美国传统盟友对马蒂斯辞职表示担忧

US Allies Worry about Mattis’ Resignation

Traditional allies of the United States are expressing concern about the resignation of U.S. Defense¹ Secretary Jim Mattis.

President Donald Trump² announced Thursday that Mattis will leave the job in February. The announcement came a day after Trump said that U.S. troops would leave Syria.

The Defense Department opposed the troop withdrawal³.

For several years, U.S.-supported forces in the Middle East have made progress against the Islamic State (IS). Defeating IS forces was just one part of a plan Mattis had for Syria. He wanted to reduce U.S. troop numbers there after successful completion of the three-part plan.

The president and Mattis disagreed on the issue. They also have different ideas about support for America’s traditional alliances. In his resignation letter, Mattis wrote that the United States cannot protect its interests without “showing respect to (our) allies.”

Overseas reaction

The French Defense Minister Florence Parly spoke⁴ about the resignation. She said that French forces were in Middle East as part of a coalition⁵ “led by the Americans.” Trump’s decision “changes the situation,” she added.

Britain’s Minister of State for the Middle East, Alistair Burt, wrote that “If allies cannot be relied upon, others are sought to take their place.” The social networking website Twitter published his comments.

Former Swedish Prime Minister Carl Bildt tweeted the U.S. move was a “morning of alarm in Europe.”

Defense Secretary Mattis is one of the most highly respected members of Trump’s foreign policy team. He helped lead the invasion of Iraq in 2003 and later led the U.S. Central Command until he retired⁶ in 2013.

In his resignation letter to Trump, Mattis wrote that the president should have a Secretary of Defense who agreed with him on foreign policy. He added, “I believe it is right for me to step down from my position.”

In addition to Syria, the two men disagreed about other issues, such the president’s decision pull the United States out of the nuclear deal with Iran. They also have differences of opinion about Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Trump has praised Putin’s leadership skills. Mattis believed the Russian president was interfering⁷ with Western democracies.

Russia has praised the U.S. decision to withdraw from Syria. In a separate move, Trump ordered the Defense Department to plan to withdraw about 50 percent of the 14,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan. That withdrawal will reportedly begin in January 2019.

U.S. congressional reaction

Reacting to Mattis’ resignation, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he was “distressed” that it resulted from “differences (about) America’s global leadership.”

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi said she was “shaken” by the resignation and described it as “very serious for our country.”

“This is scary,” tweeted Senator Mark Warner of Virginia. He is the top Democrat⁹ on the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Trump’s decision to leave Syria breaks with one of America’s longtime allies, the Kurds. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened in recent days to launch a military operation against U.S.-aided Kurdish militiamen now fighting in northeastern Syria.

I’m Susan Shand.

Words in This Story

rely – v. to depend

distress⁸ – n. unhappiness or pain

global – adj. international, all the countries of the world

scary – adj. causing fear

1 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。

2 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

3 withdrawal   

n.取回，提款；撤退，撤军；收回，撤销

参考例句：

• The police were forced to make a tactical withdrawal.警方被迫进行战术撤退。
• They insisted upon a withdrawal of the statement and a public apology.他们坚持要收回那些话并公开道歉。

4 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。

5 coalition   

n.结合体，同盟，结合，联合

参考例句：

• The several parties formed a coalition.这几个政党组成了政治联盟。
• Coalition forces take great care to avoid civilian casualties.联盟军队竭尽全力避免造成平民伤亡。

6 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

7 interfering   

adj. 妨碍的 动词interfere的现在分词

参考例句：

• He's an interfering old busybody! 他老爱管闲事！
• I wish my mother would stop interfering and let me make my own decisions. 我希望我母亲不再干预，让我自己拿主意。

8 distress   

n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛

参考例句：

• Nothing could alleviate his distress.什么都不能减轻他的痛苦。
• Please don't distress yourself.请你不要忧愁了。

9 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。