THE FATAL flaw in a commander, suggested Carl von Clausewitz, a 19th-century Prussian general, is obstinacy(固执，顽固), or “resistance against our better judgment”. For a modern example of this behaviour, look no further than(只需看……即可) Mark Rutte, the secretary-general of NATO.
19世纪普鲁士将军卡尔·冯·克劳塞维茨指出，指挥官致命的缺陷是固执，即“抗拒我们更明智的判断”。要找一个现代例子，只需看看北约秘书长马克·吕特。
For months Mr Rutte has refused to admit that the transatlantic alliance(跨大西洋联盟（指北约）), the cornerstone(基石，基础) of European security for more than seven decades, is close to falling apart. That has required wilful blindness(故意的无视).
数月来，吕特先生拒绝承认这个七十多年来欧洲安全的基石——跨大西洋联盟——正濒临瓦解。这需要故意的视而不见。
Mr Rutte ignores Donald Trump’s repeated statements casting doubt on America’s readiness(准备就绪，意愿) to honour NATO’s Article 5, which says that an attack on one is an attack on all. Mr Trump also talks about withdrawing some forces from Europe. Nonetheless, Mr Rutte, a former Dutch prime minister, has gamely(勇敢地，顽强地) insisted that he has no doubt America is “completely commit(承诺，致力于)ted to NATO, completely committed to Article 5”. He maintains NATO has no need for a “Plan B” in case America were suddenly to pull out of(退出（协议、组织等）) the alliance. He has even banned any discussion of one within the NATO headquarters. On all of these counts, he is wrong.
吕特先生无视唐纳德·特朗普反复发表的言论，这些言论质疑美国是否准备遵守北约第五条，该条规定对一个成员国的攻击就是对所有成员国的攻击。特朗普还谈到从欧洲撤出部分军队。尽管如此，曾任荷兰首相的吕特先生还是顽强地坚称，他毫不怀疑美国“完全致力于北约，完全致力于第五条”。他坚持认为北约不需要为美国突然退出联盟而准备“B计划”。他甚至禁止在北约总部内讨论任何此类计划。在所有这些方面，他都错了。