美國國防部長馬蒂斯辭職信

Dear Mr. President:
親愛的總統先生:

I have been privileged to serve as our country’s 26th Secretary of Defense which has allowed me to serve alongside ourmen and women of the Department in defense of our citizens and our ideals.
我有幸擔任我國第26任國防部長，這使我能夠與我國國防部的所有工作人員一道爲我國公民和我們的理想服務。

I am proud of the progress that has been made over the past two years on some of the key goals articulated in ourNational Defense Strategy: putting the Department on a more sound budgetaryfooting, improving readiness and lethality in our forces, and reforming theDepartment’s business practices for greater performance. Our troops continue to provide the capabilities needed to prevail in conflict and sustain strong al influence.
我爲過去兩年來在我們的國防戰略中闡明的一些關鍵目標上取得的進展感到自豪：把國防部建立在一個更穩健的預算基礎之上；提高我們部隊的戰備狀況和打擊能力；改革部門的業務實踐以提高工作表現。我們的軍隊繼續提供在衝突中取勝和維持強大美國全球影響力所需的能力。

One core belief I have always held is that our strength as a nation is inextricably linked to the strength of our uniqueand comprehensive system of alliances and partnerships. While the US remains the indispensable nation in the free world, we cannot protect our interests orserve that role effectively without maintaining strong alliances and showing respect to those allies. Like you, I have said from the beginning that the armed forces of the United Statesshould not be the policeman of the world. Instead, we must use all tools ofAmerican power to provide for the common defense, including providing effective leadership to our alliances. NATO’s 29 democracies demonstrated that strengthin their commitment to fighting alongside us following the 9-11 attack onAmerica. The Defeat-ISIS coalition of 74 nations is further proof.
我一直堅信的一個核心信念是，我們國家的力量與我們獨一無二和全面的聯盟和夥伴關係的力量是密不可分的。儘管美國仍是自由世界不可或缺的國家，但如果不維持強大的聯盟並尊重這些盟友，我們就無法保護我們的利益或有效地發揮這一作用。和你們一樣，我從一開始就說過，美國的武裝部隊不應該成爲世界的警察。相反，我們必須利用美國力量的所有工具來提供共同防禦，包括爲我們的聯盟提供有效的領導。9-11襲擊之後，北約的29個民主國家展現了與我們並肩作戰的決心，由74個國家組成的擊敗ISIS的聯盟進一步證明了這一點。

Similarly, I believe we must be resolute and unambiguous in our approach to those countries whose strategic interestsare increasingly in tension with ours. It is clear that China and Russia, for example, want to shape a world consistent with their authoritarian model — gaining veto authority over other nations’economic, diplomatic, and security decisions — to promote their own interestsat the expense of their neighbors, America and our allies. That is why we mustuse all the tools of American power to provide for the common defense.
同樣，我認爲，我們必須堅決和毫不含糊地以我們自己的方式處理那些其戰略利益與我們日益緊張的國家的關係。例如，中國和俄羅斯顯然希望塑造一個符合其威權模式的世界——在其他國家的經濟、外交和安全決策上獲得否決權——以犧牲鄰國、美國和我們的盟友的利益爲代價促進自身利益。這就是爲什麼我們必須使用美國力量的所有工具來提供共同防禦。

My views on treating allies with respectand also being clear-eyed about both malign actors and strategic competitorsare strongly held and informed by over four decades of immersion in these issues. We must do everything possible to advance an international order thatis most conducive to our security, prosperity and values, and we are strengthened in this effort by the solidarity of our alliances.
我對尊重盟國以及對惡意行爲者和戰略競爭對手保持清醒認識的看法，在過去40多年來我對這些問題的思考中得到了強烈的支持。我們必須盡一切可能促進最有利於我們的安全、繁榮和價值觀念的國際秩序的形成，在這一努力中，我們聯盟的團結使我們得到加強。

Because you have the right to have a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position. Theend date for my tenure is February 28, 2019, a date that should allowsufficient time for a successor to be nominated and confirmed as well as to make sure the Department’s interests are properly articulated and protected atupcoming events to include Congressional posture hearings and the NATO Defense Ministerial meeting in February. Further, that a full transition to a newSecretary of Defense occurs well in advance of the transition of Chairman of theJoint Chiefs of Staff in September in order to ensure stability within the Department.
因爲你們有權選擇一位在這些問題和其他問題上與你們觀點更一致的國防部長，我相信我辭去我的職務是正確的選擇。我的任期結束日期是2019年2月28日，這個日期應該爲提名和確認繼任者留出足夠的時間，還可以確保國防部的利益在即將舉行的活動中得到恰當的表達和維護，包括國會聽證會和2月份的北約國防部長會議。此外，爲了確保國防部內部的穩定，在9月參謀長聯席會議主席交接之前，就會與新的國防部長做好全面交接。

I pledge my full effort to a smooth transition that ensures the needs and interests of the 2.15 million ServiceMembers and 732,079 DoD civilians receive undistracted attention of theDepartment at all times so that they can fulfill their critical,round-the-clock mission to protect the American people. I very much appreciate this opportunity to serve the nation and our men and women in uniform.
我保證，我將全力實現平穩過渡，確保215萬名軍人和732079名國防部文職人員的需求和利益在任何時候都不會受到干擾，以便他們能夠完成關鍵的、24小時的任務，以保護美國人民。我非常感謝有這個機會爲國家和我們所有的軍人服務。

Jim N. Mattis
吉姆·馬蒂斯