美国建国245年，和平时间不到20年 | 小象漫评 What the United States loves most is war

1776年美利坚合众国在北美诞生

自诩“山巅之城”

肩负把民主推广到全世界的“天赋使命”

In 1776, the United States was founded in North America. It boasted of being the city upon the hill and that its mission was to promote “democracy” to the world.

但这个国家最爱的却是战争

到今天已建国245年

没有参与战争的时间不到20年

Yet what it loves most is war. During its 245 years of existence, less than 20 have been without a war.

通过血洗印第安部落

以及从南边邻居墨西哥抢领土

美国从建国之初的几块殖民地

扩展到横跨两洋的大国

By massacring the Indigenous peoples and grabbing territory from Mexico, it expanded to the western coast of the continent;

又通过两次世界大战

两边卖物资发了战争财

美国成为世界超级大国

更是对世界指手画脚

By selling weapons and materials to belligerents, it made a big fortune in the two world wars. It became a superpower and has intervened around the world.

1950年朝鲜战争

导致300万平民死亡

多个家庭南北分离

In the Korean War (1950-53), 3 million civilians died, and many families were separated by the North-South divide;

1955年越南战争

导致当地340万军民死亡

战争结束40多年了

遗留武器还杀死了四万多人

In the Vietnam War, 3.4 million lives were claimed, with over 40,000 more taken by the weapons that were left behind;

1991年海湾战争

美军直接干掉3000多平民

还点燃多口油井

产生浓烟破坏环境

In the Gulf War, US troops directly killed 3,000 civilians and burned many oilfields.

1999年轰炸南联盟

2001年进军阿富汗

2003年强打伊拉克

2017年空袭叙利亚

It led the bombing of Yugoslavia in 1999, launched a war in Afghanistan in 2001, invaded Iraq in 2003, and conducted air-strikes in Syria in 2017.

这一切战火的背后

都有美国的身影

The US has been responsible for all these, and more.

2019年

有人提名时任特朗普获诺贝尔和平奖

因为他是30年来唯一一个

没有发动过战争的美国总统

In 2019, Donald Trump was nominated for Nobel Peace Prize. The ironic reason — he is the only US president not to launch a war for 30 years.

可以理解为

其他的美国总统

都是战争贩子

In other words, the other US presidents were all warmongers.

美国政客穷兵黩武

美国老百姓也跟着受苦

巨额战争花费

都要从美国老百姓身上收税

The US people pay for the militarism of their politicians, because the huge costs of war are paid by them in taxes.

经历过战火的美军士兵

回国后也往往被诊断出精神疾病

2008年至2016年

每年自杀的退伍美军超过6000名

And many US soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress on returning home. From 2008 to 2016, data show that 6,000 US veterans committed suicide each year.

今年8月底

美军从阿富汗撤离

20年战火终于熄灭

希望美国政客吸取教训

别再因为一时任性

把世界拖入战争的大坑

US troops left Afghanistan in August, which brought the 20-year-long war to an end. It is to be hoped that US politicians can stop their vicious deeds and they do not drag the world into any more wars.

作者：张周项
图片来自中国日报社美术部