VOA常速英语2019--美国或脱离北约：特朗普diss北约老掉牙（在线收听）

For some 70 years, NATO has been viewed as a crucial pillar of stability by US presidents and lawmakers, Democrats and Republicans alike. But Trump’s views on the Alliance, during his 2016 campaign, broke with that bipartisan consensus. Let me tell you, NATO is obsolete. It was 67 years or it’s over 60 years old. It is...many countries doesn’t cover terrorism, okay? It covers the Soviet Union which is no longer in existence.

近70年来，北约一直是美国各界总统、民主党、共和党眼中保障稳定的中流砥柱。但特朗普总统对北约这个联盟的观点在2016年竞选总统期间已经表过态——他的观点与两党的共同认知不同。我来告诉大家，北约已经过时了。北约成立已经有67年，也就是说，已经60多年了。很多成员国的职责并不涉及反恐，对吧？而北约虽然涉及到苏联问题，但苏联已经解体。

Since his election, President Trump has said he no longer considers NATO obsolete. But he has repeatedly pressed European allies to increase their contributions, like at this summit last July. For years, presidents have been coming to these meetings and talked about the expense, the tremendous expense for the United States and tremendous progress has been made. Everyone’s agreed to substantially up their commitment. They’re going to up it at levels that they’ve never thought of before. Reacting to Tuesday’s New York Times report, analysts say the recent departure of defense secretary James Mattis has them worried about the future of NATO. I think secretary Mattis was the primary break on President Trump’s ambitions and interests in making the Alliance. His removal creates an unbelievable opportunity for the President and for anyone else in the administration who does not see the value that NATO alliance to push forward with withdrawal.

自当选以来，特朗普总统就表示自己不再认为北约是过时的存在。但特朗普一直在向欧洲盟友施压，让其提高贡献，比如去年7月的峰会上就是如此。多年来，各界美国总统一直都有参加北约峰会，也都有讨论到支出的问题——美国的支出有多高，但进展有多慢。每位与会者都同意大幅提升支出。他们会将支出提高到史上最高的水平。在就周二《纽约时报》的一篇报道作出回应时，多位分析师表示，最近国防部长马蒂斯的离任让他们担心北约的未来。我认为，马蒂斯部长是阻止特朗普对北约野心和关切的主要力量。马蒂斯的离任为特朗普及其政府创造了大好机遇，因为特朗普及其政府不认可北约这个联盟的价值，他们可以借此机会推行脱离北约一事。

If this happens, Russian President Vladimir Putin would be the main benefactor, warns Simakovsky. It would be a significant gift to him and he would see it as an open invitation for future aggression in Europe. Some experts say it may be time for the US Congress to send a message to the president by holding a symbolic vote expressing how vital NATO is to US national security and world stability.

一旦美国脱离北约，那么俄罗斯总统普京就会成为主要受益者，西马科夫斯基如是警示道。这对于普京来说是一份大礼，普京一定会视之为一份进犯欧洲的邀请函。一些专家表示，可能是时候让美国国会给特朗普总统发送一个讯号了，这个讯号就是举行一场标志性的投票，内容与北约对美国安全和世界稳定的重要性有关。