特朗普是普金的傀儡吗？ [美国媒体]

Donald Trump is travelling to Helsinki to have his first summit with Vladimir Putin despite news that the U.S. Justice Department has  indicted 12 Russian nationals for interfering in the 2016 presidential election.

尽管美国司法部以涉嫌干涉2016年美国总统选举为由起诉了12名俄罗斯国民，特朗普仍前往赫尔辛基与普京举行首次峰会。

Apart from satisfying the American president’s insatiable need for attention, there is no obvious reason for this meeting, no pressing issues that can be settled to the advantage of the United States.

除了满足美国总统不可企及的关注需求外，没有任何召开这次会议的理由，也不能解决美国任何的紧迫问题。

There were calls for Trump to cancel the summit because of the indictments against the Russians, who were acting in their official capacity as intelligence authorities. The White House response, however, contained no condemnation of Russia.

有人呼吁特朗普取消峰会，因为被起诉的那些俄罗斯人官方身份是情报机构的人员。然而，白宫没有对俄罗斯进行谴责。

One could assume that Putin, meantime, is hoping for a meeting much like the one enjoyed by Kim Jong Un — Trump will make dramatic concessions for no reason other
than the compulsion to sound grand.

与此同时人们认为，普京也希望召开这一次会议---（因为就像）特朗普之前做的那样，特朗普将做出戏剧性的让步，除了他的声音会响亮一点。

By seeking to meet with Putin while still under the cloud of Russian involvement in the U.S. election, Trump is feeding into suspicions about Russian influence on his presidency.

在俄罗斯卷入美国大选的阴影下，普京试图寻求与特朗普会面，而特朗普则对俄罗斯对于他任期的影响力持怀疑态度。

Justice can be slow

正义可能会来迟

The intelligence community has concluded Russia interfered in the 2016 presidential election, a finding endorsed by the Senate Intelligence Committee.

情报机构已经认定俄罗斯干涉了2016年美国总统选举，这是参议院情报委员会认可的一份调查结果。

Special counsel Robert Mueller has issued indictments and had hinted at more to come, but legal matters must be done carefully and are therefore slow. But what we know already is sufficient to give us insight into Putin’s subversive actions against the United States.

特别顾问罗伯特·穆勒已经就此提出了起诉，并暗示会在将来进行更多的起诉，但涉及到法律层面上的事情会很仔细的进行，速度会是很缓慢的。不过就我们所知道的已经足以让我们洞悉普京对美国的这次颠覆性行动。

Russian use of social media to manipulate American opinion has been well-documented. But what’s happened since the election is just as problematic. There are those who believe Trump continues to be compromised by Russia  and that he is, in effect, a “stooge” for Putin.

俄罗斯人利用社交媒体操纵美国人的态度这已经得到了充分的证实。但是选举后发生的事情同样有问题。有些人相信特朗普继续受到俄罗斯的威胁，实际上他是普京的“傀儡”。

What could Mueller be looking for as he examines whether Trump might have ties to Russia? And could such a scenario really be possible — that the president of the United States is beholden to Russia? Based on my experience in watching how Russian espionage works, a few things would need to play out for such a scenario to exist.

当穆勒检查特朗普是否与俄罗斯有联系时，他会寻找什么？这种情况真的有可能吗？美国总统对俄罗斯怀有感激之情吗？基于我观察俄罗斯间谍活动的经验，有一些事情需要在这种情况下公布出来。

First you have to “buy” your stooge. You must make him an offer that he cannot refuse. This might mean cash, threats of compromising material and promises of future advantage, such as a big fancy hotel project in Moscow.

首先，你必须买通你的傀儡。你必须向他提出一个他不能拒绝的提议。这可能意味着现金、物质的威胁和对未来优势的承诺，比如在莫斯科的大型豪华酒店项目。

The trickier part is the payoff. This must be done through a conduit, someone discreet and conniving at the same time. If you were dealing with the Mafia, your natural conduit would be the consigliere, a lawyer-like adviser. (Think Robert Duvall in the Godfather movies). Such an individual would have unwavering loyalty to the target and also look clean enough not to attract too much suspicion.

更棘手的部分是回报。这必须通过某种渠道，通过一个同时谨慎又能够纵容这种事情发生的人进行。如果你和黑手党打交道，你的天然渠道将是一个顾问，一个像顾问一样的律师。（想想《教父电影》中的罗伯特杜瓦尔）。这样的个体对目标有坚定的忠诚，而且看起来足够干净，不会引起太多的猜疑。

Any payoff must be carefully passed on to crucial members of the stooge’s party so their election platform conforms to your interests and so your investment is protected after he is elected.

任何回报都必须小心地传递给傀儡党的关键成员，这样他们的选举平台符合你的利益，你的投资在他当选后将得到保护。

And then there is the media. Facebook and other social media platforms are now known to have been used as tools, but television is still a dominant medium. A propaganda organ would be necessary to protect your investment as well.

然后就是媒体。脸谱网和其他社交媒体平台现在被认为是工具，但电视仍然是主流媒体。为了保护你的投资，宣传机构也是必要的。

Finally, Mueller would be looking for others who might either directly help a stooge or at least help maintain the social chaos essential to his survival.

最后，穆勒将寻找那些能够直接对俄罗斯提供帮助或至少帮助他们维持他们生存基本条件的人。

For example, if there are any other prominent organizations in the target country that might have strong appeal to those who have voted your stooge into power, such as associations and some influential industries, then a little money to them would be money wisely spent.

例如，如果目标国家中的任何其他着名组织可能对你的傀儡人有强烈的吸引力，比如社团和一些有影响力的行业，那么给他们一点钱就是很明智的。

Mueller’s investigation has shown us a bit of the sordid network in which Trump is embedded, but the slow pace has left most of us guessing.

缪勒的调查向我们展示了一个肮脏的网络，其中嵌入了特朗普，调查进度很慢，但是给我们大多数人留下了猜测的空间。

Has Trump been a useful idiot, as the Russians call their stooges?

特朗普是否只是一个白痴呢，当俄罗斯人称呼他为傀儡的时候？

Trump is a man who confuses cruelty with strength, and as such could have potentially been an ideal agent for Putin’s needs to marginalize the U.S. Indeed, by initiating trade wars and affronting the G7 (now, in essence, the G6), Trump has weakened the entire West.

特朗普是一个把残忍和力量混为一谈的人，因此，这可能是普京对美国边缘化的理想代理人，通过发动贸易战，冒犯G7（现在，本质上是G6），特朗普削弱了整个西方社会。

It was the most effective way of doing so, since outright warfare is impractical. As Trump went first to NATO before his meeting with Putin, there were concerns the president would do to NATO what he did to the G7 — thereby weakening the only alliance that has a prospect of deterring any Russian future military moves. True to form, he maligned NATO allies and criticized Germany for its reliance on Russian energy before demanding they double their military spending commitments.

这是最有效的方式，因为彻底的战争是不现实的。当特朗普在与普京会晤之前，前往北约时，有人担心总统会在北约内对G7成员们所做的事情做些什么，从而削弱这个唯一有可能阻止俄罗斯未来军事行动的联盟。事实上，他抨击北约盟国，批评德国依赖俄罗斯能源，然后要求他们承诺将军事开支加倍。

European diplomats have been worried about continued U.S. support for NATO. But even as Trump hit allies, he also signed on to efforts to strengthen the alliance against the Kremlin and other rivals, as well as a statement that the alliance does not accept Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.

欧洲外交官一直担心美国是否会继续支持北约。但就在特朗普挑战盟国的同时，他也签署了加强反对克里姆林宫和其他对手联盟的努力，并声明联盟不接受俄罗斯2014年吞并克里米亚。

At the summit with Putin, Trump could recognize Crimea as part of Russia and hand to Putin a formal victory in Syria.

但是在与普京的峰会上，特朗普可能承认克里米亚是俄罗斯的一部分，并承认普京在叙利亚的正式胜利。

What happens next? The Democrats may carry the day in the November mid-term elections and initiate impeachment proceedings against Trump. Mueller may reveal more corruption and collusion, forcing Trump to resign. Both prospects are far enough ahead that Trump will have done much more damage by then.

接下来会发生什么？民主党可能会在十一月的中期选举中行动起来，并开始对特朗普进行弹劾程序。缪勒可能会揭露更多的腐败和勾结行为，迫使特朗普辞职。但是仅仅有这两个前景是远远不够的，特朗普将在那时造成更多的伤害。

Because it’s clear Russia corrupted the 2016 election, the entire process was therefore tainted and not legitimate. The conclusions are simple. There are mounting allegations that Trump is not a legitimate president (something recently suggested, reluctantly, by former Director of National Intelligence, James Clapper) and is a strategic danger to the nation (something put forward by retired Gen. Barry McCaffrey, the most decorated living American general).

因为很明显，俄罗斯破坏了2016年选举，整个选举过程因此被玷污而不合法。这个结论是很简单的。越来越多的指控称特朗普不是一位合法的总统（最近由国家情报局局长詹姆斯·克拉珀提出来），这是对国家的战略威胁（由退休的巴利·麦卡夫瑞将军提出）

Trump’s status as 45th president must be cancelled and everything he has done must be annulled: Tariffs, ensuing trade wars, judiciary appointments starting from the Supreme Court on down, tax changes, separation of children from their parents and anything else that owes its inception to his bogus authority.

特朗普作为第四十五任总统的地位必须被取消，他所做的一切必须废除：关税、随后的贸易战、从最高法院开始的司法任命、税收改变、导致儿童与父母分离的移民政策以及任何归咎于他的错误。

This may sound quite drastic to many, but the logic is simple and the circumstances dire. Julius Caesar once said that “all bad precedents begin as justifiable measures.” The U.S. now finds itself in a Roman-like predicament: Something must now be done to stop the damage that Trump is doing to his country and to the world.

对许多人来说，这听起来很激烈，但逻辑很简单，情况危急。恺撒大帝曾经说过：“所有坏的先例都是从正当的措施开始的。”美国现在发现自己陷入了一个罗马式的困境：现在必须采取措施阻止特朗普对他的国家和世界造成损害。