By Jin Yi'nan
金一南
The Russian-Ukraine conflict is a proxy war in which it’s the Ukrainians that are fighting and dying, using weapons provided by America. By providing huge amounts of weapons to Ukraine, including the Javelin anti-tank missile, Stinger air defense missile, High Mobility Artillery Rocket System (HIMARS), and many others not even disclosed, the US has obtained enormous geopolitical and economic gains.
俄乌冲突是一场代理人战争，在这场冲突中，战斗员是乌克兰人，死亡的是乌克兰人，使用的是美国人提供的武器。美国通过给乌克兰提供大量的武器，如“标枪”“毒刺”“海马斯”等，还有一些甚至没有公布出来的东西，不仅获得地缘政治好处，在经济上也是大发战争财。
The US is making a new attempt to save its economy through proxy wars. On the surface, Ukraine is defending its sovereign independence against Russia, but in fact, it is expending Russia’s strengths and resources on America’s behalf using US dollars and weapons. The US has a track record of waging wars in the past, including the Korean War, Vietnam War, Gulf War, Iraqi War, Afghan War, etc, which have caused it immense casualties and economic losses because it sent its own troops there. But through a proxy war, like what's happening between Russia and Ukraine now, it is able to make hay without bearing casualties.
使用代理人战争的方式来挽救经济，这是美国现在正在进行一种新尝试。表面上看，俄乌冲突是乌克兰捍卫自己的主权独立，实际上是美国出钱和武器，由乌克兰出面对俄罗斯造成大量消耗。过去，美国曾经发动过朝鲜战争、越南战争、海湾战争、伊拉克战争、阿富汗战争等，但由于是自己出人，伤亡人数多，给经济带来了一定损失。但目前，美国无需付出人员伤亡代价便可以从这场冲突中赚的盆满钵满。
The breakout of Russia-Ukraine conflict sent the share price of America's top five arms and ammunition groups soaring by over ten or tens of times. By November, Washington’s military assistance to Ukraine had amounted to about US$20 billion in worth. Raytheon Company’s CEO Greg Hayes recently said the past 10 months of the conflict have exhausted all Javelin anti-tank missiles the company has produced in five years and all Stinger air defense missiles produced in 13 years.
俄乌冲突开始后，美国五大军火集团在美国的股指全部暴涨，股价一下翻十几倍、几十倍。截至11月，美国对乌克兰提供的军事支持累计价值约200亿美元。日前，美国雷神公司首席执行官雷格海耶斯表示，10个以来，雷神公司5年间生产的“标枪”反坦克导弹和13年间生产的“毒刺”单兵防空导弹，已经被消耗殆尽。
As the whole world is feeling the strain on energy supply and production, with economic and industrial indicators, including those of America, falling, arms dealers are seeing their share prices skyrocketing. Will America's “generous” military assistance to Ukraine drag or drive its domestic economy? How will it all play out? The US is still trying.
眼下，全世界的能源供应更加紧张，能源生产很不景气，包括美国在内的经济指标、经济指数、工业指标都在下降，唯有军火商的股价在暴涨。从长远来看，美国给乌克兰提供大量军事援助之后，对美国经济将造成严重的拖累，还是将提振国内经济的发展，最终的结果到底怎么样，美国还在做尝试。
But we must be clear about how the ongoing spread of American weaponry is seriously damaging world security. Before the Russian-Ukraine conflict broke out, former US President Trump called Ukraine the most corrupt country in the world as it is rife with bribery and black market trade. After the conflict broke out, many weapons went through the black market in the Middle East or North Africa to places out of America’s control, such as Albania, Kosovo, even the terrorist organization People Committed to the Propagation of the Prophet’s Teachings and Jihad, generally known as Boko Haram, in Nigeria.
但我们必须要看到，美国军火外流给世界安全带来的严重危害。在俄乌冲突开始之前，美国前任总统特朗普就讲过“乌克兰是全世界最腐败的国家”。在乌克兰这个国家，行贿受贿、黑市交易大行其道。俄乌冲突开始之后，有很多经由中东或北非的黑市，流向了美国无法掌控的地方。比如，阿尔巴尼亚、科索沃，甚至是尼日利亚恐怖组织博科圣地手中。
Arms trafficking leads to turmoil and escalation of conflict – exactly what happens with the trafficking of American weapons, which always cause escalated conflicts and turbulence wherever they go. But Washington feels no qualms about that, comforting itself with the thought that it hasn’t provided the weapons and whoever lays hands on them from wherever is not its responsibility.
军火走私容易造成动荡、动乱、冲突升级。美国武器走私到哪儿，必定会使当地的冲突升级、动乱升级。但美国却不管这些，心里在想，我并没有给你提供这些武器，你从哪儿搞到的我也不知道，责任推得一干二净。
Arms deals are masterminded by arms dealers, behind whom are politicians. When former US President Eisenhower stepped down in 1960, he warned repeatedly that America should not have a military-industrial complex because it would hijack national interests. The complex hopes for war, desires war, and would create one if there is no war. What’s evident to everyone is that such a complex is having its way in the US today.
军火交易的背后是军火商，军火商的背后是政客。美国总统艾森豪威尔在1960年下台时，曾反复警告过，美国一定不能出现“国防军工复合体”。因为“国防军工复合体”将会绑架美国的国家利益，它们希望战争，它们盼望战争，没有战争，它们也会制造战争。而今天一个明显的态势，就是美国的“国防军工复合体”正在美国大行其道。
Editor's note: The author is an expert of the National Defense Strategy Committee of China Development Strategics Association at the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Originally published on military.cnr.cn, this article is translated from Chinese into English and edited by the China Military Online. The information and opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect the views of eng.chinamil.com.cn.
