朋友有时会表现恶劣。当这种情况发生时，为报复朋友的恶劣行为而伤害自己并不明智。这在个人生活中如此，在国防战略上也是如此。
Sometimes friends behave badly. When that happens, it is not smart to hurt yourself in retaliation for the friend’s bad behavior. That is true in one’s personal life — and also when it comes to defense strategy.
以特朗普政府正在进行的美国在欧洲军力部署审查为例，以及华盛顿是否将继续在西班牙罗塔前沿部署少量美国海军驱逐舰。在罗塔部署驱逐舰有助于维护美国在欧洲、北非和中东的关键利益，并使舰艇能花费更多时间执行任务，而非往返穿越大西洋。
Consider the case of the Trump administration’s ongoing review of U.S. force posture in Europe and whether Washington will maintain a handful of American naval destroyers forward-stationed in Rota, Spain. Stationing destroyers at Rota helps secure vital American interests in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East and allows the ships to spend more time conducting missions than traversing back and forth across the Atlantic.
必须明确的是，西班牙政府当然没有加倍努力争取华盛顿的青睐。马德里固执地拒绝履行其北约防务开支承诺，仅将国内生产总值（GDP）的微薄 2% 用于国防开支。“2.1%，不多不少，”总统佩德罗·桑切斯在 6 月表示。“我们完全尊重其他国家增加国防投入的合理愿望，但我们不会这样做，”他说。
To be clear, the government in Spain has certainly not been working overtime to win favor in Washington. Madrid has stubbornly refused to honor its NATO defense spending commitments, spending a paltry 2% of the country’s gross domestic product on defense. “2.1%, no more, no less,” President Pedro Sanchez said in June. “We fully respect the legitimate desire of other countries to increase their defense investment, but we are not going to do it,” he said.
更糟糕的是，今年早些时候，马德里还限制美国利用西班牙领空或军事基地开展针对伊朗的行动。
To make matters worse, earlier this year, Madrid also restricted the U.S. use of Spanish airspace or military bases for operations against Iran.
随着政府公开权衡在整个欧洲大幅削减驻军，西班牙的举动可能已使其跻身削减候选名单的前列。但仔细审视会清楚地表明，撤走部署在罗塔的驱逐舰或关闭那里的基地将是一个重大错误。
With the administration openly weighing significant troop reductions across the continent, Spain’s actions may have put it near the top of the candidate list for cuts. But a careful examination makes clear that removing the destroyers based at Rota or closing the base there would be a big mistake.
该基地驻泊六艘“阿利·伯克”级导弹驱逐舰，较2023年协议规定的四艘有所增加。这些舰艇火力强劲，可执行防空、反潜和反舰作战任务。舰载“宙斯盾”弹道导弹防御系统升级后，使其具备拦截弹道导弹、巡航导弹和无人机的能力。没有其他平台能将机动、多任务防空反导与可在岗位坚守数月的持久力结合在一起。
The base hosts six Arleigh Burke-class guided-missile destroyers, up from four under a 2023 agreement. These vessels, which pack a powerful punch, can conduct anti-air, anti-submarine, and anti-surface warfare missions. The ships’ Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense upgrade enables them to defend against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and drones. There is no other platform that combines mobile, multi-mission air and missile defense with the endurance to stay on station for months at a time.
这些能力在近期中东冲突中发挥了关键作用。过去两年里，罗塔基地的驱逐舰持续轮换部署至东地中海。最多时曾有四艘同时驻留该海域，既捍卫美国利益，又协助以色列防御伊朗弹道导弹袭击。这挽救了美国和以色列人员的生命。
Those capabilities have proved pivotal in recent conflicts in the Middle East. Over the past two years, Rota-based destroyers have rotated continuously into the Eastern Mediterranean. As many as four have been on station in those waters, simultaneously defending American interests and supporting the defense of Israel against Iranian ballistic missile attacks. That has saved the lives of Americans and Israelis.
这些舰艇同时也为北约提供海基导弹盾，抵御来自中东的威胁。该盾牌对保护美国在欧洲的基地及其向中东和北非投送力量的能力至关重要。这些驱逐舰还是海军在地中海遏制俄罗斯潜艇和水面舰艇活动、以及应对中国海军在非洲沿岸日益强势活动的前沿力量。
The same ships also provide NATO’s sea-based missile shield against threats from the Middle East. That shield is important to protecting American bases in Europe and their ability to project power into the Middle East and North Africa. The destroyers also serve as the Navy’s forward presence for countering Russian submarine and surface activity in the Mediterranean and increasingly assertive Chinese naval activity off the African coast.
有人可能会问，这些舰艇能否由欧洲舰艇替代。答案是否定的，至少短期内不行。
Some might ask whether these vessels can be replaced with European vessels. The answer is no, at least in the short term.
多年投入不足使欧洲海军陷入困境。西班牙自家的“阿尔瓦罗·德·巴赞”级护卫舰是欧洲最先进的军舰，但欧洲整体的海基弹道导弹防御能力依然薄弱甚至几乎为零，没有任何欧洲海军能像从罗塔出发的美国驱逐舰那样，向东地中海紧急投送具备“宙斯盾”弹道导弹防御同等能力的力量。
Years of under-resourcing have left European navies a mess. Spain’s own Álvaro de Bazán-class frigates are the most capable European warships, but Europe’s collective sea-based ballistic missile defense capacity remains thin to non-existent, and no European navy can surge Aegis BMD-equivalent coverage into the Eastern Mediterranean the way U.S. destroyers from Rota can.
如果华盛顿将美国驱逐舰撤回美国本土，北约南翼、以色列以及对美国经济至关重要的航运通道的导弹防御覆盖缺口，欧洲海军短期内无法填补，并可能在数年甚至数十年内造成危险的安全真空。
If Washington brings the American destroyers home to the continental United States, the gap in missile defense coverage for NATO’s southern flank, Israel, and shipping lanes vital to the American economy would not be filled by European navies anytime soon and could potentially create a dangerous security gap for years or even decades.
此外，作为“前沿部署海军力量-欧洲”一部分、母港设在西班牙的驱逐舰，在岗执勤时间大幅增加，穿越大西洋前往同一水域所需的航行时间则大幅减少。这使得每艘舰艇在其服役期内产生的战斗力成倍增长。
Plus, a destroyer homeported in Spain, as part of Forward Deployed Naval Force-Europe, spends dramatically more time on station and far less time in transit than a U.S.-based ship that must cross the Atlantic to reach the same waters. That multiplies the combat power each hull generates over its service life.
如果华盛顿有人对这些论点存疑，不妨看看五角大楼的实际行动。它已将罗塔基地的驱逐舰数量从四艘增至六艘，最后一艘于今年才抵达。在第六舰队司令杰弗里·安德森中将近期接受的一次采访中，他表示第六艘驱逐舰“来得越快越好”。显然，美国军方高层认为我们需要在罗塔部署更多海军力量，而不是更少。
If anyone in Washington doubts these arguments, consider the current actions of the Pentagon. It has increased the number of destroyers at Rota from four to six, with the final ship arriving only this year. In a recent interview, U.S. 6th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Jeffrey Anderson suggested the sixth destroyer could not arrive soon enough. Clearly, senior U.S. military leaders believe we need more naval capacity stationed at Rota — not less.
罗塔基地的潜艇支援设施、后勤枢纽、海军特种作战支援和航空作战能力，也使其成为美国在全球维持的最通用的前沿基地之一，能够从单一地点同时促成跨越欧洲、高北地区、非洲和中东的行动。
Rota’s submarine support infrastructure, logistics hub, naval special operations support, and air operations also make it one of the most versatile forward installations the U.S. maintains anywhere, facilitating operations across Europe, the High North, Africa, and the Middle East simultaneously from a single location.
这并不意味着应忽视与马德里的外交摩擦。华盛顿完全有权就分担负担、国防开支和外交政策分歧向西班牙施压。华盛顿可能需要对马德里的决定实施一些后果，但这些后果不应包括损害美国军事备战状态和力量投送能力、让美国民众更不安全的自伤式举措。
None of this means the diplomatic friction with Madrid should be ignored. Washington has every right to press Spain on burden-sharing, defense spending, and foreign policy differences. Washington may need to impose some consequences for Madrid’s decisions, but those should not include self-inflicted wounds that hurt U.S. military readiness and power projection capabilities, making Americans less safe.
特朗普政府应继续在罗塔部署六艘驱逐舰。任何其他举动都将是送给美国对手的一份大礼。
The Trump administration should keep six destroyers stationed at Rota. Any other action would be a gift to America’s adversaries.