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THE SPY MASTERS
间谍大师
Two former intelligence chiefs chart the collapse of faith in government and warn of the dangers of Trumpism.
两名前情报长官描绘了政府公信力的崩坍，提醒大家要警惕特朗普主义的危险性。
IT SOUNDED LIKE A SCANDAL.
听起来像是一场丑闻。
IN A SERIES OF late-May tweets, President Trump alleged that the Obama Administration had placed a spy in his 2016 campaign for political purposes.
五月底，特朗普总统发表了一系列推文，声称2016年大选时，奥巴马政府曾出于政治目的在其阵营中部署间谍。
“This is bigger than Watergate!” he wrote.
“这件事的性质比水门事件还要严重！”他写道。
But “SPYGATE,” as Trump dubbed it, was not exactly what he said it was.
然而，特朗普所谓的“间谍门”的真相并非他所说的那样。
The FBI had reportedly deployed an informant to covertly question low-level members of Trump’s circle who had been contacted by Russian operatives.
据报道，联邦调查局的确部署了一名线人秘密询问特朗普圈子里与俄罗斯特工有往来的一些低层成员。
The goal, according to Democratic and Republican members of Congress who have seen the intelligence, was to figure out what Moscow was up to, not to infiltrate Trump’s campaign.
据看到过有关情报的国会民主党和共和党议员透露，其目的是为摸清莫斯科的动向，而非渗透特朗普的竞选活动。
To James Clapper and Michael Hayden, two long-serving, retired leaders of the U.S. intelligence community,
在现已退休的资深情报机构领导人詹姆斯·克拉珀和迈克尔·海登看来，
Trump’s tirade was just the latest in a string of politically motivated attacks on America’s spies.
特朗普的这番长篇大论不过是他针对美国间谍做出的一系列带有政治动机的攻击中最新的一例。
“(Trump) is undercutting the validity of institutions on which we’re going to have to rely long after he’s left office,”
“(特朗普)正在动摇我们的政府机构，而他离任后的很长一段时间我们都还需仰仗这些机构，”
says Hayden, who led the Central Intelligence Agency from 2006 to 2009 and the National Security Agency from 1999 to 2005.
1999年至2005年间任安全局局长，2006年至2009年任中央情报局局长的海登说道。
Trump “is constitutionally illiterate (and) a real test of our institutions and values, and the country’s resilience,”
1991年至1995年曾任美国国防情报局局长，2010年至2017年担任国家情报总监的克拉珀也表示，
says Clapper, who led the Defense Intelligence Agency from 1991 to 1995 and was Director of National Intelligence from 2010 to 2017.
特朗普“对宪法一无所知，他考验着我们的制度和价值观，也考验着我们国家的弹性”。
That is unusually tough talk from two former Republican appointees.
作为共和党任命的两名前官员，两人的言辞可谓出奇的强硬。
But Hayden and Clapper say the schism between the President and the U.S. intelligence community
但海登和克拉珀表示，总统和美国情报机构之间的分歧，
is really about the breakdown of trust between the government and the governed.
其实质是政府和民众信任的崩坍。
Over the course of their careers, they have watched Americans’ faith in their government collapse.
在他们的职业生涯中，他们就亲眼目睹了美国民众对政府信心的崩溃。
In 1964, 77% of Americans trusted the federal government most or all of the time, according to the Pew Research Center.
皮尤研究中心的数据显示，1964年，77%的美国民众大多数时候甚至是一直都十分信任联邦政府。
As of December 2017, that number was 18%, nearing an all-time low.
截至2017年12月，这一数字已经跌至18%，接近历史最低水平。
Now both men have written books arguing that Trump is tapping this distrust to advance his own power, threatening the stability of the Republic in the process.
如今，两人都已著书立说，证明特朗普在利用这种不信任谋取个人权力，其行为已威胁到了共和国的稳定。
They worry that the steps taken after Watergate to restore public trust in government are collapsing.
他们担心，水门事件后采取的重振政府公信力的举措正在坍塌。
Ultimately, they fear that the consensus that holds the nation together— objective truth—is breaking down.
归根结底，他们担心的是，维系国家统一的共识——客观事实——正在瓦解。
That, they say, has been a precursor to government collapse, civil war and dictatorship in other countries,
从其他国家的情形来看，这一共识的瓦解也是政府垮台，内战，走向独裁统治的前兆，
and they worry the same thing can happen here.
他们担心美国重蹈那些国家的覆辙。
“That’s why this really scares me,” says Hayden.
“这就是我害怕的原因，”海登说。
Clapper and Hayden are quick to say that Trump is more a symptom of America’s dysfunction than its cause.
克拉珀和海登很快又表示，特朗普更多的是美国功能失调的症候而非原因。
But there is a danger in this kind of talk.
但这种论调存在一定的危险性。
Hearing the Republic is under attack from the President can suggest that drastic action is called for,
共和国受到总统攻击的传闻可能意味着需要采取激烈的手段，
which can itself undermine the institutions of government.
而这一举措本身就可能破坏政府机构的完整性。
And exaggerated threats have been just as damaging to public faith in the intelligence community as threats that went undetected.
此外，夸大的威胁和未被发现的威胁一样会损害公众对国家情报部门的信心。
译文由可可原创，仅供学习交流使用，未经许可请勿转载。
