又中又英 - The Art Of War | 褚简宁
China’s ancient military strategist Sun Tzu, credited with writing The Art of War on how to win wars, is respected by military strategists even in today’s world of modern warfare. One of his famous quotes was “All warfare is based on deception”. The noun “deception” means hiding the truth to trick others or to gain an advantage. President Donald Trump and his military strategists used deception when the US bombed three nuclear sites in Iran last week. The New York Times used the headline “Military ruses” to describe the deception. The word “ruse” means a trick intended to deceive (verb) someone.
Trump’s military ruse began when he said he would decide within two weeks whether to bomb Iran or not. But he had already decided and ordered the bombing less than two days after saying he would decide in two weeks. To further deceive, US military strategists sent B-2 stealth bombers flying west, seemingly to the US territory of Guam to make Iran believe an attack would come from further away. The US deliberately made it possible for public flight trackers to track the stealth bombers. But seven B-2 stealth bombers were secretly flying east at the same time, closer to Iran.
A stealth bomber is a bomb-carrying warplane designed to be difficult for radar or other surveillance systems to detect it. The deception made it possible for the seven stealth bombers to hit Iran’s nuclear sites with a sucker punch. The word “sucker” used this way means someone who can be easily deceived. A sucker punch is an unexpected punch by someone. It seems like US military strategists may have read Sun Tzu’s The Art of War!
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中国古代战略家孙武，被认为是撰写《孙子兵法》教人怎样打胜仗的作者，备受军事策略家所尊崇，即使放诸现今的战争世界之中。他其中一句有名的话是「兵者，诡道（deception）也。」所谓的「诡道」（deception，名词）是指隐藏真相，以迷惑、欺骗他人或去谋求利益。上星期美国轰炸伊朗3处核设施，总统特朗普和他的军事策略家正是运用了诡诈（deception）之道。《纽约时报》用上“Military ruses”这个头条去形容这个骗术（deception）。Ruse是指意图蒙骗（deceive，动词）某人的诡计。
特朗普的军事诡计（military ruses）是始于他说，他会在两星期内决定是否轰炸伊朗。然而，在他说会在两星期内决定后不足两天，他已经决定好和下令轰炸。为了进一步欺骗（deceive），美国军事战略家派了B-2隐形战略轰炸机（stealth bombers）飞往西面，看似要到美国属地关岛，去令伊朗相信这次袭击会来自较远的地方。美国刻意让公众飞行追踪器追踪到那些隐形轰炸机（stealth bombers），但同一时间已有7架B-2隐形轰炸机（stealth bombers）悄悄飞往东面，靠近伊朗。
A stealth bomber是一款载有炸弹的军机，其设计为雷达或其他监视系统所难以侦测到的。这个诡计（deception）令7架隐形轰炸机（stealth bombers）得以成功偷袭突击（sucker punch）伊朗的核设施。Sucker在这里是指易上当（deceived）的人，a sucker punch就是某人突如其来的出拳。看来美国战略家应有看过孙武的《孙子兵法》！
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Michael Chugani褚简宁
中译：七刻
