一场旨在展示美国力量触角的战争，如今却适得其反。这是一堂关于意外后果的课。
A war that was intended to demonstrate the reach of American power has now done the opposite. It is a lesson in unintended consequences.
听特朗普总统及其助手描述，周末匆忙从英国一空军基地撤回12架B-1轰炸机，是出于谨慎预防，针对的是他们拒绝透露的威胁。
To hear President Trump and his aides describe it, the rush to withdraw 12 B-1 bombers from an air base in Britain over the weekend was a prudent precaution, in response to a threat they refused to describe.
特朗普坚称这没什么大不了，国务卿鲁比奥也试图淡化此事，指出五角大楼“在不断重新分配资源，部署到最需要的地方”。但对于过去七个月里、自特朗普决定攻击伊朗以来、一直关注美国在全球部署军力的人来说，这又是一个显而易见的例证：一次又一次，特朗普和他的国防部长赫格塞斯被迫后撤，收回部署在中东和英国、本意用于威慑的军事力量。
It was no big deal, Mr. Trump insisted, and his secretary of state, Marco Rubio, tried to wave it away by noting that the Pentagon is “constantly reallocating resources where they need to be.”But to anyone watching the deployment of American power around the globe in the seven months since Mr. Trump decided to attack Iran, it was another glaring example of how, time after time, Mr. Trump and his defense secretary, Pete Hegseth, have been forced into retreat, pulling back military forces that had been deployed to the Middle East and Britain as a deterrent.
过去几个月，随着冲突拖延，伊朗战争暴露出巨大的新美国脆弱性，迫使五角大楼做出一年前未曾设想的改变。但这也证明，这是一场由特朗普自主选择的战争所引发的意外后果的惨痛教训。
Over the past several months, as the conflict has dragged on, the Iran war has come to reveal enormous new American vulnerabilities, forcing changes that the Pentagon was not contemplating a year ago. But it has also proved a bitter lesson in the unintended consequences that have flowed from Mr. Trump’s war of choice.
特朗普意图通过攻击伊朗，再次展示美军非凡的力量，此前曾在2025年6月成功空袭伊朗三个核设施，并在1月从加拉加斯总统府床上抓捕了委内瑞拉总统马杜罗。
Mr. Trump intended the attack on Iran as another demonstration of the American military’s extraordinary power, following the successful bombing raid on three Iranian nuclear sites in June 2025 and the seizure of President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela from his bed in Caracas in January.
然而，这场战争非但没有增强美国的力量，反而对其形成了制约。中东基地的关闭以及对英国一处基地使用权的限制，起码极大地增加了投送力量的后勤难度。美国轰炸机当然仍能抵达目标，但只能从美国本土起飞，这需要更多时间和空中加油。美国航母打击群仍可在阿拉伯海、波斯湾外巡航，但现在必须从迪戈加西亚岛补给，该岛位于印度洋，距离2200英里，这需要额外数周时间和巨额费用。
But rather than enhance American power, the war has constrained it. The closing of bases in the Middle East and limiting the use of one in Britain have, at a minimum, vastly complicated the logistics of projecting power. American bombers can still reach their targets, of course, but only by flying from the United States, requiring more time and refueling. American carrier groups can still patrol in the Arabian Sea, outside the Persian Gulf, but now they must be resupplied from Diego Garcia, an island in the Indian Ocean 2,200 miles away, requiring additional weeks and huge costs.