聂舒翼
By Nie Shuyi
当地时间3月28日，美国总统拜登向国会提交了2023财年预算案，国防开支高达8133亿美元。这是美国国防开支首次突破8000亿美元，也是美国有史以来最高的年度军费预算。在美国舆论担心经济衰退之际，军费却涨到史上最高，美国在穷兵黩武的道路上越走越远。
On March 28, local time, US President Joe Biden submitted to Congress the president’s budget proposal for the 2023 fiscal year, with defense spending reaching as high as USD 813.3 billion. This marks the first time that the US defense spending has exceeded USD800 billion, and also the highest annual military budget in its history. At a time when the American public has shown great concern about economic recession, military spending instead has been raised to the highest level in history. Washington’s pursuit of military expansion is like a car running out of control on the highway, driving wildly in the direction of militarism.
尽管美国军费创历史新高，一些美国政客犹嫌不足。据《华尔街日报》报道，一些共和党议员已经对拜登政府提出的这一数字表达了不满，参议院少数党领袖、共和党人麦康奈尔就明确指出，在2月份美国通胀率接近8%的情况下，2023财年国防开支4%的增幅远远不够。如果按照共和党提出的增加5%计算，2023财年美国国防开支将达到8211亿美元，而根据美国《防务新闻》的分析，共和党的目标数字将是惊人的8750亿美元。
However, some US politicians still think it insufficient. According to a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), some Republican lawmakers have expressed dissatisfaction with the figure proposed by the Biden administration. USSenate Minority LeaderSen. MitchMcConnellclearly pointed out that the inflation rate for the US was close to 8 percent in February, sothe 4 percent increase in defense spending in fiscal 2023 is far from enough. If calculated according to the 5 percent increase as proposed by the Republican Party, the US defense spending in the 2023 fiscal year should have reached up toUSD821.1 billion.
但问题在于，对早已债台高筑的美国政府来说，钱从哪里来呢？根据《华尔街日报》的说法，除了对富人征税和经济活动复苏带来的税收增长之外，这份预算案将大幅削减应对新冠疫情的开支。在美国民众面对高企的通胀数字，面对房租、燃油、电费和生活物资价格飙涨苦不堪言之际，在美国新冠疫情累计确诊病例突破8000万、累计死亡病例逼近100万关口之时，美国政客们却还是满脑子政治算计，拆民生的“东墙”补武力的“西墙”。
But the question is, where will the money come from for the highly indebted US government? According to the WSJ, the new 2023 budget proposal means tax increases onthe wealthy anda revival of economic activity, and will also sharply scale back its spending to fight the COVID-19 epidemic. At a time when Americans arefacing surgingrates of inflation and suffering from soaring prices in rent, fuel consumption, electricity charge,and living materials, when the cumulative number of confirmed cases of the COVID-19 epidemic in the US has exceeded 80 million and the cumulative number of deaths approachedonemillion, American politicians, however, are still bursting with political calculations, mending the “west wall” of military strength by tearing down the “east wall” of the people’s livelihood.
再创新高的军费再次暴露了美国穷兵黩武的本质。事实上，美国的军费开支早已冠居全球。根据瑞典斯德哥尔摩国际和平研究所2021年4月发布的2020年全球军费开支趋势报告，作为全球军费开支最大的国家，美国2020年军费支出占到全球军费总支出的39％，比排在其后的11个国家的军费总和还要多。
The record-high defense spending has once again exposed the US nature of militarism. In fact, the US defense expenditurehas ranked first in the world. According to the Trends in World Military Expenditure 2020 released by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in Sweden in April 2021, with the world’s biggest defense budget, theUS accounted for 39percent of total global military expenditure in 2020, which is evenmore than the following 11 countries combined.
高额的军费开支持续支撑美国对外输出战争。据不完全统计，自1945年二战结束至2001年，世界上153个地区发生的248次武装冲突中，由美国发起的为201场，约占81%。而2001年之后，在全球反恐战争名义下，阿富汗、伊拉克、利比亚、叙利亚等相继沦为战场；由于美国策动的“颜色革命”，多个地区陷入混乱与动荡。可以说，当前乌克兰局势的发展升级就是美国在背后设计脚本、推波助澜的结果。美国穷兵黩武背后，美国军火商赚了个“盆满钵满”。
The high military spending budget keeps supporting the US to export wars. Incomplete statistics showed that from the end of WWII in 1945 to 2001, among the 248 armed conflicts in 153 regions globally, 201 were initiated by the US, accounting for about 81 percent of the total number. After 2001,multiple countries including Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria, have been reduced to battlefields one after another under the name of the Global War on Terror;with the “colored revolutions” pioneered by the US, many regions have fallen into chaos and turmoil. The truth is that the evolution and escalation of the current situation in Ukraine is a result of thescriptdesigned and fueled by the US behind the scenes. The US in addiction to militarismhas rendered its arms dealersbeneficiaries.
更值得警惕的是，在白宫公布2023财年预算当天，美国五角大楼也向国会提交了“2022年美国国防战略报告”。在这份报告中，五角大楼向国会详细介绍了来自中国的“多领域威胁”，以及来自俄罗斯的“严重威胁”。对习惯了“没有敌人也要制造敌人”的美国来说，所谓“应对中俄威胁”自然也就成了增加军费开支的绝佳借口。
In addition, it is worth noting that on the day the White House announced the 2023 fiscal year budget, the US Department of Defense also submitted to Congress its 2022 National Defense Strategy. In the report, the Pentagon detailed to Congress the“growing multi-domain threat” posed by China, as well as the“acute threat” by Russia. For the US, which is accustomed to “having imagery enemies,” the so-called “response to the threats from China and Russia” has naturally become an excellent excuse for increasing military spending.
但事实上美国才是主动制造动荡局势和地区冲突的黑手。在欧洲，美国策动北约东扩，不断压缩俄罗斯的安全和战略空间，是俄乌冲突的始作俑者；在亚太，美国构建各种军事安全机制，从强化“五眼联盟”，到兜售“四边机制”，再到拼凑三边安全伙伴关系（AUKUS），意图在亚太地区制造“新冷战”。更可笑的是，美国军费水平是中国的近4倍，是俄罗斯的12倍，究竟是谁对谁构成了威胁？
But in fact, the US itself is the wire-puller that takes the initiative totrigger unrest and regional conflicts. In Europe, as the culprit and leading instigator of the Ukraine crisis, the US has led NATO to engage in rounds of eastward expansion, constantly squeezing Russia’s security and strategic space; in the Asia-Pacific region, the US established various military security mechanisms, from strengthening the Five Eyes Alliance (FVEY) to peddling the Quad, and then to scrabbling up the AUKUS, with the intention of creating a “new cold war” in the Asia-Pacific region. What is even more ridiculous is that the level of US military spending is nearly 4 times that of China and 12 times that of Russia. Who is really posing a threat?
如果美国仍坚持在制造假想敌、无视他国正当安全关切、挑动集团对抗的道路上越走越远，最终被拖垮的终将是美国自身。
If it continues to go further ininventing imaginary enemies, ignoring the legitimate security concerns of other countries, and provoking power confrontations, the US would eventually be dragged down by itself.
Disclaimer: This article is originally published on the haiwainet.cn, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
Disclaimer: This article is originally published on the haiwainet.cn, and is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information, ideas or opinions appearing in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
