Surprise, surprise: The Kremlin has accused another foreign oil major of "environmental" violations that just might lead to the renegotiation of a billion- dollar contract signed under the previous regime in Moscow.
今回はフランス資本のTotal stands がKharyaga地方の石油開発で環境破壊を起こしている というのだが、この北極地域の石油開発プロジェクトには50%をフランスが、ノルウェイの Norsk Hydroが40%を出資し、残りの小さな出資にロシア企業が含まれている。
先にローヤル・ダッチ・シェルのサハリン2プロジェクトで世界を驚かせたロシアは、今度は もっと手っ取り早く環境保護庁の手を煩わせる事無く、連邦監査局の長官、Sergei Stepashin がプロジェクトの遅れや生産の計画未達成がロシアの税収に悪影響を与えているという。 このプロジェクトはロシアに残された数少ない非ロシア支配のものであったために、明らかに Total は餌食(a sitting duck)にされたのだ。
And thus has yet another bird come home to roost. Remember that foreign firms and investors showed comparatively little concern about the shortcomings in Russian rule of law back when only oligarchs like Yukos founder Mikhail Khodorkovsky were seeing their wealth confiscated. Russia's foreign investors were never the ideal lobbyists for private-property protections and other democratic and free-market institutions, given they way they'd profited from the country's Wild East economy. Now they know a little better how Mr. Khodorkovsky felt.
Russia has clearly reasserted itself. The state is now the center of both Russian society and economy. Russia now clearly intends to return to being the center around which all former Soviet states revolve. Moscow has discovered, not surprisingly, that energy and other natural resources provide it with a tremendous lever in the region.
That, plus the ubiquitous Russian intelligence service, allows the Russians to shape the region. At the moment, given U.S. preoccupations, the response of the Americans to the Russian resurgence has not been substantial. The Russians would not be deterred anyway; for them, this is a matter of fundamental national interests. But they also need not be concerned: The United States has neither the appetite nor bandwidth for resistance. ttp://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=283013
Lebanon will become an intense battlefield for Sunni-Shiite influence, mainly played out between the Saudis on one side and the Syrians and Iranians on the other.
The expiration of Lebanon's lame-duck President Emile Lahoud's term in office will come in September and will be preceded by intense political jockeying between Lebanon's rival factions over his replacement. In the end, the next president will likely be a friend to the Syrians. Hezbollah will be able to expand its influence in the government by forcibly increasing the number of seats that it and its allies hold in the Lebanese cabinet.
With veto power, Hezbollah will be able to block any major legislation that harms Syrian, Iranian or Hezbollah interests, including disarmament of Hezbollah's militant arm or any punitive measures against the Syrian regime for the February 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri. While consolidating its political power, Hezbollah will intently focus on preparing for a military confrontation with Israel.
The Sunni Arab reaction to a rising Iran will intensify in the coming year. Though the Sunni Arab states are highly dependent on the United States to ensure their national security, they will make it clear that they are not going to sit idle while the United States fumbles around in Iraq. The Arab states, particularly Saudi Arabia and Egypt, will increase pressure on the Americans to act by strengthening the Sunni insurgency in Iraq and by showcasing plans to develop civilian nuclear programs to counter Iran. ttp://www.stratfor.com/products/premium/read_article.php?id=283013
The United States is talking itself into defeat in Iraq. Its political culture is now in a downward spiral of pessimism. In the halls of Congress, across endless newspaper columns, amid the punditocracy and on Sunday morning talk shows--all emit a Stygian gloom about America. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 購読契約フリーのOPJにあるイラク戦争関連の最近のアメリカの内向きな風潮を評論する コラムで、原文で読むほうがよさげのもの。
TEHRAN - After several months of faint rumblings, a US-led, Middle East-wide alliance of conservative Sunni and secular Muslim states marshaled against Iran is starting to take shape, to the deepening discomfort of the Iranian theocracy. Leading countries in this alliance are Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan.
This week, the anti-Iranian alliance of Sunni-majority states stretched east to embrace Pakistan as that country's leader journeyed to the Egyptian beach resort of Sharm al -Sheikh for consultations with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak. President General Pervez Musharraf was coming from Riyadh, where he vowed to deepen defense and strategic ties with the Wahhabi kingdom. His trip, according to the Saudi-owned, Arabic-language news site Elaph, was intended to "expand the Sunni alliance that includes Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to include Pakistan as well in order to face the growing Iranian influence in the region".
Robert Windrem from NBC News claimed in his latest report that Saudis are letting the price of oil and thus, ?waging an oil-price war? on Iran. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー サウジアラビアとイランの関係が悪化しており、それが石油価格に影響を及ぼしそうで あるというスペキュレーションの多いワイルドな記事。
The Bush administration is only too happy to see Ahmadinejad's deteriorating domestic situation and to let the Saudis further turn the screws, wrote MSNBC.
UNITED NATIONS ? Less than one month into his job, the new United Nations Secretary -General, Ban Ki-moon, has already had his first scandal. Now he may be engineering his first cover-up. 新しい国連事務総長への就任後1ヶ月を経ずしてBan Ki-moonは既に最初のスキャンダルがあり 今や最初の隠蔽を試みているかもしれない。
FOXニュースやWSJの報じたUNDPの北朝鮮への不適切な外貨資金の使用に対して、 Ban Ki-moonは「国連の資金によるプログラムについて、外部監査機関による緊急の全般的な システムワイドな調査」を約束した。
国連総会の予算監査機関は“ACABQ”(Advisory Committee on Administrative and Budgetary Questions)と呼ばれているが、Ban Ki-moonはこの “ACABQ”を監視用の機関としてに指名 すると月曜日に言い始めた。これに対して疑問の声が上がっている。その理由のひとつは前 の“ACABQ”議長である Vladimir Kuznetsovが国連の購買に関わる汚職で起訴されている実 績があるためである。“ACABQ”は前議長の時代に監視機関として機能していなかった。
It is this same ACABQ that Ban now proposes to use as a conduit for handling the inspection of the UNDP’s North Korean unit, which will be carried out not by a truly independent outside auditing firm, but by using the U.N.’s own “external auditors.”
This is the second time in about three weeks that Ban, put to a test, has first signaled a sound instinct, only to retreat after a dose of in-house consultation. The first occasion came during his first week on the job, after the execution of Saddam Hussein. サダム処刑事件に続いて、この件はBan Ki-moonの判断を問う二番目のものである。UNDPの北 朝鮮事件では最初はよさげな発言をし、そのあとで国連内部での検討の結果、最初の発言を たがえる決定をする、という行動になっている。(後略) ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー この事件への、飴ブログのコメント(インスタプンディット)
BAN KI-MOON'S first coverup?
UPDATE: Reader Ric Manhard emails: "Can we call it 'Ban Ki panky?'" Why not?
posted at 03:42 PM by Glenn Reynolds ttp://instapundit.com/ ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 補足(hanky-panky:【名-1】〈話〉不正、いんちき、ちょろまかし 【名-2】〈話〉性的な行為、性愛の戯れ 【名-3】〈英話〉手品)
Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) plans to carry retired Rep. Lane Evans’s (D-Ill.) torch, pressing to pass a resolution in the new Congress calling for Japan to formally acknowledge and accept responsibility for sexually enslaving women during World War II. By taking on the issue, the Japanese-American lawmaker will be prompting intense lobbying activities from the Korean-American community, which last year rallied behind the resolution sponsored by Evans, and from the Japanese government, which opposed the legislation.(後略)
イランからの報道によれば、サウジアラビアの国家安全保障委員会議長であるPrince Bandar bin Sultanがイランを訪問し、カウンターパートのAli Larijaniを含む高官らと会談する。 先にLarijaniはリヤドを訪問しており、この相互訪問は両国の間で真剣なネゴシエーションが 行なわれていることを示唆する。この背景に、先週イランがサウジアラビアに対して中東情勢 の安定化について話し合う用意があるとのシグナルを出している事がある。
(IsraelNN.com) Iran's former president, Hashemi Rafsanjani, is working to persuade the country's top religious leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenai, to conduct further diplomatic contacts with the international community in order to prevent a military confrontation with Israel. イランの前大統領、ハシミ・ラフサンジャニは最高指導者のカメネイ師を説得すべく、これ 以上のイランの対立がイスラエルとの軍事衝突になることを避けるために国際コミニティと の接触を続けている。
Britain's "Guardian" newspaper reports that in a meeting he held with Britain's ambassador to Tehran, Geoffrey Adams, Rafsanjani hinted that his country may have to bow to western pressure and put its nuclear program on hold. Rafsanjani reportedly said that Teheran "would be willing to provide any trustworthy means" to prove that its nuclear program was meant for peaceful ends. ガーデイアンに拠ればラフサンジャニはテヘラン駐在の英国大使、Geoffrey Adamsと会談して イランは西欧に妥協する可能性があると示唆し、核開発を停止する用意があるとした。ラフサ ンジャニはイランが核開発計画が平和利用目的であると証明するための「信頼できる如何なる 規則」にも従うと述べたと伝えられる。
Israeli defense expert Uzi Rubin, in a report to the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said that "once Iran learns how to put 300 kg. into earth orbit, it could adapt the satellite launcher into an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) that could drop more than 300 kg. anywhere in the world."
Iran has consistently claimed that its Shahab-3 missiles have a range of 2,000 km. However, US defense analysts believe the Shahab-3's range to be 800-1,000 km., which nevertheless includes Israel, Saudi Arabia, all of the Persian Gulf, and southern Turkey. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー >>55 読売新聞【ワシントン=坂元隆】はイランの受け売りでセンセーショナルな記事を 書いているけれど、イスラエルや欧州のメデイアは比較的冷静な受け止め方で、イランが 衛星を打ち上げる能力を持っているか疑問視している。
The U.S. Air Force is trying to change a culture that, currently, gives pride of place to intrepid fighter pilots. But over the last three decades, better electronics have changed everything, and the air force wants to change to keep up. To that end, the air force is going to emphasize intelligence more, to the extent that hotshot intel officers will be groomed for the highest jobs.
Rice said the new approach reflects growing Arab concern about Iran's attempt to project power through its proxies: "After the war in Lebanon, the Middle East really did begin to clarify into an extremist element allied with Iran, including Syria, Hezbollah and Hamas. On the other side were the targets of this extremism -- the Lebanese, the Iraqis, the Palestinians -- and those who want to resist, such as the Saudis, Egypt and Jordan."
The effort to contain Iranian-backed pressure took on new urgency this week, as Hezbollah's campaign against the government of Lebanese Prime Minister Fouad Siniora spawned a spasm of violence that left at least four dead. America, France and Saudi Arabia quickly organized a $7.6 billion financial rescue package for Siniora, but that hasn't stemmed the rising sectarian tension in Lebanon between Sunnis who back Siniora and Shiite supporters of Hezbollah.
The realignment strategy poses as many questions as it answers -- not least the anomaly of supporting Sunni resistance to Iran at the same time the U.S. augments its military support for a Shiite-led government in Iraq. But as with any strategy, Rice's realignment idea has the virtue of offering a basis for discussion and careful thinking about a region perched on the edge of a volcano. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー ベテランのイグナチウスの解説している記事で、ライス国務長官がイラン(やその手先のヒズ ボラ、ハマス)に対抗すべく、フランスやサウジアラビア、スンニ・アラブ諸国と連帯する戦 略に切り替えているというもの。
The US is up to its old, aggressive tricks again, pushing its European allies to take a hard line on Iran. But this time, Washington looks like it is at least half-right. アメリカはイランに対して強硬にあたるために欧州のお尻を押しているのだが、今回について は、アメリカの(対イラン強硬)政策は、少なくとも半分は正しい。
(大胆に中略) But the flip side of increasing the pressure is ensuring that Iran has somewhere to go if it is feeling the heat. If Tehran makes a gesture on its readiness to talk, the EU and the US should be ready to respond, even if that means fudging the official conditions for negotiations. The US and the EU should also think about sweetening their offer for Iranian co-operation. In particular, Washington needs to demonstrate a real willingness to talk to Tehran about security guarantees. イランに圧力をかけることでイランは困難に陥る。もしもイランが対話に転じる姿勢を見せる のであればアメリカと欧州はそれに応じるべきである。たとえそれが公的な立場に矛盾しても そうすべきである。アメリカと欧州はイランの協力を得易くする為に、インセンティブを考え るべきでもあろう。アメリカはイランの安全保証について前向きな意思を示す必要があろう。
The peace of the Middle East is at stake. For that, at least, it is worth providing a bigger carrot - and a bigger stick. これは中東の平和のかかる問題であるから、その意味において大きな鞭と大きな人参を用意す るだけの価値があるのだ。 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー リベラル風味のFTはアメリカの中東政策に通常批判的なのだけれど「半分は正しい」という のはFTとしては随分譲った評価なのかも。いずれにせよFTも、イランの態度の変化の可能 性を嗅ぎ取っていて、その方向へ誘導するには「大きな鞭と、大きな人参」だという。
America's Nazi Party The National Socialist Movement (aka NSM88) is the largest Nazi Party operating in the United States of America today. We are the political party for every patriotic American.
We co-operate and work with many like minded white nationalist groups such as the KKK (Ku Klux Klan), Aryan Skinheads, the Racial Nationalist Party of America and many others which are either neo Nazi or at least, racially aware of our Aryan Heritage. とか書いてあって、ジョークかと思ったら、そうでもないような(w
National Socialist Movement(Wikiの解説) There have been several neo-Nazi organizations known as the National Socialist Movement.
* Colin Jordan's National Socialist Movement of the 1960s. * The defunct National Socialist Movement of Chile * The contemporary National Socialist Movement, of the United States. * The contemporary National Socialist Movement, of the United Kingdom. * The contemporary National Socialist Movement of Denmark. * The contemporary National Socialist Movement of Norway. ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Socialist_Movement
In Western Afghanistan, Iran is pouring millions of dollars a year into Shia schools, mosques and social organizations. Naturally, the Shia have been a large minority in this area for centuries. アフガニスタン西部ではイランが年間数億円もの支援をつぎ込み、シーア派の学校やモスク、 社会組織を作っている。西部ではシーア派がかなりの大きさのマイノリティになっているの だが、タリバン(スンニ派)支配の時代には迫害を受けてきた。
Other Afghans continue to hate the Mongol "invaders." Now, because of the Iranian aid, the Shia are better armed, and more determined to resist any new Taliban persecution. The Taliban believe the Shia are heretics, and in Islam, the punishment for heresy is death. イランの支援の為にアフガニスタン西部でシーア派は優勢で、タリバンの迫害に抵抗している。 タリバンは依然としてシーア派を異端と見なし、殺戮されるべきものとしている。
In the south, NATO commandos are having success in finding out where Taliban commanders are, and killing or capturing them. There are about three dozen Taliban commanders in the south, and if enough of them can be taken out of action, this years Taliban offensive will collapse. アフガニスタン南部ではNATO軍はタリバン指導者を見つけ、拘束あるいは殺戮する作戦に成功 している。3ダースほどのタリバン指導者が南部に居て、そのなかの充分な数の指導者が処分さ れればタリバンの勢力は崩壊する。
January 24, 2007: Sensing weakness, more warlords are publicly denouncing the Taliban, and urging young men not to join up. タリバンの劣勢を見て地方軍閥は公的にタリバンを非難し、若者にタリバンに参加しないよう にというようになってきている。
January 26, 2007 “Killing is the sine qua non of war.” by Donald Sensing
So wrote Europe’s premier war theorist, Carl von Clausewitz, which he amplified thus, “Without killing there is no war.” This should seem self evident, but its truth is easy to lose, and easiest for the civilians who (rightfully) finally command our military. Even senior military officers, removed by distance and time from personal battle experience, can fail to remember that truism.
Of all the failings of the previous “strategy” in Iraq, directed by the commanders whom Gen. David Petraeus will very soon replace, the main failing was not keeping the main thing the main thing. In counterinsurgency, as with any other kind of fight, the main thing is killing the insurgents, for which civil assistance to Iraqis must play the supporting, not primary role.(後略) ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 大変興味深いイラク情況分析と戦術論を書いていると思ふ。メディアの伝えるバクダッドは 自殺爆弾でXX人死亡とかいう以上の何の情報ももたらさないのだけれど、この評論の書いて いる昨年から現在に至るイラク国内の武装派の状況の変化と、それにどう対応すべきかとい う評論は、ある種の明快でブリリアントなものが・・・
MR. MCCORMACK: Well, I -- you know, I don't know who these people are. They just don't know what they're talking about. I presume that these are people on the outside looking in who have some time on their hands who just have no idea what they're talking about.
Look, this is a serious issue of protecting American lives in Iraq and the President laid out very, very clearly his reasons for the decision and what it is -- the latitude that is being given to make sure that our forces are protected in Iraq. He also made very clear, as recently as this morning, that these activities are taking place within Iraq. Chairman Pace made that very clear when this story first came out, that these activities of force protection are governed by existing Security Council resolutions as well as the fact that they are taking place within Iraq. We have full confidence that we can do so.
We are working on other fronts to -- with the international community to address different aspects of Iranian behavior, for example, on the nuclear front. We have -- you're well aware of what we're doing on the nuclear front with respect to our diplomatic activities. So this is a very particular issue with respect to force protection protecting American lives in Iraq.
QUESTION: The L.A. Times has a story that essentially questions the evidence available at the extent to which Iran is meddling in Iraq and it goes on to report that there's been little sign of modern or advanced weaponry crossing the border and no Iranian agents have been found at all -- very, very few weapons been found in sweeps by U.S. troops. Can you comment on that?
MR. MCCORMACK: Yeah. I asked some folks about that and they told me that's just flat wrong, that assessment. There is solid evidence that Iranian agents are involved in these networks and that they are working with individuals and groups in Iraq and that they are being sent there by the Iranian Government. And I would expect that, you know, in the near future we are going to try to talk a little bit more in public to the extent that we can, because again you're dealing with intelligence information, about what we know of Iranian support for these networks. You've had individuals that have been captured that we have suspected of being involved in these networks and it's not just us. The British earlier last year talked about the threat that they faced from these networks and the threat that it posed to their troops, as a matter of fact, they lost some troops to these kind of devices. So it's the considered judgment of the British Government as well as our intelligence community that there is Iranian support for these networks, that the threat is very real. And as President Bush pointed out, we are going to confront those networks, those individuals that are trying to do harm to our troops.
QUESTION: Still on Iran, you talked a little bit about the gaggle about this evidence that you're working on possibly presenting to the American public about Iranian activities in Iraq. Can you talk about where that is in the process and why you're considering doing it?
MR. MCCORMACK: Well, apparently, walk back a little bit, there was apparently a challenge put out there I believe from the Iranian Ambassador in Baghdad said, well, show us the evidence, show us the evidence that Iranian agents are engaged in these activities and Ambassador Khalilzad, rightly so, said, we will present that evidence. We will make it public.
Now, where we are in the process is taking a look at the mountain of evidence that we do have and seeing what it is that we can cull from that in a declassified form so that we can make very clearly connect the dots between these EFD networks and Iranian influence over them. So we are working through that progress -- that process. It often takes a lot of time. It's sort of a laborious process because you have to -- because you want to make sure that you are able to protect sources and methods, all the while painting as clear a picture as we possibly can for global publics as to the involvement of the Iranian regime in these EFD networks. ttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2007/79431.htm
ttp://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2007/79431.htm QUESTION: There are some reports that financial talks with North Korea will be held January 30th. Can you confirm that on the -- MR. MCCORMACK: Treasury Department is going to have something to say about that, I think, if -- they have already?
QUESTION: Yes, sir. MR. MCCORMACK: They have already? There you are.
QUESTION: All right. MR. MCCORMACK: So they're going to be in the lead on that. I think -- I'm not sure they have announced where they're going to take place. I think they were talking about Beijing, but I'm not sure if the venue has been set yet. This is all part of what -- we're following through on what we said we would do in terms of talking, addressing the issues related to financial measures with the North Korean Government.
QUESTION: How the talks could affect on upcoming, next six-party talks? MR. MCCORMACK: You know, again, we view these issues as separate. We agreed to start this discussion in Beijing at the last round of the six-party talks, but we believe that the issue of financial measures to defend ourselves, to defend our currencies, and to enforce our laws are separate from the six-party talks. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 国務省のポジションは、30日からの財務省と北朝鮮の金融制裁の会合は、あくまで 「6者会合とは別のもの」という位置づけ。国務省は内容の技術的詳細にコメントしない。 国内法にもとづく金融制裁は6者会合の目的(核廃棄)と関連しない、というもの。
"In a bid to mislead public opinion, some Western media recently spread the rumor that the DPRK is cooperating with Iran in nuclear development," the North's KCNA news agency quoted an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying. The DPRK is the official name of the communist state.
"Their assertion is nothing but a sheer lie and fabrication intended to tarnish the image of the DPRK by charging it with nuclear proliferation."
"As solemnly declared more than once by the DPRK, it will continue to sincerely honor its duty it had assumed before the international community in the field of nuclear non-proliferation as a responsible nuclear weapons state," the spokesman said.
#最後のセンテンスにある(as a responsible nuclear weapons state)というのがジョーク #として秀逸
DAVOS, Switzerland // Iran plans to begin work next month on an underground uranium enrichment facility, as part of a plan to create a network of tens of thousands of machines turning out material that could be used to make nuclear arms, U.N. officials said yesterday. IAEAは昨日、イランが来月から地下のウラン濃縮工場を本格稼動させる計画で、将来は 数万の規模の濃縮装置の稼動を目指しているとした。
The officials' comments were the first concrete confirmation that work on the facility would begin in February. A senior U.S. State Department official warned the move would be a "major miscalculation" by Iran. IAEAのコメントは噂されていた濃縮装置の来月からの稼動説を裏つけるものとみなされて いる。国務省の高官は、イランの計画は「重大なミスカリキュレーション」であると警告して いる。
"If Iran takes this step, it is going to confront universal international opposition," said Undersecretary of State Nicholas Burns. "If they think they can get away with 3,000 centrifuges without another Security Council resolution and additional international pressure, then they are very badly mistaken." 国務省のバーンズ次官は「もし、イランがその計画を進めるなら、国際的な広範な反対に直面 するだろう」という。「彼らが、国際社会の追加の圧力や、追加の安保理決議なしに3000の濃 縮装置を稼動させることが出来ると考えるのなら、それはとても酷い誤りである」(後略)
Japanese food has spread in popularity abroad in great part thanks to restaurants owned by enterprising individuals ? many of whom are Chinese and Korean in the US ? who saw a business opportunity and successfully exploited it. 日本食が海外に広まり、評判になったことには個人のレストランの貢献が大きい。そして 多くは、ビジネス・チャンスに目をつけて開拓した、アメリカ国内の中国人や韓国人である。
Sure, kimchi and sashimi probably don’t mix. But instead of separating the authentic from the inauthentic, the government should hand out thank you notes to everyone who tries to promote Japanese food ? especially the genius who invented the California roll. キムチと刺身は、多分ミックスされないだろうが、オーセンティックを非オーセンティックと 分けるのではなく、日本政府は日本食を普及させる人全てに感謝状を贈るべきで、特にカリフ ォルニア・ロールの発明者に対してそうであろう。 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 典型的な凡庸ワンパターン・リベラルの日本政府非難。FTともあろうものが。 この記者は、以前に住基ネット裁判の記事を書いていて:
Now faced with a new global threat, that of terrorism from Islamist extremists, we could sure use some of that type of creative and bold thinking. What would George Marshall and Dean Acheson be doing now? At the top of their list, I suspect, would be forging a new version of NATO.
They might call it MATO: the Mideast Antiterrorism Organization, a military, police, intelligence and security mutual-defense alliance between the West and our moderate allies in the Middle East.
So what would Marshall and Acheson do? They probably would have created, in addition to a NATO-like antiterrorism alliance, a worldwide coalition of true and free democracies, ranging from India to Turkey to Israel. This Concert of Democracies could work on ways to nurture and support our common ideals, even as the new antiterrorism military alliance could be used to protect our security interests. Washington could use both instruments, just as it now uses both NATO and the U.N., depending on the situation.
Perhaps such an approach could even begin to minimize the trade-offs that now seem to vex us. Membership in MATO, especially if it drains some of the bile from the Israeli -Palestinian dispute, could make the leaders and citizens in places such as Egypt and Saudi Arabia feel more secure. And that may make them more open to greater democracy and reform. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 中東の地域紛争の対応のために、民主主義国の安全保障体制の機構を作るというアイデアで ライス国務長官が最近中東を飛び回って対イラン連合を準備していることが、こういう記事 の出てくる背景にあるような。
So much easier to say ethanol. That it will do farcically little is beside the point. Our debates about oil consumption, energy dependence and global warming are not meant to be serious. They are meant for show.
同通信によると、露連邦保安局が昨年5月、グルジア内務省の要請を受け、入手経路を捜 査したことを示す機密文書に、逮捕された男が核関連施設のあるノボシビルスクに近づい た形跡を示す記述があるという。 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー "During one his first questionings, Oleg Khinsagov said that he had purchased the uranium in Novosibirsk. But he later took back his evidence and said that he acquired the substance from an unidentified person," Georgian Interior Ministry official Shota Utiashvili told The Associated Press. The Siberian city has a number of nuclear fuel producing and processing plants, including those that handle weapons-grade material. (AP通信、IHT) ttp://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2007/01/27/europe/EU-GEN-Georgia-Russia-Uranium-Sting.php
サブタイトルだけを抜き出してみると ・BoJ normalization efforts handcuffed by declining prices ・Healthier domestic and overseas economic fundamentals ・Sluggish prices are a hurdle ・No rate hike in F3/08 under these conditions
We think that the BoJ is likely to lose the window of opportunity beyond the Feb-Mar timeframe once F3/08 begins. Our forecast for a January rate hike misjudged the resolve of Mr. Fukui to press forward with the normalization of monetary policy, and it will be tougher to justify an additional rate hike as time passes due to political and economic fundamental factors. Japan’s policy rate could be stalled throughout F3/08. We still discount for a 0.25% rate hike in the Feb-Mar timeframe but remove the projected July 2007 rate hike. This puts the policy rate at 0.50% at the end of 2007 and the end of F3/08.
うむむ・・・
Market implications
Japan’s monetary condition is becoming even more accommodative with the retreat of the BoJ’s policy normalization efforts and yen weakness on a real, effective basis. Reflationary macro policy should sustain the tailwind for property and other asset markets. The bond market, meanwhile, has lost the catalyst of higher interest rates.
There is a chance of sharp upswings in asset prices or excessive yen weakness putting upward pressure on interest rates. Yet this view is not very realistic, since it would take extreme cases for these factors to affect the long-term rate. The ideal combination of a moderate upward trend in asset prices, low and stable long-term interest rates, and yen weakness on a real, effective basis is ironically continuing amid diminished confidence in the BoJ.
The above scenario relies heavily on oil prices. We think that an unexpected rebound in oil prices might encourage the BoJ to accelerate the rate-hike pace just as the return to a positive core CPI rate on higher oil prices prompted the reversal of quantitative easing. However, it would take extremely high prices of above US$80/barrel to put the core CPI rate back in positive territory only on the oil factor, considering flat momentum for core of core CPI and strong oil prices in the previous year.
Mr. Fukui has commented that the price decline from lower oil prices improves the terms of trade and has a favorable impact on the economy. In fact, lower energy prices have the same economic effect as a tax cut of enhancing real consumer purchasing power and are not necessarily deflationary. The BoJ might start making this argument to explain a rate hike even if prices are falling. However, we expect considerable resistance from the Abe administration and top LDP officials to monetary tightening when the price trend is negative, given their emphasis on reflation and the threat of weaker popular support. While some observers suggest that it will be easier to conduct rate hikes once political pressure retreats following the Upper House election in July, we think that resistance will continue.
There is also the scheduled replacement of the BoJ governor and two deputy governors in March 2008. Political maneuvering to select the new leadership should begin after the July Upper House election. If the Abe administration and current LDP officials remain in control after the election, they might select a reflation advocate instead of promoting Deputy Governor Muto to the top spot. This factor raises uncertainty for the rate-hike outlook from March 2008.
Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told Western journalists that U.S. officials would provide details "in the coming days" about Iranian officials detained and interrogated in Baghdad and the Kurdish city of Irbil in recent weeks.
The presentation, Khalilzad said, would include details about the identities of the detained Iranians and what they were doing in Iraq, as well as information about alleged contraband flowing across the Iran-Iraq border.
The presentation, he said, is a response to comments this week by Iranian Ambassador Hossein Kazemi-Qomi, who publicly challenged Americans to show "any shred of evidence that Iran is working to destabilize Iraq," according to Iranian news agencies. Khalilzad said the United States would take up the challenge.
"I know the Iranian ambassador said the Americans do not have anything and if they have something, why don't they come up and share it," Khalilzad said. "We're going to oblige him." 「イラン大使はアメリカが何も証拠は持っていないと述べたのだが、どうして彼は我々のとこ ろに来て、それを共に調査しないのか。我々は彼にそれを余儀なくさせるであろう」
Khalilzad said it is time for Iran to change the people who conduct its Iraq relations. Khalilzad大使はイランがイラク政策を運営する人材を変える時期であると述べた。
"Iran has not adapted to the changed situation, in that it uses the security instrument as the channel, diplomatically," he said. "Many of the officials that represent Iran diplomatically are Qods Force operatives." 「イランは状況の変化に対応できていない。彼らは依然として諜報担当を外交チャネルとして 使っている」と大使はいう。「イランの外交を行なう多くの人材が革命防衛隊の工作員だ」 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 補足:Qods Force(Wikiの解説)
Qods (Jerusalem) Force, also called Al-Quds Force or simply Quds Force, is an elite unit of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) that carries out operations outside of Iran.[1] Its main activity is conducting para-military training for Islamic revolutionary groups both in Iran and in the Sudan, as well providing organizational, financial, and military support, and pre-attack planning.[2]
The group maintains and builds contacts with underground Islamic militant organizations throughout the Arab World.[1] It also collects strategic and military intelligence around the world, possibly having operatives in the United States.[2] Qods Force was founded in 1990 and reports directly to the Supreme Leader of Iran Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.[3][4] Its current commander is Brigadier General Qassem Suleimani. ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qods_Force
ttp://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16795765/site/newsweek/ Deadly Triggers Is Iran providing devices that help insurgents detonate IEDs in Iraq? By Michael Isikoff and Mark Hosenball Newsweek Updated: 7:51 p.m. ET Jan. 24, 2007
ニューズウイーク:イランはイラクの武装派にIEDなどを提供しているか?
Recent reports from U.S. intelligence agencies show that Iranian agents or brokers have ordered the devices in bulk from manufacturers in the Far East, said one U.S. counterterrorism official, who asked not to be identified discussing sensitive matters. Bruce Riedel, a senior intelligence official who retired from the CIA only two months ago, told NEWSWEEK he too was aware of reports that serial numbers of sensors retrieved from IEDs in Iraq have been traced to orders from Iran placed with infrared-sensor manufacturers in Taiwan and Japan. (Riedel is now an analyst with the Saban Center at the Brookings Institution.)
The infrared devices are particularly deadly as triggers for homemade bombs. Unlike cell phones, radio-control systems or garage-door openers?some of the other devices that have been used by Iraqi insurgents to trigger IEDs?the infrared devices do not emit a signal that can be detected before they go off. As a result, it is particularly difficult for U.S. forces to locate and defuse IEDs rigged with such triggers.
The presence of the infrared sensors is not the only intelligence pointing to an Iranian role in the construction of IEDs. Some recovered bombs closely match IED designs known to have been used by the Lebanese Shiite movement Hizbullah?another group that relies heavily on Iranian arms and money. A current counterterrorism official says that bombmaking videos believed to have been prepared in Iran have been recovered from insurgents in Iraq. Similar or identical tutorials have also been recovered from Hizbullah, the counterterrorism official said. The videodiscs contain instructions on how to build homemade bombs with “shaped charges” (known in military jargon as EFPs, or explosive formed projectiles)?particularly deadly devices capable of penetrating tank armor. These, too, are known to have been used by Hizbullah.
U.S. officials say they believe the supply of equipment and components to insurgents inside Iraq is being arranged in Iran by the Al-Quds brigades. This group is an offshoot of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, a national militia organization charged with protecting Iran’s theocratic government from counterrevolutionary forces.
FSBは、リトビネンコ氏に毒物を複数回盛らざるを得なくなったため、暗殺作戦はしく じったとみているという。また、ロシア当局は当初、暗殺に用いた毒物が何であるかが発 覚することはないと予測していたと英当局は分析している。 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーttp://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/01/26/ap3367903.html Associated Press Russian Spy Reportedly Poisoned by Tea By RAPHAEL G. SATTER 01.26.07, 10:37 PM ET
British police have concluded that a former Russian spy was poisoned by a lethal dose of radioactive Polonium-210 added to his tea at a London hotel, British and American television stations reported Friday.
Investigators have identified the teapot believed to have contained the radioactive tea, which eventually killed Alexander Litvinenko in November, Sky News said, citing unnamed Scotland Yard officials. ABC News had a similar report, citing an unidentified official.
The reports also said police have identified another former Russian spy, Andrei Lugovoi, as a suspect in the murder. Sky News said British prosecutors believe they have enough evidence to charge him
ABC News said the teapot, found at the hotel, remained in use for several weeks after the poisoning, adding that its radiation readings were extremely high. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー APの記事では英国警察はルゴボイを起訴できる証拠を持っているという。これは英国・ロシア 間の外交的問題になりそうな気配。ポロニウム紅茶に使われたティーポットが高い汚染度のま ま、事件後も使われていたというのは、ちょっと怖そうな話。
ttp://www.nysun.com/article/47382 Japan's Kyuma: Iraq Invasion Was a Mistake イラク侵略はミスだったと久間氏 By TAKASHI HIROKAWA and KIYORI UENO ニューヨーク・サン、ブルームバーグ Bloomberg News January 25, 2007
読売記事は「米国は北朝鮮の態度を慎重に見極めたうえで、金融制裁措置の緩和に踏み 切るとみられる」と書いているけれど、それはありえない話で、金融制裁解除と言うカ ードをもし切るのであれば、相当な見返りが確定しないと、アメリカ国内も納得させら れないはずと思ふ。 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー ttp://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/16560185.htm Posted on Sat, Jan. 27, 2007 U.S. may ease some North Korea sanctions Deal would be in exchange for Pyongyang agreeing to shutter a key nuclear reactor By Warren P. Strobel and Jonathan S. Landay MCCLATCHY WASHINGTON BUREAU
マッカーシーWB:アメリカは北朝鮮向け制裁を緩和するかもしれない
The package under discussion would have North Korea agree to disable its Yongbyon reactor, which produces plutonium for nuclear weapons, and re-admit International Atomic Energy Agency inspectors, according to U.S. officials and independent experts who have been briefed on the details. The North also would have to provide an inventory of its nuclear infrastructure, experts said.
In return, the United States would give North Korea access to some hard-currency funds that have been frozen for the past 16 months and offer other economic incentives. These could include restoring the delivery of heavy fuel oil, which the energy-starved Stalinist regime needs to run conventional power plants, and yet-to-be-determined relief from international sanctions, said the officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to discuss administration deliberations.
The U.S. officials and the experts cautioned that the deal is far from a foregone conclusion, especially given Pyongyang's erratic negotiating style. アメリカ高官と専門家は北朝鮮との交渉は結論に達していないという。北朝鮮の乱暴な交渉 スタイルのためと言う。
Any agreement would have to be concluded within the six-party talks on North Korea, whose other participants include China, Japan, Russia and South Korea. Those talks are expected to resume in early February. At the State Department, hope is rising that a breakthrough with North Korea might be possible. "There's the potential for cards lining up to produce something," said one senior official.
Pei Minxin, head of the China program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington, said the best policy is to contain the current regime and "see them out," he said.
"North Korea's demise is a given," he said, noting that Kim is 65 and his health is not the best.
"He's overweight. He has no heir in his family, and the record of history shows that that kind of regime has an impossible task picking an heir outside the family." ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 彼も、スエーデンのAlyson Bailesも、(忍耐+封じ込め)論になるわけで、その背景には 金正日が死んだ後で、独裁政権のスムースな次期後継者への引継ぎは困難であり、恐らく 崩壊なり、変質なり、何かが起こらざるを得ないという期待があるのだろうと思ふ。
イラン原子力公社の広報部長Hossein Simorghは、ナタンザの核開発施設に新たなウラン濃縮 装置が導入されていることは無い、と述べた。IRNA通信社が伝えた。 "No new centrifuge machine has been installed in Natanz facility," said Simorgh, responding to Boroujerdi's comments.
ttp://www.nysun.com/article/47446 Debate Erupts Among Spy Services Over Iran's Role in Battle of Iraq By ELI LAKE Staff Reporter of the Sun January 26, 2007
ニューヨーク・サン:イラクへのイランの影響力の程度について、激論が戦わされている
WASHINGTON ? As America's generals prepare for an increase in troops in Iraq, the American intelligence community has been fiercely debating the extent to which operatives directed by Iran's security services have penetrated the Iraqi government.
Several lists containing names of suspected moles have been circulating in the intelligence community since December, according to one American diplomat and two American intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity. But the names of the suspected Iranian agents themselves are the focus of a heated dispute.
This debate, among others concerning Iran's influence and control of Iraqi government institutions, is one key factor holding up the publication of a consensus intelligence finding on Iraq known as a National Intelligence Estimate. The dispute over Iranian power in Iraq's Interior Ministry, national military, customs office, Health Ministry, and Defense Ministry will determine how President Bush's troop surge is implemented, one intelligence official said. "This could lead to disbanding whole units of the Iraqi military and affect how we embed our guys in their units," the official said. "If it's true, if some of this is true, it's very bad. But we don't know yet." While the intelligence community is divided over the degree of Iran's influence in the Iraqi government, the Bush administration has changed its earlier assessment of Tehran's aims in Iraq.
At a hearing before the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence earlier this month, the outgoing director of national intelligence, John Negroponte, said the old view was that Iran does not want a civil war in Iraq. But he said this assessment was changing.
"One has to wonder why it is that they have increased their supply of these kinds of lethal weapons to extremist Shia groups in Iraq, provoking violence, attacks on coalition forces, and others. And one wonders if their policy towards Iraq may not have shifted to a more aggressive posture than it has been in the past," he said.
Iran's intentions in Iraq were explored in a paper released this month by a former Army translator and current analyst for the Fort Leavenworth, Kan.-based Foreign Military Studies Office, a U.S. Army branch that works largely with open source material for analysis of foreign militaries. In the paper, " Iran's Contribution to the Civil War in Iraq," Mounir Elkhamri says Iran's Quds Force has worked to create a rump Shiite state in southern Iraq since shortly after the attacks of September 11, 2001, and that the Shiite militias killing Sunni civilians in Iraq are working at the behest of Iranian intelligence and Revolutionary Guard.
While the Iranians were helpful in the invasion period, Mr. Elkhamri writes, by as early as 2004 the Iranian Quds Force and Ministry of Intelligence and Security began establishing influence to advance Tehran's interests. On March 11, 2004, Quds Force, the arm of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in charge of terrorism against America and Israel, opened the "Office to Help Poor Iraqi Shia."
By offering an upfront gift of $2,000 and a monthly stipend of $1,000, the office was able to recruit 70,000 young Shiite men in 2004 to join one of the numerous militias allied with Iran, Mr. Elkhamri writes.
Mr. Elkhamri's conclusions are stark. "Today in Iraq, Shia militias ? death squads loyal to Iran ? have successfully infiltrated the new Iraqi security forces at all levels. They have also expanded their area of operations throughout Iraq. They are responsible for more civilian deaths than the Sunni and foreign insurgents who are the United States' number one enemies in Iraq. These militias ? the Mahdi Army, the Badr Brigade, and others ? are carrying out attacks under the authority of and in the uniforms of the Iraqi Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defense."
Several analysts, asked this week for their impressions of Mr. Elkhamri's paper, expressed skepticism about some of his claims. "The paper points to a number of activities that Iran is up to in Iraq, many of which are potentially harmful to the course of reconstruction," the director for research at the Saban Center for Middle East Studies at the Brookings Institution, Kenneth Pollack, said. "However, the sourcing leaves much to be desired, and a number of statements are factually incorrect. Beyond that, many of its claims are simply interpretations that don't necessarily stand up to the evidence that is available."
The director of regional strategic programs at the Nixon Center, Geoffrey Kemp, said: "He makes a convincing case that the Iranians are deeply embedded in many levels of Iraqi society and government. However, he assumes that the Iraqi Shia share the same agenda as the mullahs. While it is true they have common shortterm goals, in the long run it would be unwise to conclude that Shia in Iraq will become part of Iran's aspiring empire. The Iraqi Shia community is not monolithic, and many resent Iranian pretensions and behavior."
DALLAS, Jan. 27 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Missile Defense Agency and Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) conducted a successful flight test of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) weapon system on January 26, intercepting a unitary target in THAAD's first flight test at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF) on Kauai, HI. This hit -to-kill intercept demonstrated THAAD's precision against in-bound threats and its ability to provide increased protection for troops and assets.
"This successful test demonstrates THAAD's ability to take out hostile targets early and quickly," said Tom McGrath, Lockheed Martin's program manager and vice president for the THAAD program. "On the expansive range at PMRF, the THAAD missile can fly greater distances, increasing our testing options and creating a realistic tactical environment. We are happy to begin testing at PMRF with a success and look forward to many more exciting missions."
PMRF is the world's largest instrumented multi-environment range capable of supporting surface, subsurface, air, and space operations simultaneously. There are over 1,100 square miles of instrumented underwater range and over 42,000 square miles of controlled airspace.(後略) ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー ttp://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2007/01/27/news/news01.txt First THAAD launches after yesterday’s wind delay by Charlotte Woolard - The Garden Island
A photograph released by the PMRF shows the missile launching on a straight trajectory instead of the telltale corkscrew motion that characterized launches in the space limitations of White Sands. “It was quite spectacular,” Clements said.
The U.S. military helicopter that crashed outside Baghdad, killing all 12 on board, was shot down by a shoulder-fired missile, CNN reported on Jan. 22.
ttp://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/mbfivelive/F2148565?thread=3834748&skip=0&show=20 This posting has been temporarily hidden, because a member of our Moderation Team has referred it to the Hosts for a decision as to whether it contravenes the House rules in some way. We will do everything we can to ensure that a decision is made as quickly as possible.
The BBC Message Board has now completely closed the thread about Little Green Footballs, and even removed our name from the thread’s title: BBC - MESSAGE BOARDS - Five Live - Removed - Conversation - No Discussion Title.
Interesting, the big bad BBC is afraid of a bunch of pajama-clad lizards. Hey BBC, watch out! Behind you! It's your shadow! Run! ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー #15 pegcity 1/27/2007 11:16AM PST
The bigger question is whether the Islamists will allow the BBC staff to live and continue with their propoganda or give them the chop when they seize power in 40 years from now ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー #24 EtNorskTroll 1/27/2007 11:21AM PST
Who would have ever imagined 65 years ago that the 101st Keyboard would be bombing Britain during it's final hour in hopes of saving Britain from the fascists? What a mixed-up, crazy world this is...~Norsk Troll ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー #38 thinkingmom 1/27/2007 11:27AM PST
A long time ago, when England was England, the BBC was honest and praiseworthy.
Fortunately, some influential people in Tehran appear to be getting nervous, as well. The stock market is dropping, and capital flight is accelerating. Some influential voices have begun publicly suggesting that flexibility as well as toughness is needed in dealing with the West. Pressure is growing on radical President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has been rebuked by voters in recent elections, by parliamentary resolutions and by editorials in newspapers that reflect the views of the country's supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
All this suggests that the U.S. measures, compounded by a U.N. sanctions resolution, may be having an effect on the mullahs. If so, the impact is sorely needed. During the past year Iran and its ally Syria have behaved as if they can defy the United States and United Nations with impunity. They have pressed a broad and violent offensive against Western interests across the region, from Baghdad to Beirut to the Gaza Strip, even as Iran has rejected Security Council orders to freeze its nuclear program.
It's too early to tell whether Iran will back off from that belligerent agenda: Last week its ally Hezbollah renewed its attempt to stage a coup against Lebanon's pro -Western government. But it's not too soon for the Bush administration to begin working on the next stage of its strategy. That's because the pushback tactics, while necessary to change the atmosphere of hubris in Tehran, aren't likely by themselves to achieve the administration's goals. The pressure needs to be carefully measured, since Iran, too, has the capacity to escalate, both in Iraq and elsewhere. While the threat of military action is useful, this president should not have to resort to that option.
What's needed is a mix of pressure with avenues for moderation by Tehran. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has offered to meet with Iranian officials and discuss a broad agenda of issues but only after the nuclear program is suspended -- a retreat Iran appears unlikely to undertake anytime soon. The administration doesn't help its cause by describing the Islamic regime as a Soviet-like monolith and publicly dividing the Middle East between pro- and anti-Iranian blocs. That ignores the very differences between extremists and moderates that can now be glimpsed in Tehran, and it invites Mr. Ahmadinejad to rally the country on a nationalist platform.
The most promising way of refining the current policy would be to return to a strategy that worked when the Bush administration tried it in 2001, which is engaging Iran in a regional forum. Five years ago the United States and Iran quietly cooperated within a larger group of nations to fashion a new regime in Afghanistan; now they have the possibility to work with Iraq's other neighbors to head off the escalation of sectarian war in Baghdad. To pursue such an initiative while simultaneously stepping up military and economic pressure on Iran, the Bush administration would have to forswear the Manichaeism it is so prone to in foreign affairs. But it might get better results.
これはFTに掲載された、アメリカの最近の中東政策批判の評論で、ややネガティブ なもの。(WaPoの社説と対比的)翻訳しないけれど、欧州リベラルの考え方につ いて考えさせられる・・ ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー ttp://www.ft.com/cms/s/7b98787a-acb0-11db-9318-0000779e2340.html The Middle East adjusts to America’s diminishing power By Philip Stephens Published: January 25 2007 20:47
Richard Haass, the president of the US Council on Foreign Relations, has called this the end of the American era in the Middle East ? a moment comparable to the collapse of British and French influence in the region after the second world war. I am not sure it is as complete or as final as that. The US still has a formidable military capacity with which to punish its enemies. What is indisputable is that just as power is visibly draining from Mr Bush, so Washington is losing its capacity to determine outcomes elsewhere.
Iran is the principal beneficiary of America’s failure. For Israel, still traumatised by a calamitous war against the Iranian-sponsored Hizbollah in southern Lebanon, the regime of President Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad is now the only enemy that matters. I gave up counting the times I heard the words “existential threat” to describe Iran’s nuclear programme capability.
The perception of Iran’s nuclear ambitions as an imminent and potentially catastrophic threat, though, runs beyond the Israeli right. So, I suspect, does the worry that a weakened US and an indifferent world will lack the resolve to confront Tehran. The thought left hanging in almost every conversation is that if Washington baulks at the task, Israel will send its own bombers to attack Iran’s nuclear installations.
Hence Mr Burns’s second purpose ? to persuade his audience that coercive diplomacy might yet succeed. The US was tightening the economic screws on Tehran. It was pressurising others to do the same. The Europeans are being asked to cut off export credits, the Russians and Chinese to live up to their responsibilities at the United Nations. The impact, Mr Burns said, was already visible in rising popular discontent with Mr Ahmadi-Nejad within Iran. Israel should keep its warplanes on the runway.
I am not confident they will pay much heed. Mr Olmert’s beleaguered coalition has been paralysed by last year’s war in Lebanon. Hizbollah’s latest efforts to overturn the Beirut government serve as a reminder of the failure. The danger is that Israel’s weakness will act as a spur to precipitate action against Iran.
Yet if America’s war in Iraq has crystallised some enmities, it is also softening others. One of the phrases I heard often spoke of a new “community of interest” between Israel and its Sunni Arab neighbours. Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan feel as threatened as does Israel by Iran.
Those looking for shards of light in the darkness that is now the Middle East may find them here. If Iran is the real enemy, the time may be approaching for Israel to think hard about making peace with the Palestinians and with Syria.
It is easier, though, to be pessimistic than optimistic. Just as the US has lost much of its leverage, so Mr Olmert lacks the political capital to take risks. Weakness, American and Israeli, is not a propitious foundation for peace.
SEOUL -- South Korea's Supreme Prosecutors' Office on Friday indicted Paul Yoo, the head of the Korean unit of U.S.-based private equity firm Lone Star Funds, on allegations including stock price manipulation and tax evasion, continuing the prosecutors' long-running probe of Lone Star's 2003 purchase of Korea Exchange Bank.
"The case will pass now to the court," a spokesman at South Korea's Supreme Prosecutors' Office said.(後略)
"Silicon Valley is back and it's rebooting," said Russell Hancock, Joint Venture's president and chief executive. "This is familiar since the Valley has already done it five or six times over its history. It regroups, then reboots." ジョイントベンチャーの社長、Russell Hancockは「シリコン・ヴァレーは回復し、リブート している」という「これは良く知られたことで、ヴァレーは歴史上、5、6回の回復を経験し ている。リグループ、そして、リブートなのだ」
For the 12 months through the second quarter of 2006, Silicon Valley added a net total of 33,252 jobs, which translated to a 2.9% rise in jobs, according to the Joint Venture report. Meanwhile, the region's unemployment rate declined last year to about 4% from nearly 5% in 2005 and down from a peak of nearly 8% in 2002. Many tech companies, from start-ups to larger companies, have recently complained that it has been difficult to hire and fill open jobs. 過去1年でヴァレーには33252の雇用増加があり、2.9%の雇用増大になる。失業率は2002年の ピークの8%から2005年の5%に低下している。多くの企業が新規雇用が難しくなっていると 述べている(後略)
(大胆に前略、サウジとイランの対立の状況解説) Iran's economy depends entirely on oil sales, which account for 90 per cent of exports and a roughly equal share of Tehran's budget. Since July, a barrel of oil has fallen from $US78 to just over $US50, reducing Tehran's revenues by about a third. If the oil price fell into the $US35 to $US40 range, Iran would shift into deficit, and with access to foreign borrowing cut off by UN sanctions, the Government's capacity to continue financing foreign proxies would quickly run out.
This policy was spelt out with surprising precision by senior Saudi security adviser Nawaf Obaid in an article in The Washington Post: "King Abdullah may decide to strangle Iranian funding of the Iraqi militias through oil policy. If Saudi Arabia boosted production and cut the price of oil in half, the kingdom could still finance its current spending. But it would be devastating to Iran, which is facing economic difficulties even with today's high prices.
"The result would be to limit Tehran's ability to continue funnelling hundreds of millions a year to the Shia militias in Iraq and elsewhere." This article attracted huge attention in the Middle East and Washington, but was hardly noticed in the financial markets and business community. But that was when the bulls still thought they commanded the oil market, and most analysts believed the only direction for oil prices to go was up. Maybe they should think again.
そういう戦略はイランがイラクなどの武装派を支援することを難しくさせる、と評論は書い ている。この評論は中東とワシントンで大きな注目を浴びたがビジネス界は無視している。 それは殆どのアナリストが石油価格は今後上昇すると考えていたときであった。彼らは考え なおしてみるべき鴨。 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー この記事の言っているWaPoの評論と言うのは、以前にこのスレで紹介したもので: ttp://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/28/AR2006112801277.html Stepping Into Iraq Saudi Arabia Will Protect Sunnis if the U.S. Leaves By Nawaf Obaid Wednesday, November 29, 2006; Page A23
【カイロ28日共同】ロイター通信によると、イラク中部ナジャフ近郊で28日、イラク 軍と駐留米軍の合同部隊が武装勢力と戦闘し、武装勢力側250人を殺害した。戦闘中に 米軍ヘリ1機が撃墜され、AP通信によると乗員2人が死亡した。ナジャフはイスラム教 シーア派の聖地の1つ。同じ聖地で近隣のカルバラにはシーア派最大の宗教行事アシュラ の最高潮を前に数万人の巡礼者が集まっている。 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー ttp://today.reuters.co.uk/news/CrisesArticle.aspx?storyId=MAC873831&WTmodLoc=World-R5-Alertnet-3 U.S., Iraqi forces kill 250 militants in Najaf Sun 28 Jan 2007 21:46:33 GMT
According to one Iraqi political source, hundreds of fighters, drawn from both Sunni and Shi'ite communities, were still fighting. A Reuters reporter at the scene, 160 km (100 miles) south of Baghdad, saw U.S. tanks and heard blasts after dark and an Iraqi officer said F-16 jets were bombing the area.
Details of the day's fighting, on the eve of the highpoint of the Shi'ite religious calendar, were sketchy and the origins of the fighters unclear. An Iraqi army source said some of the dead wore headbands declaring themselves a "Soldier of Heaven".
Earlier, the Najaf governor described the fighters as Sunnis, the majority in the Arab world and the once dominant minority in Iraq, where Shi'ites have been in the ascendant since the U.S. invasion of 2003. The two sects are embroiled in conflict that many fear is descending into all-out civil war.
But political and security sources said they were followers of Ahmed Hassani al-Yemeni and described him as an apocalyptic cult leader claiming to be the vanguard of the Mahdi -- a messiah-like figure in Islam whose coming heralds the start of perfect world justice. He had been operating from an office in Najaf until it was raided and closed down earlier this month.
#この事件は詳細が良くわからない。武装派が騒動を起こしてイラク軍と米軍の戦闘機、戦車 #などが参加した戦闘になったようだけれど、ロイターも(the origins of the fighters # unclear)といっているので、今の時点では判断のしようが無いような。
また、ナジャフ州知事は、武装勢力はスンニ派で、29日にシーア派指導部の攻撃を計画 していたとしている。 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー ttp://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/01/29/ap/world/mainD8MUL7DO1.shtml Iraqi soldiers attacked at dawn and militants hiding in orchards fought back with automatic weapons, sniper rifles and rockets, the governor said. He said the insurgents were members of a previously unknown group called the Army of Heaven.
"They are well-equipped and they even have anti-aircraft missiles," the governor said. "They are backed by some locals" loyal to ousted dictator Saddam Hussein. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー AP記事では、攻撃を仕掛けたグループは未知の(Army of Heaven)で対航空機ミサイルなど 良く武装している。サダムフセインに忠誠を誓うグループと関係すると書いているのでスンニ 派らしいと思える。
Hillary Rodham Clinton said Sunday that President Bush has made a mess of Iraq and it is his responsibility to "extricate" the United States from the situation before he leaves office. It would be "the height of irresponsibility" to pass the war along to the next commander in chief, she said. "This was his decision to go to war with an ill-conceived plan and an incompetently executed strategy," the Democratic senator from New York said her in initial presidential campaign swing through Iowa. ・・・・・ At virtually all her stops in this early nominating state, she ran into questions about her Iraq vote. She says Bush misled Congress and she now wants a cap on the number of troops, as well as beginning a "phased redeployment" of troops from Iraq. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー ヒラリーは中道派で、彼女よりも左派で、反戦派に近いエドワーズやオバマがいるわけですが エドワーズなどは、ヒラリーのような事は言っていません。
The October 2006 visit of newly elected prime minister Abe Shinzo to China - his first official trip overseas - was lauded by Beijing as "an important breakthrough" in strained China-Japan relations. After this ice-breaking visit, signs of improvement have become the dominant feature of the bilateral relationship. When meeting Abe on the sidelines of the ASEAN+3 Summit, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao accepted the invitation to make an official visit to Japan this spring, the first state visit to Japan by a top Chinese leader since 1998.
TEHRAN (Fars News Agency)- Supreme Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyed Ali Khamenei is suffering from a severe bout of flu and that's all.
The supreme leader, just like anyone else, can become ill. For some time he has been suffering from flu so severe that it can be heard in his voice. Therefore, he has cut back on his official program on doctors' advice.
There have been persistent rumors in recent days over the Leader's state of health, even reports that he had died.
For some time, among foreign media, on Internet sites and among people, a strong rumor has circulated that the supreme leader of the Islamic revolution is gravely ill.
CAIRO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - The editor of Egypt's most prestigious government newspaper said Iran was trying to spread Shi'a Islam in Arab countries that have no Shi'ites in an attempt to recreate an Iranian empire in the Middle East. エジプトで最も権威の高いとされる国営新聞がイランを批判して、イランはアラブ諸国に シーア派イスラムを広めようとしており、中東におけるイラン帝国再建を目指していると 述べた。
In a front-page editorial in al-Ahram on Friday, editor Osama Saraya accused the Iranian government of infiltrating hundreds of thousands of Iranians into Iraq, some as militia members and others to give Iraqis military training. al-Ahram新聞の一面に掲載されたOsama Saraya論説主幹の社説は、イランが数十万人のイラ ン人をイラクに送り込み、武装派のメンバーとして、あるいはイラク人の軍事教練の為の人 材としていると述べた。
Saraya, whose newspaper usually reflects government thinking, said Iran did not seek stability in Iraq and was pushing the Shi'ite movement Hezbollah in Lebanon to monopolise power in the service of Iranian interests. この新聞の社説は通常はエジプト政府の考えを示すとされている。社説はイランがイラクの 安定化を目指さず、レバノンのヒズボラを後押ししてレバノンへのイランの影響力を強めよう としていると述べた。
In the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he added, Iran did not want a peace settlement and Egyptian peace efforts clearly cut across Iranian policies in the Middle East. パレスチナとイスラエルの問題で、イランは和平交渉を望ます、エジプトの推進する和平の 推進政策と対比的である、と社説は言う。
"Lastly Iran is working actively towards spreading Shi'ite doctrine even in countries which do not have a Shi'ite minority, for reasons...which have political dimensions, paving the way for reviving the dreams of the Safavids," he added.、 「最後に、イランはシーア派のマイノリティを持たない国にさえシーア派のドクトリンを広め ようとしている。それは政治的理由からであってSafavidsの夢を再現しようというものである」 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 補足:Safavids The Safavids (Persian: ??????? ) were a native Iranian[1][2][3] dynasty from Iranian Azarbaijan that ruled from 1501 to 1736, and which established Shi'a Islam as Iran's official religion and united its provinces under a single Iranian sovereignty, thereby reigniting the Persian identity and acting as a bridge to modern Iran. ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safavids
Presidential Skeptics in Iran Lionel Beehner January 23, 2007
The rift also may affect who succeeds the Supreme Leader, whose position wields far more influence over Iranian foreign policy than that of the president. The ayatollah’s death was falsely reported in the West earlier this month but local reports indicate his health is failing.
Mr. Qumi said, Iran was ready to assume major responsibility for Iraq reconstruction, an area of failure on the part of the United States since American-led forces overthrew Saddam Hussein nearly four years ago.
Mr. Qumi’s remarks, in a 90-minute interview over tea and large pistachio nuts at the Iranian Embassy here, amounted to the most authoritative and substantive response the Iranians have made yet to increasingly belligerent accusations by the Bush administration that Iran is acting against American interests in Iraq.
( War of the Roses:【映画】 《The 〜》ローズ家の戦争◆米1989《監督》ダニー・ デヴィート《出演》マイケル・ダグラス、キャスリーン・ターナー、ダニー・デヴィート)
And perhaps we shouldn't. Because the royalism of republican politics is not just an American phenomenon. You see it in other very large republics. India for 37 of the 42 years after independence had members of one family as head of government--Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, grandfather and daughter, mother and son.
Rajiv Gandhi's widow is now head of the governing party. Indonesia elected as president the daughter of a former president. So did the Philippines. Maybe there is a reason for this. It's hard in a very large democracy for voters to judge a potential leader.
In any case, it's no sure thing that a Clinton will follow a Bush who followed a Clinton who followed a Bush. But keep the following in the back of your mind. George P. Bush will be eligible to run for president in 2012. Chelsea Clinton will be eligible to run for president in 2016. So will Jenna and Barbara Bush, who will turn 35 several days after the election. And Jeb Bush, who had a fine record in eight years as governor of Florida, will be younger in 2024 than John McCain will be in 2008 or Ronald Reagan was in 1984. Royalism may be here to stay.
The U.S. and the Iraqi government have been arguing about this Iranian influence for over two years. But in the past year, the U.S. has built up quite a collection of documents and interrogation videos, making it pretty obvious that Iran was running its own war in Iraq, attacking Sunni Arabs, Kurds and foreigners (including Arab diplomats.) The government feels betrayed by the Iranian Islamic conservatives who have, they believe, crossed the line with their support of Shia terrorists. ttp://www.strategypage.com/qnd/iraq/articles/20070129.aspx
TOKYO -- Citigroup Inc. said Monday it plans to establish a holding company in Japan, an organizational shift that will bring the financial giant's local units under one umbrella and allow it to make acquisitions more easily in the world's second-largest economy.
"Clearly one of the benefits is that doing an acquisition is much easier and much faster," said Douglas Peterson, chief executive of Citigroup Japan and Citibank Japan, in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.
To do so, it plans on converting its local Citibank operations, which currently run as a branch of the New York headquarters, into a Japanese joint-stock company. Once licensed, that structure will allow Citigroup to open branches without seeking separate licenses for each branch, a requirement under its current structure.
(2)別の可能性は、従来知られていなかったシーア派の武装カルト(Army of Heaven)が 騒動を起こして、ナジャフを警戒していたイラク軍、米軍と衝突し、スンニ派とも衝 突をおこしている、というもの。
この(Army of Heaven)なるものについて:
"It is a new militia emerging from [other Shiite] militias," Mustafa Alani says. "You have the Badr militia, you have the Al-Mahdi Army, and you have an [armed] group which belongs to the Al-Dawa party. Now, apparently, if this [theory] is true, we have another, fourth militia emerging now -- a [new] Shi’ite militia."
武装集団は600〜700人から成り、一緒にいた女性や子供も戦闘で犠牲になったという。 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー AP通信の1時間前のものでは: Both Mohammed al-Askari, the defense ministry spokesman, and an Iraqi military commander in charge of the Najaf area said 200 terrorists were killed and 60 wounded, lowering previous estimates for the battle outside the holy city. Maj. Gen. Othman al-Ghanemi, the commander, said there were 150 prisoners, and al-Askari said 120 people had been taken captive.
Al-Ghanemi added that the army captured some 500 automatic rifles in addition to mortars, heavy machine guns and Russian-made Katyusha rockets.
This test involved the successful intercept of a "high endo-atmospheric" (just inside earth's atmosphere) unitary (non-separating) target representing a "SCUD"-type ballistic missile launched from a mobile platform positioned off Kauai in the Pacific Ocean. The interceptor was launched from the THAAD launch complex at the Pacific Missile Range Facility (PMRF).
The higher-altitude and theater-wide protection offered by THAAD provides more protection of larger areas than lower-tier systems like Patriot alone. THAAD can be transported by air to wherever it is needed worldwide, and consists of radar, fire control unit, missile launchers, and interceptor missiles.
NYタイムズ紙コラムニストのニコラス・クリストフ氏は28日の紙面で、中国が 武器輸出や油田開発を通じてスーダン政府によるダルフール虐殺に手を貸して いることを批判し、「南京大虐殺より酷い」と表現した。 "A Choice for Darfur" (有料)ttp://select.nytimes.com/2007/01/28/opinion/28kristof.html (抜粋)虐殺の張本人であるスーダン大統領がアフリカ連合議長に当選する見通しだ。 これは世界各国政府が虐殺に無関心なためだが、アフリカのイメージとダルフールの アフリカ連合平和維持部隊にとっては大打撃となろう。スーダン政府側民兵はダル フール人の母子を見つけると、赤子の体を母親に叩きつけて赤子を殺すが、最近は 銃剣でダルフール人の目をくり抜いている。そのAK-47小銃のほとんどは中国製だ。 一方、胡錦涛主席は近日中にスーダンを訪れる。南京大虐殺より酷いアフリカでの 残虐行為に中国が手を貸していることに公開の場で触れるのか、注視しよう。
>>205 Bush, Clinton, Bush, Clinton. It sounds like the Wars of the Roses: Lancaster, York, Lancaster, York. その映画じゃなくて、15世紀イングランドの薔薇戦争でしょう。 「王制」(royalism)という言葉も使ってるし。
ttp://missiledefenseadvocacy.org/?p=183 THAAD Interceptor Launch from the Pacific Missile Range Facility January 27, 2007 Fifth Successful Missile Defense Test in the Past Six Months Sends a Clear Message to Iran and North Korea
MDAA:過去6ヶ月間の、5回のMDテストの成功は、北朝鮮とイランへの明確なメッセージ
The THAAD missile system is the next layer in our current deployed missile defense systems which are based world-wide that includes the ground-based GBI’s, Aegis Sea -Based SM-3 missiles and the ground based Patriot 3 systems. This demonstration of the THAAD system will question the investment that both Iran and North Korea are putting into offensive ballistic missiles.
Our government is moving to deploy two THAAD systems which comprise of 48 missiles and two radars and should be deployed in the near future to regions where the threat is highest such as the Persian Gulf, South Korea and Japan.(後略)
BAGHDAD, Jan. 29 ? The gunmen who battled Iraqi and American forces near Najaf on Sunday were members of a Shiite cult that planned to storm the city during a religious festival and kill the nation’s top Shiite clerics, Iraqi officials said today.
About 200 members of the group, which called itself “Soldiers From Heaven,” died in the fighting, which lasted until about 4 a.m. today. Iraqi officials said that 60 others were wounded and as many as 120 were captured. 「天国からの兵士」を自称する武装カルトの200人を殺戮し120人を拘束、負傷者は60人である。
Abdul Hussein Abtan, the deputy governor of Najaf province, gave an interview to Iraqi television from the battlefield, saying he was standing next to the dead body of the group’s leader. Mr. Abtan said the dead man had claimed to be the Imam Mahdi ? the missing spiritual leader whom many Shiites believe will return someday to restore justice. ナジャフ県の副知事、Abdul Hussein AbtanはイラクTVの戦場からのインタビューで、彼は 武装カルトの指導者の死体の腋にいると述べた。副知事は死亡したカルト指導者はImam Mahdi を自称する男で、それはシーア派の多くの信仰する隠れたる精神的指導者で、何時の日にか 正義の実現の為に姿を現すとされているものという。
“Beside me are a large number of prisoners, hundreds of them,” he said. “There are also hundreds dead.” 「私の腋にいるのは多数の捕虜で、数百人いる。それに数百人の死者もいる」
The governor of the province, Asad Abu Galal, told reporters that the militant group involved in the fighting was led by a man named Ali bin Ali bin Abi Talab. Mr. Galal said that the group’s planned attack “was meant to destroy the Shiite community, kill the grand ayatollahs, destroy the convoys and occupy the holy shrine.” ナジャ府県の知事、Asad Abu Galalは記者の質問に答え、武装カルト指導者はAli bin Ali bin Abi Talabだとした。知事に拠れば彼らは「シーアコミニティを破壊し、大アヤトラを殺し、 護衛車両を破壊し、聖なる神殿を占拠すること」を狙ったという。
Mr. Abtan described the movement as “an ideological and military organization with long experience,” and said that its leaders came from outside Iraq. He said it was relatively small, but had rallied a large group of “naive people” over the past two days by proclaiming the return of the Imam Mahdi. 知事に拠ればカルトは「イデオロギー的、軍事的組織で、長い経験を持つ」とし、指導者は 国外から来たと述べた。知事に拠れば、それは少数のひとたちだが「認識の甘い、うぶな人々」 に、Imam Mahdiの復活を宣伝して多量に人々を動員したのだと言う。
The exact makeup and motives of the group remained unclear. Mr. Galal described the movement as Shiite in its “exterior,” but not in its “core.” カルトの正確な構成や動機は不明であるが、知事に拠ればシーア派はその「外側」にいるもの の「コア」にはいないという。
Mr. Abtan said that two Egyptians had been apprehended in Najaf in connection with the fighting, but the two had escaped, along with a Sudanese and a Lebanese. He said the militant group included Sunnis as well as Shiites. “They worked under Shiite slogans, but the capabilities they had in the battle are, for sure, not local ones,” he said. 知事に拠ればナジャフ事件に関連してエジプト人2人を逮捕、2人が逃走、スーダン人とレバノ ン人という。武装派はスンニ派とシーア派を含み「彼らはシーア派のスローガンを叫ぶが、彼 らの戦闘で示した能力は、とてもローカルのものではない」
Iraq’s national security minister, Sherwan al-Waeli, told reporters that the group’s followers were told that the killing of the clerics would be a sign that the Imam Mahdi was returning.“No sane person could believe it,” Mr. Waeli said. イラク国防省のSherwan al-Waeliは記者に対して、カルトに従った人々は聖職者の殺害がImam Mahdiの復活のサインであると教えられたという「分別のある人間ならば、そんなことは信じ ないが」と彼は述べた。
While Iraqi officials stressed today the group’s mixed membership and fringe beliefs, on Sunday two senior Shiite clerics said the gunmen were part of a Shiite splinter group that Saddam Hussein helped build in the 1990’s to compete with followers of the venerated Shiite religious leader Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani. イラク政府関係者はカルトの教えが周辺的なものでありメンバーが混在していることを強調し ているのだが、二人の行為のシーア聖職者が日曜日に語ったところに拠れば、武装派メンバー はシスタニ師の信者集団に対抗するためサダムフセインが1990年代に作ったシーア派の分派で あるという。
They said the group, calling itself the Mahdawiya, was loyal to Ahmad bin al-Hassan al-Basri, an Iraqi cleric who had a falling out with Muhammad Bakr al-Sadr ? father- in-law of the Shiite leader Moktada al-Sadr ? in Hawza, a revered Shiite seminary in Najaf. 彼らに拠れば、武装派は自らをMahdawiyaと呼び、Ahmad bin al-Hassan al-Basriの教えに忠実 であるという。Ahmad bin al-Hassan al-BasriはMuhammad Bakr al-Sadrからの分派で Muhammad Bakr al-SadrはMoktada al-Sadrの義理の父である。
At today’s news conference, officials emphasized to reporters that the group was very near to beginning its planned attack when it was uncovered by the authorities. “The deadline was very close,” Mr. Galal said. 今日の記者会見で政府関係者は、武装派が襲撃開始する直前に政府によって発見されたことを 強調している。「デッドラインは大変迫っていた」と知事が述べた。(後略)
Founding Philosophy: Brigades of Imam al-Hassan al-Basri is an Iraqi group that gained notoriety for the killing of a journalist in February 2005, and also claimed responsibility for several small bombing attacks on police targets in the same year.
The group is based in Basra, and has reportedly pledged allegiance to Tanzim Qa'idat al-Jihad fi Bilad al-Rafidayn, the terrorist outfit led by Abu Musab al-Zarqawi.
Current Goals: It is not known whether the Brigades of Imam al-Hassan al-Basri has been fully assimilated into Zarqawi’s group, or if they will continue attacks under the Imam al-Hassan al-Basri name. In any case, this organization can be considered highly active and one of the main militant threats in the Basra area. ttp://www.tkb.org/Group.jsp?groupID=4493
No account was available from the group targeted in one of the strangest episodes in four years of conflict.
"An ideologically perverted group...tried to insult an Islamic holy symbol, the Imam Mahdi, and use him as an ideological base to recruit followers," the government said.
"One of the signs of the coming of the Mahdi was to be the killing of the Ulema (clerical hierarchy) in Najaf," Waeli said. "This was a perverted claim. No sane person could believe it."
"He claimed to be the Mahdi," Waeli said of the cult's leader, adding that he had used the full name Mahdi bin Ali bin Ali bin Abi Taleb, claiming descent from the Prophet Mohammad.
Waeli said the man calling himself the Mahdi was believed to be from the city of Diwaniya. An official in Najaf identified him, however, as Dhia Abdul-Zahra al-Qarawi, from Hilla.
Political sources said Hassan, who styled himself "the Yemeni", was a Shi'ite who had an office in Najaf that was shut down this month. In a Web posting dated last week, he called on "followers of the Mahdi" and said they "have been detained many times and tortured without mercy for no reason". ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー ロイター記事も(one of the strangest episodes)とか書いていて・・この記事(4ページ) でも集団の背景や中身については、充分明確ではないような。
BAGHDAD, Jan 29 (KUNA) -- The leader of "Soldiers of Heaven" cult who was killed yesterday with 300 of his supporters in Najaf was detained in Iran before crossing border into Iraq, said Monday an Iraqi security source.
The source, who requested anonymity, said that the leader of the "Soldiers of Heaven", Ahmad Al-Basri, was a student at a religious school in Najaf City during the reign of the ousted Iraqi regime.
Al-Basri then moved to Iran where he claimed to be an "ambassador" of the Mahdi who according to Islamic belief would return to spread justice around the globe.
After he was released by Iranian authorities, Al-Basri returned to the Iraqi city of Basra where he again claimed to be an "ambassador" of the Mahdi and led his supporters to areas surrounding Najaf to take over the religious Iraqi city, explained the source.
However, Iraqi intelligence had been closely watching Al-Basri's activities since May 2006 prevented the cult from executing their plans, added the source.
Iraqi Defense Ministry spokesperson, Mohammad Al-Askari, said to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that Iraqi forces arrested 250 members of Al-Basri's cult, most of whome were hiding in Al-Zarkah farms, north of Najaf.
Police said they detained 140 other members of the cult and were being interrogated .(end) ah.rb KUNA 300025 Jan 07NNNN
As I posted yesterday, Shi’ite political sources said the gunmen appeared to be both Sunni Arabs and Shi’ites loyal to a cleric called Ahmed Hassani. Hassani was affiliated with Sadr, who is, after all, a rival of Sistani. Removing Sistani would have cleared the way for Sadr to emerge at the top of the Shi'ite food chain. What remains to be seen is if Sistani buys this, or if he already did. That would likely cause him to revisit his previous decision to stay loyal to Sadr as key to a Shi'ite political majority. The coalition could be back on the table now, which would be a good thing for Iraq.
ttp://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21141222-2703,00.html So there was confusion today about the origins and motives of the sect. US officials have declined to comment on the battle, saying the operation was still continuing but the deputy governor of Najaf claimed that the group was a Shia cult linked to al-Qa'ida and had foreign fighters within its ranks. * Sam Knight and agencies * January 30, 2007
“This group had more capabilities than the government,” said Abdul Hussein Abtan, the deputy governor of Najaf Province, at a news conference. ナジャフ県の副知事Abdul Hussein Abtanは、「このグループは政府よりも強力だった」と 記者会見で語った。
The Iraqis and Americans eventually prevailed in the battle. But the Iraqi security forces’ miscalculations about the group’s strength and intentions raised troubling questions about their ability to recognize and deal with a threat. 戦闘では米軍とイラク軍が勝利したが、イラクの警備隊は敵の強さを読み間違えており、その 事は治安維持の能力に疑問を起こさせる。
The battle also brought into focus the reality that some of the power struggles in Iraq are among Shiites, not just between Shiites and Sunnis. The Soldiers of Heaven is considered to be at least partly or wholly run by Shiites. 戦闘は、イラクのシーア派内部の権力闘争を示す事になった。シーア派とスンニ派の対立のみ ならずシーア派内部に対立がある。天国の兵士は部分的に、あるいはすべてがシーア派と見ら れる。(後略) ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 読み違えたのは治安維持部隊の能力のなさでもあろうけれど、こういう大規模なクーデター まがいが起こると予期していなかった、敵の意図や構造を知らなかったからでもあろうと思 える。この反乱は異常で、その強さも異常なので、裏があるのではないかと思う。先週はレ バノンでヒズボラがクーデターまがいをやっているし・・・
The Iraqi Shia realize that they are the most divided of all the key communal factions in Iraq, which is why it took six months after Iraq's December 2005 elections to finalize the al-Maliki government. They are also aware that at present, the 128 Shiite seats in the parliament and their control over the Cabinet is the best that the Shia can get -- and they are at risk of losing it if they do not get their act together. Considering that al-Sadr's group forms the largest component within the Shiite alliance (at 32 seats, it controls the largest number of Shiite parliamentary positions), the radical Shiite leader cannot be eliminated from the alliance altogether. At the same time, his militia cannot be allowed to run amok.
Meanwhile, the Iranians realize that over time, exploiting intra-Shiite differences has diminishing marginal utility, and that Tehran's long-term interests are best served through Iraqi Shiite unity.
Al-Sadr himself does not want to appear to be conceding on his long-held opposition to the presence of U.S. forces in the country. But he also cannot continue business as usual.
Thus, we have a movement toward allowing the government to demonstrate it is reining in Shiite militias, the actions of which are an obstacle to containing the Sunni insurgency. At the same time, al-Sadr likely has received assurances that his political position remains secure so long as he does not block efforts to contain the militias. Whether this succeeds is something else again.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Within a year, the U.S. missile defense system should be able to guard against enemy attacks, while testing new technologies, the deputy director of the U.S. Missile Defense Agency said on Monday. 新しいテクノロジーをテストし、1年以内にアメリカのミサイル防衛は敵の攻撃からの防衛 の能力を持つとMD庁の副長官が月曜日に語った。
The United States activated the ground-based system last summer when North Korea launched one long-range and six short-range missiles. 昨年夏、アメリカは北朝鮮の長距離ミサイルト6個の短距離ミサイルの試射に関連して地上 ベースのシステムを稼動させている。
North Korea's intercontinental Taepodong 2 missile fell into the Sea of Japan shortly after launch but the short-range tests appeared successful, said Brig. Gen. Patrick O'Reilly, deputy director of the Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency. Patrick O'Reilly MD庁副長官は北朝鮮のテポドンはテストに失敗したが短距離ミサイル のテストは明らかに成功であったとしている。
O'Reilly said there would be no formal announcement that the system was operational. He predicted the capability to defend against enemy missiles and to continue testing and development work would be achieved within a year. O'ReillyはMDシステムが運用状態になったとする公的発表は無いだろうという。敵のミサ イルに対抗する能力の開発とテストが継続し、1年以内に運用可能になると予測した。
"It's just a matter of maturation," he told reporters after a speech hosted by the George C. Marshall Institute, a public policy group. 「それは成熟度の問題」と記者会見で語った。
O'Reilly said work by North Korea and Iran on long-range ballistic missiles underscored the need for a viable U.S. missile defense system. O'Reillyは北朝鮮とイランの長距離ミサイル開発がミサイル防衛の必要性を高めているとした。 昨年夏のイスラエルとヒズボラの戦争も、ミサイルの脅威と、非政府ゲリラなどによるその使 用の危険を知らせるという。「我々は全ての非常事態対応が出来なくてはいけない」
Iraqi officials offered an extraordinary tale that, if true, would mean that a large, well-armed paramilitary unit grew right under the noses of the nation's security forces. "How could that have been invisible?" the U.S. advisor asked.
Iraqi officials said the militants had been holed up with their wives and children stockpiling food and weapons in the village of Zergha on the opposite bank of the Euphrates River from Najaf.
"It was obvious that they had good military training and big supplies of weapons," the Cabinet statement said. "They were ready for a war." Cult members managed to break into the Iraqi army's radio frequency, an Iraqi soldier said. "When we were calling their names and telling them to get off the walkie-talkie, they were saying, 'We are messengers here to save you. We are the followers of the Mahdi,' " the soldier said.
The group also had sophisticated medical equipment and two surgery rooms, an Iraqi official said.
Even the U.S. has not been immune to intelligence lapses and terrorism attacks, said Abdul Hussein Abtan, Najaf's deputy governor, referring to the Sept. 11 attacks. He said he had seen the remains of the cult leader.
"His body is by my side," Abtan said. "Thank God [the man] who claims that he is the imam was killed."
"It seems most likely that this was Shi'ite-on-Shi'ite violence, with millenarian cultists making an attempt to march on Najaf during the chaos of the ritual season of Muharram," Juan Cole, an Islamic scholar at the University of Michigan, said on his Web site. "The dangers of Shi'ite-on-Shi'ite violence in Iraq are substantial, as this episode demonstrated." (AP通信) ttp://washingtontimes.com/world/20070130-120356-8388r_page2.htm
Iran Press News reported that starting next week Ahmadinejad intends to destroy a sacred part of Iran’s heritage by submerging the capital of the father of the Iranian nation, Cyrus the Great, a sacred part of Iran’s ancient history and culture. アハマディネジャドは来週からイランの文化遺産を破壊するようで、Cyrus the Great時代の 貴重な遺産がその対象である。
This proves what archaeologists, historians, experts and university professors have said regarding the importance of ancient monuments that are in danger of destruction; digs and conducted research over the last two years shows that the Mr. Ahmadinezhad’s administration has set out to utterly wipe out all traces of Iranian heritage, history and culture.
Two days ago, Monday, January 22nd, 2007, the Islamic regime’s minister of power and energy announced that next week (i.e. the beginning of ten days of the "Fajr decade" which coincides with the anniversary of Khomeini’s return to Iran), the tankage and submersion of the Sayvand dam would begin. And so it has become clear that the administration of Mr. Ahmadinezhad, using the volatile regional and international atmosphere, intends to destroy a sacred part of Iran’s heritage by implementing the dark and nebulous 15-year-old plan. The plan is to submerge the capital of the father of the Iranian nation, Cyrus the Great, a sacred part of Iran’s ancient history and culture. 1月22日から15年来の懸案であるSayvandダムへの貯水が始まり、国際的な、また地域的な 反対の声にもかかわらずCyrus the Great時代の首都や墓を水没させることが行なわれる・ ・・・・・ The Pasargad International Rescue Committee calls upon all Iranians, inside and outside Iran, as well as all the people of the world to regularly and indefatigably convey the news of this great cultural injustice by any means necessary to everyone they can possibly inform. In the meantime, the committee also announces that the responsibility of the destruction of every piece of the national and historical Persian heritage is placed squarely and directly on the shoulder of the Islamic regime’s rulers.
A deal with the supporters of the fiercely anti-American cleric would temper U.S. military commanders' concern that any attempt to secure Baghdad will inevitably lead to a showdown with Iraq's biggest private army. In 2004, the U.S. military fought bloody battles with the Mahdi Army in Najaf and in Sadr City, a sprawling Shiite enclave in Baghdad, and has since steered clear of direct confrontations with the militia.
If the negotiations succeed, U.S. forces will be welcome in Sadr City, the Mahdi Army stronghold that has witnessed two previous battles between U.S. troops and the Shiite militia, said Rahim al-Daraji, the mayor of the southern half of Sadr City. Al-Daraji said he has been authorized to negotiate on behalf of the Mahdi Army and other Shiite factions.
If Sadr orders his militia to lie low, there is a good chance his largely volunteer militia will survive the latest threat to disband militias, enabling it to re-emerge once U.S. troops start to leave, said Joost Hiltermann, who is based in Amman with the International Crisis Group.
"Muqtada's playing it clever," he said. "The Mahdi people are just going to melt away." ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー いつもの事ながら、形勢不利と見ると損切りの素早さと政策変更のダイナミックさは一流。 信用できないサドル師ながら、こういうときの柔軟さは尋常ではないような。アメリカの最近 の決意の固さ、イランの保守派の不人気、ナジャフ事件などで戦略転換したと思う。これで 逃げ切ると後が大変なのだけれど・・
"This is a new thing. The security plan doesn't talk about deals with militias," said Naseer al-Ani, a parliamentarian with the Sunni Iraqi Islamic Party who said he was unaware of the negotiations. "The security plan aims to chase down and eliminate all militias. The Mahdi Army is a militia, so they have to chase it down."
Shammari, the Sadr official, said al-Mahdi Army fighters won't surrender their weapons but would leave their guns at home and return to their normal lives for the duration of the new security plan.
As we noted earlier this morning, it appears both a Shi'ite 'end-times cult' and al_Qaeda in Iraq's Omar Brigade are likely the prime actors battling against the Iraqi Army and police. An anonymous U.S. intelligence source informs us that the preliminary information indicates this does appear to be the case. He warns this is based on the best available information at this time, however this is still speculative as the situation remains fluid and U.S. and Iraqi intelligence services are still working to piece together the puzzle of the bizarre engagement in Najaf.
According to the intelligence source, the history of the organization behind the fighting in Najaf is sketchy, however what is clear is this was "an anti-Shi'ite establishment cult," which opposed both the Qom and Najaf schools of Shi'ite Islam as both schools did not recognize Ahmed Hassani al-Yemeni (or Diyah Abdul Zahraa Khadom), the cult's leader, as the Mahdi. Hassani's group received Saddam Hussein's support as it opposed both the leaders of the Iraqi Najaf school, as well as the Iranian Qom school. The Iraqi Intelligence Service (IIS) infiltrated the group during Saddam's rule to maintain tabs on the organization's activities.(後略)
At Davos this week, Treasury Deputy Secretary Robert Kimmitt made it clear that North Korea had asked for the talks, that the U.S. viewed progress was being made in helping North Korea understand the "technical elements" of the freeze, and that on substance, the U.S. would be taking a hard line. `According to Kimmitt, "these are a set of talks, from our perspective, designed to make clear that the action that we took was narrowly targeted, focused on illicit conduct - and the way to cure it is to foreswear such conduct, make restitution for what's been done in the past, and move forward.''
Apparently, the North Koreans will be asked to show clean sources for any funds to secure their release. That may not be easy in light of their history of using Macao to pass counterfeit U.S. currency, launder drug money, and to handle smuggled goods.
January 29, 2007 04:18 PM ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 最後のセンテンスの示すように、このテロ分析の専門家の証言に拠れば、財務省は明確な証拠 と理由無しには簡単にDBAの口座の凍結解除に応じるようには思えないけれど・・・
On Tuesday, U.S. Deputy Assistant Treasury Secretary Daniel Glaser resumed talks with North Korean officials in Beijing over the financial dispute. The last talks were in December.財務省の副長官Daniel Glaserは北朝鮮との協議を再開。
After three hours of discussions, he told reporters the two sides had "established a framework" for more negotiations. 3時間の会合の後、彼は記者団に「フレームワークを 築くことができた」と述べた。
But he said U.S. investigators had gone through over 300,000 pages of documents on the bank case to establish their claims. しかし彼はアメリカの調査官が30万ページの銀行の文書の調査で、その主張を裏付けている とした。 "Everything that we've see through these documents has confirmed what we've been saying -- that there's really been a lot of troubling activity ongoing at that bank," he said. 「この文書に、我々の言ってきたところは確認できる。銀行には多くの問題行動があった」
Tehran, 25 Jan. (AKI) - One of Iran's top nuclear scientists, Ardeshir Hassanpour, a professor at the university of Shiraz, has died under mysterious circumstances. Hassanpour's death was announced by Iranian state television, a week late, on Thursday. No reason was given for his death. The scientist was proclaimed the best scientist in the military field in the Islamic Republic in 2003. Hassanpour directed the centre for nuclear electromagnetic studies he had founded in 2005.
He had also co-founded the center for atomic research in Isfahan, the most important in the country, Iranian state television reported. 彼はイスファンの原子力研究センターの創設者の一人であり、それは国営TVに寄れば イランで最重要のものである。
Last year, Ardeshir Hassanpour was awarded Iran's most prestigious scientific award, the Kharazmi prize. 昨年彼はイランの科学分野の最高栄誉賞であるKharazmi prizeを授与されている。
What intelligence will be declassified, intelligence sources said yesterday, was still being debated. For example, American analysts in the last year have been able to trace serial numbers found on explosive devices used as makeshift roadside bombs back to factories in Iran, linking the Mahdi Army as well as Sunni jihadist groups like Ansar al-Sunna. But all of these details may not be publicly disclosed if such a disclosure would tip off Iran's intelligence services as to how America's intelligence services collect information inside Iran.
The protection of sources and methods is only one concern, however, for the directorate of national intelligence. Another issue is political. Some of the intelligence collected in the last six weeks from raids of Iranian outposts implicates the Islamic Republic in funding Sunni jihadists. Making this information public could jeopardize the political standing of some of America's allies that have also forged alliances with Iran out of political necessity.
Another factor in the debate is deep disagreements about whether Iran's state apparatus is behind the Quds force, or whether it and the revolutionary guard in general do not reflect the policy of Iran's supreme leader and the rest of the regime. Many Iran analysts argue that there are multiple nodes of power in Tehran, often working at cross-purposes. This view dominated the Clinton administration, which sought to engage the former Iranian president, Mohammed Khatami and his fellow reformers, but not the state's more hard-line leadership represented in the intelligence and security services. ttp://www.nysun.com/article/47544 Iran's Role in Iraq Will Be Exposed By ELI LAKE Staff Reporter of the Sun January 29, 2007
ttp://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/la-oe-griswold30jan30,0,4276077.story?coll=la-opinion-center It's not the yen, it's the mileage The Big Three finger overseas automakers for their woes, when they should be blaming themselves. By Daniel Griswold, DANIEL GRISWOLD is director of the Center for Trade Policy Studies at the Cato Institute and coauthor of the recent Cato paper, "Blowing Exhaust: Detroit's Woes Belie a Healthy U.S. Auto Market." January 30, 2007
Some press reports said the U.S. was prepared to release part of the US$24 million in North Korea-related funds frozen by the BDA, on the condition that they are from licit sources. "I am not aware that there is any such plan afoot," Casey said.
"I am certainly not aware that these talks are designed to produce any kind of imminent action on this issue."
The financial matters are "long-term issues that are going to require a lot of additional work," he said reaffirming Glaser's comments to reporters in Beijing. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 日本語記事では曖昧な表現になっているけれど、この英文記事の(Some press reports・・) というのは、明らかに読売記事を指していて、財務省は、その記事の言うような事実は (I am not aware that there is any such plan afoot)と答えているので、読売記事 を明確に否定していると思う。(読売の記事は英訳されたものがあちこちに転載された)
@NYTは、ブレーク・スルーは見えない、と書いている United States Treasury officials and their North Korean counterparts met Tuesday in Beijing to discuss American measures that have led to the freezing of $24 million in North Korean assets held at the bank, Banco Delta Asia. No breakthrough appeared imminent, but the talks were set to continue Wednesday. NYT、31日 ttp://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/world/asia/31korea.html?_r=1&ref=world&oref=slogin
Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- John Negroponte, picked to become Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's deputy, told senators today that U.S. financial sanctions aimed at North Korea may help to persuade the reclusive country to give up nuclear arms.
``While some might argue that it's a disruptive factor, I think others might make the case, and perhaps even equally or more plausibly, that those kinds of sanctions can provide a bit of leverage in these discussions,'' Negroponte told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, which is weighing his nomination.
Negroponte made a link that the Treasury Department, which oversees the sanctions push against North Korea, has repeatedly steered clear of in public. Treasury officials have described their effort to clamp down on suspected North Korean counterfeiting and money laundering as an anti-crime action separate from the nuclear talks.
Negroponte's comment about the financial sanctions came in response to a question from Senator Lisa Murkowski, an Alaska Republican. Murkowski asked Negroponte if the sanctions are ``thwarting the efforts of the six-party talks to be successful''
#ネグロポンテ発言は、金融制裁が6者会合を挫折させる(thwarting the efforts of the #six-party talks)という一部の見方を否定している事になり、6者会合の進展にとって #金融制裁緩和は前提条件ではない、といっていることになると思う。
The Tokyo Stock Exchange is "very close" to an agreement on an alliance with the New York Stock Exchange, the TSE's chief executive said Tuesday.
Taizo Nishimuro, the Tokyo exchange's CEO, said that an agreement may be announced Wednesday. He said the two markets may cooperate on areas such as new products, listings and systems.
Mr. Nishimuro spoke Tuesday at the Japan Society in New York, where he was joined by John Thain, CEO of NYSE Group Inc., the Big Board's parent.(後略)
WASHINGTON, Jan. 30 (Yonhap) -- A top U.S. intelligence official endorsed sanctions against North Korea, saying Tuesday they serve as leverage and helped persuade Pyongyang's leaders to reconsider their nuclear gambit.
John Negroponte, nominated as deputy secretary of state, did not rule out the possibility of the U.S. chief nuclear negotiator going to North Korea, depending on diplomatic developments.
ttp://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7006305944 Landmark Court Ruling Orders Apple To Pay $700,000 For Blogger's Legal Fees January 30, 2007 4:55 p.m. EST Julie Farby - All Headline News Staff Writer
アップル社はブロガーがインターネット上で公表した同社の製品に関する未発表の機密情 報開示に関連して被告がカリフォルニア州法の定める「通商機密保護」に違反したとした。 アップル社はこの訴訟で、ブロガーは(メインストリーム)ジャーナリストと異なり、ア メリカ憲法修正条項にいう(First Amendment protections)に該当しないと主張した。 (Apple claimed the journalists were not entitled to First Amendment protections similar to those afforded to their print counterparts.)
別の言葉で言えば、既存のオールド・メディアのジャーナリストは、特権を持っているわけ ではない。 Santa Clara County Court defended the First Amendment rights of online journalists to protect their confidential sources, effectively giving web journalists the same protections afforded to traditional print journalists.
同氏は「我が国の政策としては、イランとのあらゆる問題を平和的手段によって解決したい という姿勢を打ち出したいが、同時にイラクのシーア派強硬派支援といったイランの行為が 野放しにされるべきではないとも考えている。(イランが)罰せられることなくこうした行 為を続けられると考えれば、イラクの安全保障と同国での我が国の権益に有害となる」と語 った。(後略) ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー ttp://www.senate.gov/~foreign/hearings/2007/hrg070130a.html COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED TENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION Tuesday, January 30, 2007 Nominee:The Honorable John D. Negroponte To be Deputy Secretary of State
The Pentagon is investigating whether a recent attack on a military compound in Karbala was carried out by Iranians or Iranian-trained operatives, two officials from separate U.S. government agencies said.
The second official said: "We believe it's possible the executors of the attack were Iranian or Iranian-trained." "This was beyond what we have seen militias or foreign fighters do," the second official said. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー この事件は、テロの手際のよさが余りにもプロっぽいので、シーア派武装派とかアルカイダ の外国人には無理で、軍事的訓練を受けたプロによるものという見方が以前からブログにあ って、ビル・ロジオなどがその理由でイラン犯行説を言っていた。 ttp://billroggio.com/archives/2007/01/the_karbala_attack_a.php ビル・ロジオ・ブログ The Karbala attack and the IRGC
This raid required specific intelligence, in depth training for the agents to pass as American troops, resources to provide for weapons, vehicles, uniforms, identification, radios and other items needed to successfully carry out the mission. Hezbollah's Imad Mugniyah executed a similar attack against Israeli forces on the Lebanese border, which initiated the Hezbollah-Israeli war during the summer of 2006.
QUESTION: I apologize in advance if that came up yesterday, but there are reports in the South Korean press that there's actually some sort of a deal that the United States will agree for about 13 million of the money in the bank in Macau to be unfrozen, part of the -- I think -- 24 million that were at issue. Anything to say about that? MR. MCCORMACK: Nope. (Laughter.) QUESTION: All right.
A:欧州の主要な金融機関を見てみれば、イランとの取引を大幅に制限したり、中には中止した ところもある。 You're going to see other businesses make different business decisions. They might have a different appetite for risk in terms of their investment decisions. I mean, that just goes -- it makes my point that these businesses are going to make their own individual decisions and it's all going to be based on their own appetite for risk -- political risk, investment risk, your reputational risk, all of those things. It all goes into making a decision to invest large sums of money in these various sectors.
But the most striking thing about the growing derivatives markets is the stability that has come with them. More than eight years ago, after Long-Term Capital Management blew up and lost a few billion dollars, the Federal Reserve had to be wheeled in to save capitalism as we know it.
Last year Amaranth Advisors blew up, lost more than LTCM, and the financial markets hardly batted an eyelash. ``The financial markets in 2007,'' some member of the global economic elite might have said but didn't, ``are astonishingly robust. They seem to be working out how to absorb and distribute risk more intelligently than any member of the global economic elite could on his own.''
"If the United States does not resolve it, North Korea will have no choice but to announce at the six-party talks that it plans to conduct another test," the source told Reuters after being briefed by a North Korean official.
Song said U.S.-North Korean talks about the financial curbs were key to the success of the six-party negotiations. The Beijing-based source described the curbs as a "huge insult" to a sovereign country.
"If the United States does not resolve it, North Korea would be a 'sinner' taking part in the six-party talks ... North Korea would have no face and could not be on equal footing with the other parties at the six-party talks.
"The United States has no evidence, just like it had no evidence Iraq had weapons of mass destruction," the source said. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 英文記事を読むと、この「関係筋」というのはかなり怪しげで、欧米や日本の外交筋ではない ような雰囲気も。(面子(face)とか侮辱(insult)とかいってるし)いずれにせよ、金融制 裁解除しないなら核実験だ、という論理はいかにも北朝鮮の面目躍如で、893国家の思考を良く 示すと思う。
A 在大陸對臺威懾階段,美國認為不必與大陸進行大規模衝突(ry B 美軍表示一旦威懾策略失效,美國與中國發生正面衝突,局部或全面戰爭都可(ry C 美軍表示,隨著戰爭範圍和強度的擴大,美日之間聯合作戰機制也會?動(ry ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー これは「台湾有事」の場合の日米両軍の戦略の解説だと言う。グアム島大本営とか書いて あって、ふむというか何というか、具体的にみえる(?)シナリオが解説されているのだ けれど、小生には軍事知識皆無なので評価判断が出来ない・・
The 3.5%, fourth-quarter increase not only defied original expectations but also was much better than Wall Street generally thought in predictions made this week. The median estimate of 22 economists surveyed Monday by Dow Jones Newswires was 3.0% growth. Q4のアメリカのGDP成長は市場の予想を超える3.5%の成長となった。ダウジョーンズ調査 の22人のエコノミストの予想の平均は3.0%の成長であった。
Inflation gauges released within the GDP report indicated prices softened significantly during the fourth quarter. The government's price index for personal consumption expenditures actually fell, slipping by 0.8% after rising 2.4% in the third quarter and 4.0% in the second quarter. The decrease was the biggest since 1.2% in third -quarter 1954. GDPと同時に発表されたインフレ指標では物価の落ち着きが大きなものになっている。 消費者物価は0,8%下落、これは3Qの2,4%、2Qの4.0%上昇から大きく変化した。(後略)
# How could a cult evolve into such a major threat without getting noticed? 誰も気がつかない間に、カルト集団が、何でそんなに大規模な脅威に成長するのか?
# If this was an obscure cult, why were government forces unable to deal with it on their own? この集団が不明瞭なカルトだとして、政府軍は何故対処が上手くゆかなかったのか?
# From where did the group acquire such a large cache of weaponry? 何処から、そんな大規模な武器弾薬を入手したのか?
# Given the deep sectarian differences, how can extremist Shia and jihadists both be part of the group? 宗教対立の激しいイラクで、この事件では何故シーア派の過激派カルトとスンニ派の ジハーディストが一緒に、同じように戦っているのか?
# Why would a Shiite religious group risk alienation by engaging in the murder of the clerical hierarchy, especially during the holy month of Muharram? 宗教祝祭の聖なる期間に最高宗教権威を殺戮するといった行為が、シーア派の異端と 見なされ、グループが孤立化するとは考えなかったのだろうか? ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 政府がシーア派のカルトを多数殺戮したこともあって、自己のシーア派勢力にとって都合 の悪い情報を隠蔽しているのではないか(だから様子が良くわからないし情報が混乱矛盾 して見える)とSTRATFORは書いていて、イラク政府の公表している情報をそのま ま信じるのは危ういかもしれないという。そうなると、余計に情報が不足するので和気若 布で憶測しか残らなくなってしまう。
Indeed, U.S. officials have expressed concern that the delayed response from the Chinese government may indicate that even President Hu Jintao, who also serves as the head of the Central Military Commission, did not know about the test, or at the least did not know the specifics (The New York Times, January 19). Such a scenario presents troubling questions concerning civilian oversight of the PLA and the extent to which the PLA is its own powerbase.
Chinese military writers have also concluded that the PLA cannot defeat the technologically superior and battle hardened U.S. military in a force-on-force battle. The PLA has thus been searching for asymmetric means of defeating the U.S. military. Part of this effort has included the search for “assassin’s mace” (sha shou jian) weapons.
China’s delayed confirmation of the test also raises questions about the extent of President Hu’s power vis-a-vis the military and to what extent the military dictates policy. It is probable that Hu was aware of the ASAT program, even if not in detail.
Chinese inaction also suggests, however, that Hu may yet need to consolidate his power within the PLA or has already given the PLA wide latitude and significant autonomy in conducting its own affairs.
WASHINGTON/BEIJING, Feb. 1 (Yonhap) -- The U.S. State Department said Wednesday financial talks with North Korea were "useful" and expressed hopes for an eventual resolution. "I think they had a good session, probably a useful exchange of information, and look forward to seeing those discussions continue at some later date," department spokesman Tom Casey told reporters.
"We got some information that was very helpful to us," Deputy Assistant Secretary Daniel Glaser, chief U.S. delegate to the talks, said in Beijing.
"I think we are now in a position after a very lengthy investigation... to start moving forward and trying to bring some resolution to this matter," he said.
The financial working group plans to meet again, but has not yet set a date, Glaser said.
U.S. and North Korean finance officials have ended a second round of talks on U.S. financial sanctions against Pyongyang with no clear resolution to the dispute. Daniel Schearf reports from Beijing that North Korea has blamed the sanctions for holding up progress on parallel six-nation talks about its nuclear programs.
Glaser said the two sides went through nearly 50 bank accounts of Macau's Banco Delta Asia bank one by one to try to answer U.S. allegations about North Korean money laundering and other illegal activities at the bank. He described the process as "painstaking", but "very productive."
"We are now in a position after a very lengthy investigation, which as I've said we went through over three hundred thousand documents from Banco Delta Asia," he said. "Now we've had this chance to have this meeting and get a little bit greater understanding of what was going on at the bank, to start moving forward and trying to bring some resolution to this matter."
Glaser would not say what kind of resolution he wanted to reach with the North Koreans or what the North Koreans had to say during the meetings.
He said the two sides intended to continue meeting to discuss suspected illegal activities, including those beyond the Macau bank. But, he said no date has been decided for the next round of financial talks. ・・・ Neither set of meetings produced substantial progress as Pyongyang continued to demand the sanctions be lifted before implementing an agreement to end its nuclear programs.
Beijing - North Korea will feel compelled to announce plans for another nuclear test if a financial row with Washington is not settled, a source said on Wednesday as the latest talks wound up with no signs of a breakthrough. 金融制裁をめぐる北京の会合で、ブレークスルーのサインが見えないなか、北朝鮮は金融 制裁問題が解決しないなら第二回目の核実験の計画を発表せざるを得ないと関係筋が語った。
Glaser told reporters he was sure North Korea was up to no good at the Macau bank. "We've been vindicated with respect to our concerns," he said. グレーザー氏は記者団に、北朝鮮のBDAの行為はよからぬものであると確信していること を告げて「我々は、この件への我々の(正当性の)関心を主張した」と述べた。
But he said the latest talks, following negotiations in December, had yielded hopes of a settlement. The negotiators had discussed almost 50 account holders in the Macau bank, he said. しかし彼はこの件で合意に達する希望があるとした。協議では50の講座について議論したと 彼は述べた。
"We got some information that was very helpful to us," Glaser said, adding that there was hope "to start moving forward and trying to bring some resolution to this matter". 「我々は、大変有益な情報を得た」と延べ「この件について結論を得るため前進する」希望 があるとした。
There would be more financial talks, but no date has been set, Glaser said, adding that US concerns went well beyond the Macau bank. 金融制裁に関する追加の会合があるだろうが、時期は決定していないと彼は述べ、アメリカ の関心がDBAに留まらないものである、とした。
読売:米朝金融会合が「進展」 聯合通信:U.S. indicates progress VOA:ended a second round of ・・with no clear resolution to the dispute. ロイター: talks wound up with no signs of a breakthrough.
【ワシントン31日共同】米下院の与野党議員は、従軍慰安婦問題をめぐり、日本政府に 「明確な形で責任を認め、謝罪する」よう求めた決議案を31日、提出した。昨年も同様 の決議案が提出されたが、今回は日本の首相の公式な謝罪声明を新たに要求。旧日本軍の 強制を認め、謝罪した1993年の「河野洋平官房長官談話」の見直し論が自民党内に起 きていることを強くけん制する内容となっている。 ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 聯合通信では ttp://english.yonhapnews.co.kr/Engnews/20070201/610000000020070201081359E4.html 2007/02/01 08:13 KST (LEAD) Comfort women resolution submitted again to House committee By Lee Dong-min
WASHINGTON, Jan. 31 (Yonhap) -- A U.S. congressman submitted a resolution Wednesday that in stronger words holds Japan responsible for sexual enslavement of women during its colonial occupation of Asia in the past century and demands its apology.
Rep. Michael Honda (D-California) sponsored the resolution with six other Congressmen, including Republicans Chris Smith and Ed Royce. Rep. Honda is of Japanese descent. Daniel Kohns, spokesman for Rep. Honda, said a hearing is scheduled in the next couple of weeks. "It will be sooner (rather) than later," he said.
Former Congressman Lane Evans, sponsor of the previous resolution, retired, and Honda had promised to pick up the baton.
The House committee last time passed the comfort women resolution in a consensus vote, but was unable to put it to a full floor ballot before its term ended in December. Advocates of the resolution are hopeful that it will reach the House floor this time, backed by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who has indicated support for a vote. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー 聯合通信の記事の最後に書いてある、ナンシー・ペロシ議長が支持しているので、採決に 持ち込まれる可能性があるというのは(事実ならば)気がかりな。
The Fed's language reflected what it sees as a pickup in the economy, but reiterated that any rate increases will depend on new data. Below are the differences between the December one and the January one.
Recent indicators have suggested somewhat firmer economic growth, 前回声明で成長が鈍化と書いていたのを修正していて注目!
some tentative signs of stabilization have appeared in the housing market 前回は住宅市場の大幅な冷え込みと言っていた・・・
the economy seems likely to expand at a moderate pace over coming quarters. 長期経済見通しでの楽観視は、依然として変化していいない
Readings on core inflation have improved modestly in recent months, and inflation pressures seem likely to moderate over time. However, the high level of resource utilization has the potential to sustain inflation pressures. エネルギー価格の高さを言っていた部分がなくなったが、インフレ警戒は持続する
The Committee judges that some inflation risks remain. The extent and timing of any additional firming that may be needed to address these risks will depend on the evolution of the outlook for both inflation and economic growth, as implied by incoming information. この部分は前回と殆ど同じトーン
Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; Timothy F. Geithner, Vice Chairman; Susan S. Bies; Thomas M. Hoenig; Donald L. Kohn; Randall S. Kroszner; Cathy E. Minehan; Frederic S. Mishkin; Michael H. Moskow; William Poole; and Kevin M. Warsh. 声明文への政策支持者を以前より明確に示している
In the meantime, F-22s are being sent to the Pacific. There, as air superiority fighters, they pose a very real threat to the Chinese and North Korean air forces.
昨日の発表で、最も経済に対して強気に見えるデータはインフレ懸念が後退しているこ とである。しかしWSJは現在のインフレサイクルが消滅したとは思わない。それは金 価格が$650にもどり、コモディティ全般が再び値上がりし、ドルが弱い為である。 FRBは昨日金利を据え置きにしたが、その声明文でインフレに対して以前よりは穏や かなポジションを示し、インフレ圧力は時間の経過に従って緩和すると見られると述べ ているが「幾らかのインフレ・リスクが残存する」別の言葉で言えばFRBはインフレ についてワカランという事である。(In other words, they have no idea.)
Among the co-sponsors of the resolution are Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), a Japanese -American and Reps. Neil Abercrombie (D-Hawaii) and Ed Case (D-Hawaii), whose states have a large population of Japanese-Americans.
The American Korean Coalition held his annual convention in Chicago and one of its top issues was Resolution 759, according to the GOP aide. Meanwhile, the Korean American Association in Washington, which represents about 200,000 Korean-American in the area, is leading a national campaign for the bill and has started a letter-writing campaign to Congress.
A source close to the Korean-Asian community said that Honda, as a Japanese-American taking on the issue, could attract even more support. Honda has been known to take on human-rights issues related to Japan. Honda is not a member of the International Relations Committee.
In 1999, while still in the California state legislature, Honda was successful in passing an assembly joint resolution urging Japan to formally issue a “clear and unambiguous apology for the atrocious war crimes committed by [its] military during World War II.”
According to materials sent by the Japanese Embassy, the Japanese government has extended official apologies on several occasions. One came in 1994 from then-Prime Minister Tomiichi Murayama during the 50-year commemoration of the war’s end. ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー この記事から判断すると、マイクホンダ議員は「従軍慰安婦」問題で「謝罪要求」のよう な過激な主張をすることで「人権派議員」の評判を高めたいとする一方、カリフォルニア のアジア人コミニティの支持を取り付けたいように見えます。
NEW YORK (AP) -- The New York Times Co. posted a $648 million loss for the fourth quarter on Wednesday as it absorbed an $814.4 million charge to write down the value of its struggling New England properties, The Boston Globe and the Worcester Telegram & Gazette. ニューヨークタイムズは4Qの決算を発表し$648Mの赤字を計上した。ニューイングランド 州の不動産の償却と、ボストン・グローブとウスターテレグラフ&ガジェットの価値の償却 に伴う$814.4の損失を反映したため。
The company said the non-cash charge reflected declines in current and projected results at the newspapers, which have been hit hard by the consolidations of key advertisers in the New England area as well as greater competition from online media. 同社は他のメディアとの間の増大する競合に加えてニューイングランド州の鍵となる広告主 のコンソリデーションが影響したとしており、キャッシュフローを伴わない評価損益が決算 数字を悪化させたとしている。
The company originally paid $1.1 billion for the Globe in 1993 and $296 million for the Worcester paper in 2000. The Times reported a loss amounting to $4.50 a share for the October- December period. It earned $63.1 million, or 43 cents a share, a year ago. NYTは1993年にボストングローブに$1.1B,ウスターの新聞に2000年に$296Mを投資した。 NYTの損失は株あたり$4.50で、1年前は株あたり43セントの黒字であった。(後略)