉珀和海登很快又表示，特朗普更多的是美国功能失调的症候而非原因。

But there is a danger in this kind of talk.

但这种论调存在一定的危险性。

Hearing the Republic is under attack from the President can suggest that drastic action is called for,

共和国受到总统攻击的传闻可能意味着需要采取激烈的手段，

which can itself undermine the institutions of government.

而这一举措本身就可能破坏政府机构的完整性。

And exaggerated threats have been just as damaging to public faith in the intelligence community as threats that went undetected.

此外，夸大的威胁和未被发现的威胁一样会损害公众对国家情报部门的信心。

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 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。

3 alleged   

a.被指控的，嫌疑的

参考例句：

• It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
• alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为

4 dubbed   

v.给…起绰号( dub的过去式和过去分词 )；把…称为；配音；复制

参考例句：

• Mathematics was once dubbed the handmaiden of the sciences. 数学曾一度被视为各门科学的基础。
• Is the movie dubbed or does it have subtitles? 这部电影是配音的还是打字幕的？ 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 covertly   

adv.偷偷摸摸地

参考例句：

• Naval organizations were covertly incorporated into civil ministries. 各种海军组织秘密地混合在各民政机关之中。 来自辞典例句
• Modern terrorism is noteworthy today in that it is being done covertly. 现代的恐怖活动在今天是值得注意的，由于它是秘密进行的。 来自互联网

7 infiltrate   

vt./vi.渗入，透过；浸润

参考例句：

• The teacher tried to infiltrate her ideas into the children's minds.老师设法把她的思想渗透到孩子们的心中。
• It can infiltrate as much as 100 kilometers into enemy territory at night.可以在夜间深入敌领土100千米。

8 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。

9 tirade   

n.冗长的攻击性演说

参考例句：

• Her tirade provoked a counterblast from her husband.她的长篇大论激起了她丈夫的强烈反对。
• He delivered a long tirade against the government.他发表了反政府的长篇演说。

10 illiterate   

adj.文盲的；无知的；n.文盲

参考例句：

• There are still many illiterate people in our country.在我国还有许多文盲。
• I was an illiterate in the old society,but now I can read.我这个旧社会的文盲，今天也认字了。

11 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。

12 schism   

n.分派，派系，分裂

参考例句：

• The church seems to be on the brink of schism.教会似乎处于分裂的边缘。
• While some predict schism,others predict a good old fashioned compromise.在有些人预测分裂的同时，另一些人预测了有益的老式妥协。

13 breakdown   

n.垮，衰竭；损坏，故障，倒塌

参考例句：

• She suffered a nervous breakdown.她患神经衰弱。
• The plane had a breakdown in the air,but it was fortunately removed by the ace pilot.飞机在空中发生了故障，但幸运的是被王牌驾驶员排除了。

14 collapsing   

压扁[平]，毁坏，断裂

参考例句：

• Rescuers used props to stop the roof of the tunnel collapsing. 救援人员用支柱防止隧道顶塌陷。
• The rocks were folded by collapsing into the center of the trough. 岩石由于坍陷进入凹槽的中心而发生褶皱。

15 consensus   

n.(意见等的)一致，一致同意，共识

参考例句：

• Can we reach a consensus on this issue?我们能在这个问题上取得一致意见吗？
• What is the consensus of opinion at the afternoon meeting?下午会议上一致的意见是什么？

16 precursor   

n.先驱者；前辈；前任；预兆；先兆

参考例句：

• Error is often the precursor of what is correct.错误常常是正确的先导。
• He said that the deal should not be seen as a precursor to a merger.他说该笔交易不应该被看作是合并的前兆。