‘In Order to Get Elected ________ Will Start a War with Iran’

Published in Mainichi Shimbun
(Japan) on 7 January 2020
by (link to originallink to original)
Translated from by Eric Stimson. Edited by Laurence Bouvard.
Who might _______ be, and who tweeted this? The tweeter was current U.S. President Donald Trump, who was referring to his predecessor, Barack Obama. It was an unjust charge to make against Obama, who later reached a nuclear agreement with Iran, but now the tables have turned and it looks like _______ refers to you, Trump.

Trump has killed the revered commander of the Revolutionary Guards and brought about war jitters. The victim directed schemes throughout the Middle East, but the current Iranian government cannot ignore a domestic climate in which people are baying for vengeance. On the other hand, Trump has threatened military attacks on 52 sites if there is revenge, and Trump shows no sign of hesitating to escalate the conflict.

Yet, he gathered support when he criticized prior American interventions in the Middle East as “stupid endless wars” and repeatedly rejected military attacks on Iran. Apparently, this assassination was originally excluded from his options as being too extreme. It is said that he changed his mind after seeing the shocking images on TV of pro-Iranian factions attacking the U.S. Embassy in Iraq. If world-shaking decisions were made on a whim by someone watching TV on his living room sofa, that would really be a huge shock. Trump may fancy himself an expert deal-maker, but this is an escalated crisis that can’t be controlled by bargaining tricks.

Behold the fear of the strongest TV viewers who are calmly and steadily destroying the delicate equilibrium of the international order.


「○○は選挙に勝つためにイランと戦争を始めるだろう」。○○とは誰で、これをツイートしたのは誰だろう。2011年、オバマ前米大統領を名指ししてそうつぶやいたのはトランプ現大統領その人だった▲その後イランと核合意を結んだオバマ氏にはとんだいいがかりだが、世は一転して今や○○はお前だろうと目されるはめになったトランプ氏だ。イランで英雄視される革命防衛隊の部隊司令官を殺害、あわや戦争の緊張をもたらした▲暗殺されたのは中東での工作活動を指揮した人物だが、報復を求める国内世論を無視できぬイランの現体制である。一方、トランプ氏は報復があれば52カ所に軍事攻撃を行うと威嚇(いかく)、紛争のエスカレートをためらわぬ構えを見せた▲だがトランプ氏といえば、従来の米国の中東介入政策を「ばかげた終わりのない戦争」と批判して支持を集め、イランへの軍事攻撃もくり返し否定していた。今回の暗殺も極端な選択肢だけに当初は自らの選択から除外していたとか▲それが変わったのはイラクの米大使館が親イラン派に襲撃されるテレビ映像にショックを受けたためだという。もし世界を揺るがす決断が居間のソファのテレビ視聴者並みに気ままになされていたなら、こちらこそ大ショックである▲ディール(取引)の達人を自任するトランプ氏だが、ことは損得のかけひきで制御できぬ危機のエスカレーションだ。国際秩序の危うい均衡を平気で次々に壊していく最強のテレビ視聴者の恐ろしさである。
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