美国国家公共电台 NPR--The U.S.' top general reflects on the changing face of war, 79 years after D-Day

The U.S.' top general reflects on the changing face of war, 79 years after D-Day

Transcript¹

President Biden's top military adviser² says the U.S. has resolved that people — not computers — should continue making life-or-death decisions in war.

Responding to widespread concerns about the power of artificial intelligence, Gen. Mark Milley said U.S. policy — unlike that of some "adversarial countries" — is "to ensure that humans remain in the decision-making loop."

The chairman of the Joint³ Chiefs of Staff reflected on the changing nature of warfare⁴ in an interview with Morning Edition on the eve of the 79th anniversary of D-Day, when thousands of U.S. and allied⁵ forces stormed the beaches of Normandy to begin the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi⁶ Germany.

Milley was among the U.S. officials, World War II veterans and other visitors who visited Normandy to mark the anniversary and honor those who served.

It's a significant trip for Milley in part because it's his last: He plans to retire when his tenure⁷ ends in September — after more than four decades of service in multiple command and staff positions in eight divisions and Special Forces.

Milley, the son of WWII veterans, says defending the principles of the Constitution has been a driving force throughout his life.

"That was the gift my parents gave to me from World War II," he says. "That's the gift of all these veterans on these beaches that we're meeting around here. And I think that's my one obligation to pass that on to the next generation and beyond."

On Friday, France's president awarded Milley the country's highest medal of honor for his more than 40-year military career "spent in defense⁸ of democracy," including his role coordinating⁹ support for Ukraine.

Tuesday's anniversary comes at a pivotal moment for Ukraine, which appears to be launching its long-awaited counteroffensive against Russia (there is speculation¹⁰ that it has started in recent days, though Kyiv says there will be no formal announcement). The U.S. is among the allies that have continued to arm Ukraine with military aid, including advanced fighter jets, for this purpose.

Milley says there are fundamental lessons of warfare that apply in this latest European battlefield. At the same time, he adds, new technology has brought about a major change in the character of war for the first time in decades, with implications for the U.S.

"We've got to make sure we modernize¹¹ our military so that we remain dominant," he says. "And by doing that [we] will deter¹² any sort of potential aggression¹³ by any future great power that might threaten the United States and our interests."

Milley spoke¹⁴ to Morning Edition's Steve Inskeep about lessons from the past — from an ancient Greek historian to his own family's sacrifices — and possible threats of the future.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

Interview highlights

On the fundamentals of warfare that still apply today

If you look back at the ancients, you look at [ancient Greek military historian] Thucydides for example, and he tells us that the cause of war is primarily fear, interest and pride. I think all three of those are clearly at play here in many, many ways with respect to Russia. Their pride was hurt significantly with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the movement of the NATO boundary from the inner-German border between East [and] West Germany and and then moving that NATO boundary further to the east. ... There's fear on both sides there, with Ukraine afraid of Russian and Russia's afraid of encroachment¹⁵ by NATO and being surrounded and their fear of threat to mother Russia. So all of those [are] still in play as there's a lot of lessons coming from the ancients.

On the technological¹⁶ advancements¹⁷ changing the face of war

The character of war fundamentally changes only once in a while ... and the last big one was between World War I and World War II with the introduction of mechanization, the airplane, the radio. But today we're undergoing a fundamental change in the character of war. What you see playing out in Ukraine, you're seeing snippets of that. You see urbanization of battle, you see the widespread use of precision munitions¹⁸, you see the widespread use of electronic warfare, you see the widespread use of unmanned aerial vehicles, offset¹⁹ long-range precision fires, you see joint operations, you see all of that in small form somewhat in Ukraine. ... [The U.S. has] got to make sure that we maintain our edge, we maintain our readiness, and we modernize our force in the ways that are necessary for for the future operating environment, which is going to accentuate²⁰ long-range precision fires, artificial intelligence, robotics, all of those sorts of things are going to be at play in the future.

On what artificial intelligence could mean for the battlefield

There's little doubt in my mind that artificial intelligence is going to play a fundamental and big role in future operations. ... Theoretically, it allows you to see the enemy and see yourself and process all the incredible amounts of information at a faster rate of speed than your adversary²¹. And if you add quantum computing²² and artificial intelligence together, and then if you combine them with robotics, machines, then you get a degree of power and synergy that could change warfare in ways that we've absolutely never seen before. There's a lot of ethical²³ issues here. There's a lot of legal issues. There's a lot of policy issues that will have to be resolved.

Whatever country it is that optimizes²⁴ these capabilities²⁵ ... the best for military operations is going to have a decisive advantage at the beginning of the next conflict. And I want that country to be the United States.

On how the U.S. approach to AI differs from other countries'

The nature of war is built upon the assumption that human beings are driving decision-making in the conduct of war ... The United States' policy right now, actually, with respect to artificial intelligence and its application to military operations, is to ensure that humans remain in the decision-making loop. That is not the policy necessarily of adversarial countries that are also developing artificial intelligence. ...

... As we develop these systems over time, we've got to really pay close attention to how they are developed. Another key thing to recall, too, is we've had various arms control measures in the past because of the potential power of some of these systems. There are potential opportunities here for international regimes that could put limits and mitigate²⁶ the use of some of this stuff in terms of military operation, because these things are extremely powerful technologies and we have yet to realize how powerful they are. And we're just at the beginning of this. So a lot of thought, a lot of very considered analytical²⁷ work is going to have to be done for all the countries of the world to come to grips with these capabilities.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 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。

3 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

4 warfare   

n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突

参考例句：

• He addressed the audience on the subject of atomic warfare.他向听众演讲有关原子战争的问题。
• Their struggle consists mainly in peasant guerrilla warfare.他们的斗争主要是农民游击战。

5 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

6 Nazi   

n.纳粹分子，adj.纳粹党的，纳粹的

参考例句：

• They declare the Nazi regime overthrown and sue for peace.他们宣布纳粹政权已被推翻，并出面求和。
• Nazi closes those war criminals inside their concentration camp.纳粹把那些战犯关在他们的集中营里。

7 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

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 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白

10 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

11 modernize   

vt.使现代化，使适应现代的需要

参考例句：

• It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化，明显失败了。
• There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。

12 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。

13 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。

14 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。

15 encroachment   

n.侵入，蚕食

参考例句：

• I resent the encroachment on my time.我讨厌别人侵占我的时间。
• The eagle broke away and defiantly continued its encroachment.此时雕挣脱开对方，继续强行入侵。

16 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

17 advancements   

n.（级别的）晋升( advancement的名词复数 )；前进；进展；促进

参考例句：

• Today, the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements. 当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Great advancements in drought prediction have been made in recent years. 近年来，人们对干旱灾害的预报研究取得了长足的进步。 来自互联网

18 munitions   

n.军火，弹药；v.供应…军需品

参考例句：

• The army used precision-guided munitions to blow up enemy targets.军队用精确瞄准的枪炮炸掉敌方目标。
• He rose [made a career for himself] by dealing in munitions.他是靠贩卖军火发迹的。

19 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

20 accentuate   

v.着重，强调

参考例句：

• She has beautiful eyes, so we should accentuate them in the makeup.她眼睛很美丽，我们在化妆时应该突出她的眼睛。
• Mrs Obamas speeches rarely accentuate the positive.奥巴马夫人的演讲很少强调美国积极的一面。

21 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。

22 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

23 ethical   

adj.伦理的，道德的，合乎道德的

参考例句：

• It is necessary to get the youth to have a high ethical concept.必须使青年具有高度的道德观念。
• It was a debate which aroused fervent ethical arguments.那是一场引发强烈的伦理道德争论的辩论。

24 optimizes   

v.使最优化，使尽可能有效( optimize的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Emerson optimizes PlantWeb engineering work processes by joining Intergraph's SmartPlant alliance program. 加入Intergraph的SmartPlant联盟计划，艾默生优化了PlantWeb工程工作步骤。 来自互联网
• The algorithm optimizes the flow of inter mode of macro-block decision algorithm. 算法优化了宏块帧间模式选择算法的流程。 来自互联网

25 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

26 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

27 analytical   

adj.分析的；用分析法的

参考例句：

• I have an analytical approach to every survey.对每项调查我都采用分析方法。
• As a result,analytical data obtained by analysts were often in disagreement.结果各个分析家所得的分析数据常常不一致。