紐時賞析／美大選進入最危險時期 官員示警：外國勢力威脅增加

2024年美國總統大選即將到來，圖爲共和黨籍候選人川普（左）和民主黨對手賀錦麗（右）。美聯社

Crunch Time for Election Interference: October Is the Month of Mischief

干擾美國大選的緊要關頭：10月是毀壞之月

Federal officials battling foreign interference in the coming election say they are entering what may be the most perilous period of the campaign: October, when the prospect for mischief runs high and the time to react runs short.

在即將來臨的選舉中對抗外國干預的聯邦官員表示，他們正進入或許是選戰最危險的時期：10月，危害0的可能性升高，但反應時間變短。

While the Russians make little attempt to hide their support for former President Donald Trump, the Iranians — among Russia’s most important suppliers in the war in Ukraine — desperately want to stop him from returning to office, and are busy hacking into his campaign and dumping whatever they find, as well as plotting to assassinate him. The Justice Department has announced the indictment of an Iranian hacking group closely associated with Iran’s Revolutionary Guard for the hack of the Trump campaign, along with efforts to attack the accounts of Washington journalists and others.

儘管俄羅斯人幾乎沒有試圖隱藏他們支持前總統川普，但身爲俄國在烏克蘭戰爭最重要供應國之一的伊朗，極力希望阻止川普重返白宮，並忙於駭入他的競選團隊、泄漏所找到的任何資料，還計劃暗殺他。美國司法部已宣佈起訴一個和伊朗革命衛隊關係密切的伊朗駭客組織，指控他們駭入川普競選團隊，以及試圖攻擊華府記者和其他人的帳號。

And China, once expected to be a major player in the election, seems uncertain which candidate it detests more. So, for now, Beijing is focusing on local races, conducting influence operations that have the potential to undermine public faith in the basic democratic process.

曾被預期這次選舉主要角色的中國，似乎不確定哪位候選人更令其厭惡。因此，目前北京關注地方選戰，進行影響力行動，可能損害大衆對基本民主程序的信任。

That has been the essence of a series of private intelligence briefings for election workers and members of Congress recently, as U.S. officials describe the stark, oftentimes confusing battlefield in which disinformation ramps up and the risk of cyberattacks is greatest.

這是近期針對選舉工作人員和國會成員一系列秘密情報簡報的重點，美國官員描述了一個嚴峻、經常令人困惑的戰場，戰場上假訊息大幅增加而網路攻擊風險達到最大。

At first glance, those briefings sound right out of the playbooks from 2016 and 2020. During one such meeting on Sept. 13, U.S. officials said Russia remained “the most active foreign influence threat” and other countries were flooding the internet with messages meant to “stoke discord and undermine confidence in our electoral process.”

乍看之下，這些簡報聽起來和2016和2020年大選劇本如出一轍。在9月13日一場這類會議中，美國官員表示，俄國仍是「最活躍的外國影響力威脅」，其他國家則在網際網路上散佈大量訊息，意在「煽動不和與減弱對我們選舉過程的信心」。

But as the briefing went on it was clear that what may unfold in the next month and a half includes some new features that American election officials have never seen before.

但隨着簡報會持續進行，很明顯的，接下來一個半月可能會有一些美國選舉官員先前從未見過的新特點。

“What is going to be happening in the next two months is going to be an onslaught,” said Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, who sits on the Senate Intelligence Committee. He said foreign powers “are getting more active, more aggressive.”

參議院情報委員會成員、緬因州無黨籍聯邦參議員金恩表示：「接下來兩個月將會有場猛烈攻勢。」他說，外國勢力「變得更活躍，更具侵略性」。

文／David E. Sanger and Julian E. Barnes　譯／羅方妤