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Bolton's Request to Counter Iran Alarms Pentageon
博爾頓對抗伊朗的要求引五角大樓驚慌
By Eric Schmitt and Mark Landler
文/埃里克·施密特，馬克·蘭德勒
Senior Pentagon officials are voicing deepening fears that
五角大樓高級官員表示，他們越來越擔心
President Trump’s hawkish national security adviser, John R. Bolton,
特朗普總統的鷹派國家安全顧問約翰·博爾頓
could precipitate a conflict with Iran at a time when Mr. Trump is losing leverage in the Middle East by pulling out American troops.
可能會在特朗普撤軍進而失去美國在中東的影響力之際，突然對伊朗發起沖突。
At Mr. Bolton’s direction, the National Security Council asked the Pentagon last year
在博爾頓的指示下，去年，國家安全委員會曾要求五角大樓
to provide the White House with military options to strike Iran, Defense Department and senior American officials said on Sunday.
向白宮提議對伊朗展開軍事行動，國防部和多位高級官員周日表示。
The request, which alarmed then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and other Pentagon officials,
在博爾頓提出這一要求之前，該要求令當時的國防部長吉姆·馬蒂斯和五角大樓的其他官員感到十分驚恐，
came after Iranian-backed militants fired three mortars or rockets into an empty lot on the grounds of the United States Embassy in Baghdad in September.
伊朗支持的武裝分子曾在9月份時往美國駐巴格達大使館的空地上發射了三枚迫擊炮或火箭彈。
In response to Mr. Bolton’s request, which The Wall Street Journal first reported,
針對博爾頓的這一請求，《華爾街日報》率先登出了此事，
the Pentagon offered some general options, including a cross-border airstrike on an Iranian military facility that would have been mostly symbolic.
五角大樓給出了幾個常規選項，比如對伊朗最具代表性的一處軍事設施進行跨境空襲。
But Mr. Mattis and other military leaders adamantly opposed retaliating, arguing that the attack was insignificant —a position that ultimately won out, these officials said.
但馬蒂斯和其他軍事領導人堅決反對實施這類報復行為，聲稱伊朗的這次襲擊其實無關緊要——最終他們的這一立場勝出了，這些官員說。
Such a strike could have caused an armed conflict and could have prompted Iraq to order the United States to leave the country,
因為這樣的襲擊可能會引發武裝沖突，甚至可能導致伊拉克命令美軍撤出該國，
said a senior American official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss internal policy deliberations.
一名不愿透露姓名的高級官員在評價內部的政策協商時說。
Since Mr. Bolton took over from H.R. McMaster in April, he has intensified the administration’s policy of isolating and pressuring Iran —
自從今年4月接替麥克馬斯特（成為特朗普的國家安全顧問）以來，博爾頓就加緊了政府對孤立伊朗、逼迫伊朗的政策，
reflecting an animus against Iran’s leaders that dates back to his days as an official in the George W. Bush administration.
這也反映了他從在小布什政府任職時就對伊朗領導人產生的敵意根深蒂固。
As a private citizen, he later called for military strikes on Iran, as well as regime change.
作為普通民眾，后來他又呼吁對伊朗進行軍事打擊，還要求對伊朗政權進行更迭。
Mr. Bolton has made headway on some issues, like persuading Mr. Trump to withdraw from the Iran nuclear deal,
在部分問題上博爾頓確實取得了一些進展，比如他說服了特朗普退出伊朗核協議,
but has had less success with others, like maintaining an American military presence in northeastern Syria to counter Iranian influence —
但在其他問題上就沒有那么樂觀了，比如在繼續維持美國在敘利亞東北部的軍事力量從而對抗伊朗對敘利亞的影響一事上——
something Mr. Bolton vowed to do only weeks before the president announced in December that he was pulling out.
總統去年12月宣布從敘利亞撤軍的幾周前，博爾頓才信誓旦旦地做出了這一承諾。
In asking for military options, a senior administration official said, Mr. Bolton was merely doing his job as national security adviser.
博爾頓請求采取軍事行動，一位高級政府官員說，也不過是在履行他作為國家安全顧問的職責罷了。
He pointed out that the Iranian-backed militants also targeted the American Consulate in Basra.
他指出，伊朗支持的武裝分子還襲擊了美國駐（伊拉克）巴士拉的領事館。
“The N.S.C. coordinates policy and provides the president with options to anticipate and respond to a variety of threats,”
“國家安全委員會對政策進行了協調，并為總統提供了防范并應對各種威脅的選擇，”
said a spokesman for the National Security Council, Garrett Marquis.
國家安全委員會發言人加勒特·馬奎斯說到。
Mr. Bolton, 70, is not the only Iran hawk in Mr. Trump’s circle of top advisers.
在特朗普的高級顧問圈子里，70歲的博爾頓并不是唯一一個對伊朗持強硬態度的人。
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo declared in a speech at the American University in Cairo last week that
國務卿邁克·龐培上周在開羅美利堅大學發表演講時就宣稱，
“countries increasingly understand that we must confront the ayatollahs, not coddle them.”
“各國都已經越來越清楚地認識到，我們必須跟那些阿亞圖拉硬碰硬，而不是縱容他們。”
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