麥克馬斯特將如何面對白宮內鬥

When Lieutenant General HR McMaster enters the West Wing of the White House as the US national security adviser, the widely respected soldier and military historian will face one of the biggest challenges of his career.

當H?R?麥克馬斯特(HR McMaster)中將進入白宮西翼辦公樓開始擔任美國國家安全顧問時，這位廣受尊敬的軍人兼軍事歷史學家將面臨他職業生涯中最大的挑戰之一。

President Donald Trump on Monday named Gen McMaster — a decorated three-star army general who commanded US troops in Iraq and also served in Afghanistan — to succeed Michael Flynn, who was fired after 24 days in the role. Mr Trump first asked Robert Harward, a retired admiral, to succeed Mr Flynn, but he offered the job to Gen McMaster after Mr Harward turned him down over concerns about lines of authority and staffing inside the White House.

上週一，總統唐納德?特朗普(Donald Trump)任命麥克馬斯特接替在上任24天后被解職的邁克爾?弗林(Michael Flynn)。麥克馬斯特是一位被授過勳的陸軍三星將軍，他不但曾在伊拉克指揮美軍作戰，也曾在阿富汗戰場出力。特朗普原本曾請退役海軍上將羅伯特?哈沃德(Robert Harward)接替弗林，但出於對白宮內部權力結構和人事問題的擔心，哈沃德沒有答應特朗普。接着，特朗普把這個職位給了麥克馬斯特。

Gen McMaster is highly regarded inside the military. During the 1991 Gulf war, his troops destroyed a large number of Iraqi tanks in a battle that developed his reputation as a smart tactician. Over the past two decades, his peers have come to see him as a brilliant strategist — a reputation cemented by his role creating and implementing counter-insurgency operations during the second Iraq war.

麥克馬斯特將軍在軍界名望極高。在1991年海灣戰爭中，他率領的部隊在一次戰鬥中摧毀了伊拉克軍隊的大量坦克，此役給他帶來了英明機智的戰術家的名聲。過去20年裏，他的同仁們漸漸把他視爲一位傑出的戰略家。在第二次伊拉克戰爭中，他在發起和執行打擊叛亂行動中所發揮的作用，爲他鞏固了這一名聲。

In announcing that Gen McMaster would run the National Security Council and that Keith Kellogg, a retired general, would be chief of staff, Mr Trump praised them as a “tremendous” team. But one question that remains is how Gen McMaster will deal with the competing factions in the White House, particularly Steve Bannon, the political strategist who has been given an unusual formal role in the national security apparatus.

在宣佈麥克馬斯特將軍將執掌國家安全委員會(NSC)、退役將軍基思?凱洛格(Keith Kellogg)將擔任幕僚長的消息時，特朗普稱讚他們是一個“極佳”團隊。但有個疑問仍然存在：麥克馬斯特將軍將如何跟白宮內立場不同的派別、尤其是史蒂夫?班農(Steve Bannon)打交道。班農是一位政治戰略家，在國家安全機關中被授予了一個非同尋常的正式職位。

David Petraeus, the retired four-star army general who worked closely with Gen McMaster during the 2007 surge in Iraq, said his former subordinate was a “seriously high-quality guy” who had the organisational skills and the ability to navigate competing personalities and administration power centres.

曾在2007年對伊增兵時與麥克馬斯特將軍共事的退役四星上將戴維?彼得雷烏斯(David Petraeus)表示，他的這位前下屬是個“素質極高的人”，具備組織能力，並且有能力應對人員勾心鬥角、不同行政權力中心彼此較勁的環境。

“He is an exceptional strategic thinker and is a great team builder. He has superb organisational skills and has a wonderful enthusiastic attitude,” said Mr Petraeus, who was approached for the job but balked because of concerns about potential parallel security structures in the White House. “Obviously he knows what it is like to be on the ground and command soldiers in battle as a captain and a colonel. He knows when to keep his head down, but will not shrink from offering his forthright and well-considered assessments and recommendations.”

“他是一個傑出的戰略思想家，是一個偉大的團隊建設者。他具有卓越的組織能力，有着非常熱情的態度，”彼得雷烏斯說。彼得雷烏斯也曾獲邀出任該職位，但是由於對白宮內潛在並行的安全架構感到擔心，結果他沒有接受。“很顯然，他知道在戰場上指揮士兵作戰該是什麼樣子。他知道什麼時候保持低調，但他敢於提出他的直截了當、深思熟慮的意見和建議。”

James Stavridis, a retired admiral who was Supreme Allied Commander of Nato and US forces in Europe, also said Gen McMaster was a strong choice. “He is a superb blend of detail-oriented planner and highly creative thinker — an unbelievably rare combination in a senior military officer. He worked for me in Afghanistan and I found him terrific,” said Mr Stavridis.

曾任北約(Nato)盟軍最高指揮官和駐歐美軍司令的退役海軍上將詹姆斯?斯塔夫裏迪斯(James Stavridis)也表示，麥克馬斯特將軍是一個有實力的人選。“他極好地兼具了注重細節的規劃者和創造力極強的思想家這兩種特質——兩種特質罕見地在一名高級軍官身上結合到一起，令人難以置信。在阿富汗時，他在我手下效力，我發現他太棒了，”斯塔夫裏迪斯說。

Gen McMaster is the first active duty military officer to be national security adviser since Colin Powell during the Reagan administration. Some experts believe this could impact his ability to do the job, particularly given the infighting inside the White House and an unclear chain of command. “As an active duty military officer, he has zero leverage in terms of selecting his own team,” added Mr Stavridis. “That will be his biggest challenge.”

麥克馬斯特將軍是自里根(Reagan)政府的科林?鮑威爾(Colin Powell)以來，第一位以現役軍官身份出任國家安全顧問一職的。有些專家認爲，這可能會削弱他履行職責的能力，尤其是在白宮內鬥和指揮鏈條不清晰的情況下。“現役軍官身份，會使他在挑選團隊成員方面一點都說不上話，”斯塔夫裏迪斯接着說，“這將是他面臨的最大挑戰。”

Gen McMaster is viewed in a similar light to Mr Petraeus, Mr Stavridis and defence secretary James Mattis, a class of warrior-intellectuals. He converted his PhD thesis into a book called Dereliction of Duty which argued that during the Vietnam war the joint chiefs of staff supported White House policies that they had privately said would not work. Supporters of Gen McMaster say he will not forget these lessons as he attempts to provide unvarnished advice to a president who has shown that he does not like criticism.

外界把麥克馬斯特將軍與彼得雷烏斯、斯塔夫裏迪斯和國防部長詹姆斯?馬蒂斯(James Mattis)視同一類人，都是軍人知識分子。他將自己的博士論文改寫成一本名爲《玩忽職守》(Dereliction of Duty)的書。書中指出，在越南戰爭期間，參謀長聯席會議(Joint Chiefs of Staff)支持白宮的政策，其實他們私下曾說過那些政策不會奏效。麥克馬斯特的支持者說，當他試圖向一位已表現出不喜歡被批評的總統提出坦率建議時，將不會忘記這些教訓。

David Barno, a retired general who worked with Gen McMaster, says the decorated soldier brings an “out of the box” approach that has been informed by experience in war zones. “He is an unusual combination of muddy boots war fighter and intellectual,” said Mr Barno, adding that one former chairman of the joint chiefs made Dereliction of Duty mandatory reading for his top brass.

曾跟麥克馬斯特將軍共事的退役將軍大衛?巴諾(David Barno)表示，這位被授勳的軍人將帶來一種從戰地經驗中學到的“打破陳規的”方法。巴諾說，“他是一個非同尋常的混合體，既是戰靴沾滿污泥的戰士，又是知識分子。”他接着說，參謀長聯席會議的一位前主席曾把《玩忽職守》列爲他手下高級軍官的必讀書目。

Peter Mansoor, a retired army officer who served with Gen McMaster in Iraq, said his friend would remain “outspoken in his convictions”, adding that “he will be a forceful advocate within the walls of the White House for policies that he believes will work. He rejected suggestions that Gen McMaster being an active duty officer would curtail his ability to provide honest advice, but said his uniformed status might make him more willing to “salute and executive forcefully” once a decision was made.

曾在伊拉克與麥克馬斯特將軍共同服役的退役軍官彼得?曼蘇爾(Peter Mansoor)說，他的朋友將繼續“直言不諱地表達自己的信念”，並接着說：“在白宮內，他將大力倡導他認爲會奏效的政策。他駁斥了有關麥克馬斯特身爲現役軍官將削弱他坦率建言能力的說法，但表示，他的軍人身份會使他在一旦決定作出後更願意“積極地稱讚和執行”。

John Allen, a retired Marine general who served in Afghanistan and was deputy commander of US Central Command, described Gen McMaster as a “brilliant strategist” who was also a “very accomplished planner”, which he stressed was a rare combination. He said it was important that Gen McMaster would have the ability to bring in his own people when needed, but said the White House was increasingly in a position where it could not afford to antagonise serious people.

曾在阿富汗戰場服役並擔任過中央司令部(US Central Command)副司令的海軍陸戰隊退役將軍約翰?艾倫(John Allen)，形容麥克馬斯特將軍是“傑出的戰略家”，同時也是一個“非常成功的策劃者”——他強調這是一個罕見的特點組合。艾倫表示，麥克馬斯特將軍能否在需要的時候用自己的人這一點很重要。他還表示，白宮越來越承受不起讓恪盡職守的人反感的後果。

“Steve Bannon has no authority over the national security adviser. Trump knows that and so does McMaster,” said Mr Allen, who was a candidate for a senior position in the administration had Hillary Clinton won the election. “I hope that Bannon figures that out quickly before we have a collision. Trump can’t afford to have a highly qualified person the likes of HR McMaster walk out of the White House because of confused or tortuous lines of authority.”

“史蒂夫?班農並不具備凌駕於國家安全顧問之上的權力。特朗普知道這一點，麥克馬斯特也知道，”艾倫說。當初如果希拉里?克林頓(Hillary Clinton)贏得大選，艾倫會有望在政府中擔任一個高級職位。他說：“我希望班農很快搞清這一點，以免我們發生衝突。如果因爲紛繁複雜的權力結構而導致像麥克馬斯特這樣資歷極其優秀的人離開白宮，那麼特朗普可能是承受不起的。”