CGTN时评丨美国的战争"生意"

Across the world, it seems that wherever there is a war, there is the United States. In its 245-year history, the U.S. has only not been at war for 17 years. From the end of World War Two to 2001, Americans were at the heart of 81 percent of the world's conflicts – 201 out of 248 in 153 regions of the world. 

世界上，似乎哪里有战争，哪里就有美国的身影。美国究竟有多好战呢，在它245年的历史中，仅仅17年没有战争。从二战结束到2001年，世界上153个地区发生的248次武装冲突中，由美国发起的就多达201场，约占81%。

The mission always has a positive frame – from "maintaining justice" to "humanitarian intervention" – but the U.S. has launched or become embroiled in wars at a very high cost. During the Korean War, more than 3 million civilians were killed and critical infrastructure was crushed. In the Vietnam War, two million civilians perished and at least 350,000 tonnes of explosive bombs and landmines left a legacy of havoc. In the Kosovo War, the U.S.-dominated NATO bombed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia for 78 straight days, leaving a trail of destruction. 

打着“维护正义”和 “人道主义干预”的旗号，美国频繁发动或参与战争。朝鲜战争，300多万名平民死亡，无数工厂、学校、医院和家庭被摧毁；越南战争，多达200万平民死亡，至少35万吨可爆炸的炸弹与地雷被遗留在了这片土地；科索沃战争，以美国为首的北约对南联盟进行了长达78天的持续轰炸，造成大量平民丧生。

More recently, the 21st century wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria mean that almost every U.S. president since World War Two has declared or intervened overseas. However, while delivering humanitarian disasters to other countries, the United States has enjoyed a money-spinning business.

到21世纪，阿富汗战争、伊拉克战争、叙利亚战争，二战以来的几乎每一任美国总统在任内都曾发动或介入过对外战争。由此带来的人道主义灾难再可怕，也都是其他国家在承受，而美国，则在一边安安稳稳地打着自己的生意算盘。

U.S. News & World Report pointed out that for many years, wars and preparations for hostilities have been integral to America's prosperity and affluence. Indeed, war is the business of America.

《美国新闻与世界报道》杂志曾写道：“多年来，战争和备战与美国的繁荣和影响力是国家的两面一体。战争，这是美国的生意。”

The Business of Oil

石油生意

Oil has been central to many of the "interventions" in recent decades. The U.S. launched the Gulf War partly to wrest oil resources; seized access to oil resources in Central Asia after going into Afghanistan; and used the Iraq War to consolidate its control over oil resources in the Middle East. U.S. strategic analysts predicted before the war that although the cost of the U.S.-Iraq war would be about $177 billion, the value of Iraq's oil reserves was $3.4 trillion. 

石油已经成为美国近几十年发动军事战争的核心目标。美国发动海湾战争，是为了夺取海湾石油资源；通过阿富汗战争，是为了进入中亚抢占石油资源出海口；意图通过伊拉克战争，进一步巩固其对中东地区石油资源的有效控制。美国战略分析家在战前预测，尽管美伊战争所需的总成本将高达约1770亿美元，但是伊拉克的石油储量价值高达3.4万亿美元。

The Business of Military Industry

军工生意

Emerging during World War Two, the military-industrial complex gradually became one of the key pillars of U.S. hegemony. This concentrated economic and military power industry runs for war, feeding a large number of workers and members of Congress along the way. Non-political organizations such as so-called think tanks that specialize in lobbying for the interests of other industries – "political entrepreneurs" – also rely on the system to survive, along with numerous research and development institutions. 

形成于二战期间，军事工业复合体逐渐成为了美国霸权的重要支柱之一。在军事工业复合体中，工业为战争而运转，在战争中成长起来的工业体制养活着大量工人，豢养着大量国会议员，一大批专门为其他产业利益而游说的所谓智库之类的非政治组织——“政治企业家”也靠其生存。

This has created a political biological chain: from the military-industrial complex to voters, then the members of Congress, and political entrepreneurs. How has this chain been maintained over 75 years? The United States has repeatedly chosen the old path of war. If there is war, it must have a stake. If there is no war, it must create one to maintain the military-industrial complex and feed the interests groups waiting for their lucrative scraps.

一个政治生物链条就这样形成了：军工企业（包括众多的研发机构）-选民-议员-政治企业家。二战结束后，这个链条靠什么维持下去呢，美国选择了走战争的老路子。没有战争，那就发动新战争，以此来维持军事工业复合体的运转和喂养其背后的利益集团。

After World War Two, U.S. overseas wars and defense expenditures stimulated economic growth. During the Korean War, the procurement of military supplies purchased by the U.S. government increased from $20.7 billion in 1905 to $65.1 billion in 1953. The tremendous military demand from the Vietnam War catalyzed the U.S. economic boom in the 1960s.  

二战后，美国的海外战争和国防支出拉动了美国经济增长。朝鲜战争期间，美国政府采购军用物资的开销从1905年的207亿美元增加到1953年的651亿美元。越南战争带来的巨大军需刺激了美国六十年代的经济繁荣。

A substantial portion of the weaponry used in the wars that broke out after the end of the Cold War came from the United States. To ensure the huge consumption of the Kosovo war, NATO significantly increased the procurement of materiel, thereby stimulating the development of the industrialized military establishment. 

冷战结束后爆发的几场局部战争中使用的武器装备绝大部分来自美国。为了保障科索沃战争的巨大消耗，北约大幅度增加军用物资采购，从而刺激了美国军事工业的发展。

After the September 11 attacks, American economists published an article titled "Prosperity Will Rise Out of the Ashes" in The Wall Street Journal, predicting that the future war on terrorism would bring prosperity back to the United States. Over the 20 years since the war in Afghanistan began, the stocks of American military industrial giants have soared.

“9·11”事件后美国经济学家在《华尔街日报》发表《繁荣将在灰烬上升起》的文章指出，将来的反恐战争将再度为美国带来繁荣。阿富汗战争20年来，美国军工巨头们的股票一路高涨。

Do you really think that America's attempt to build an image as the "guardian of global peace" after two decades of war in Afghanistan means it cares about winning or losing? What it wants is to fight a war and keep on fighting for its own interests, whatever the consequences for others.

美国费尽心机，试图在长达二十年的阿富汗战争中扮演“世界和平卫士”，你真的认为它在乎输赢吗？它想要的只是为了一己私利而发动并延续战争，根本不顾他人的死活。

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