There was something almost heartbreaking about the questions posed by the audience to the defence secretary, a lean man with a craggy face, the cropped silver hair of a Marine, and a laconic speaking-style. An Australian delegate noted Mr Trump’s dismissive comments about NATO, and his withdrawal from the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a big trade pact, and from the Paris climate accord. Should the region worry that it is seeing the “destruction of the rules-based order”, the Australian asked. A member of the Japanese parliament wondered aloud whether America still shares “common values” with its allies, or just security interests. 

heartbreaking：つらい
lean：スリムな
craggy：大きくて彫りの深い
cropped：短く刈った
laconic：無口な
dismissive：もうようなないと言わんばかりの
aloud：人が聞き取れるように声を出して

This being a blog rather than a newspaper article, readers may indulge the author for quoting Mr Mattis’s replies at some length. The defence secretary is not a dissident within the Trump administration. He is a loyal servant of a democratically elected president. But in his defence of the post-war order, he was trying to tell his Asian audience that some principles and instincts are so deeply rooted in the American spirit that they can survive the swings and counter-swings of electoral politics. 

at some length：相当詳しく
instincts：本能
swings：弧を描くように素早く向きを変えること
counter-：反対の

This, then, is my transcript of Mr Mattis’s unscripted remarks, replying to those questions about the rules-based order. Hear, here, an old-fashioned public servant wrestling with the duty of serving a very different sort of president, but one who won an election promising an “America First” foreign policy. 

Mr Mattis said: “Obviously, we have a new President in Washington, DC, we’re all aware of that, and there’s going to be fresh approaches taken.” But look at Mr Trump’s first foreign trip to the Middle East, he went on, and the president’s call on Arab allies and international organisations to work together on countering terrorism and bringing stability to the Middle East. Later in his reply, he argued that Mr Trump had visited Brussels to demonstrate that he stands by NATO allies “100%”. He further noted that Mr Trump had sent him to Tokyo and to Seoul on his first foreign trip as defence secretary, to make clear America’s commitment to its allies in Asia. 

The middle passage of his reply was the interesting part. He said: “I think we have been engaging the world for a long time. Historically, the Americans have been reluctant to see themselves in that role. We were quite happy keeping between our two oceans, we were happy to stay there, but the 20th century took us out of that. At the same time we recognised, especially the Greatest Generation we called them, coming home from world war two, what a crummy world if we all retreat inside our own borders. How many people deprived of good lives during the Depression, how many tens of millions of people killed in world war two? Like it or not, we are part of the world. That carries through, for all of the frustrations that are felt in America right now with the sense that at times we have carried an inordinate burden. And that is still very deeply rooted in the American psyche, that engagement with the world. To quote a British observer of us from some years ago: bear with us, once we have exhausted all possible alternatives, we Americans will do the right thing.” 

crummy：つまらない
deprived：困窮した
carries：困難にも関わらずやり遂げる
at times：ときには
inordinate：途方もない
psyche：精神
bear：耐える

For all those anxious to see America remain a guarantor of democratic values in Asia, this is a hard moment. For it is the democratic process itself that forces men such as Mr Mattis to twist himself in knots, and to try to convince allies that America stands by certain unvarying principles, even though his commander-in-chief won office by vowing to tear down the status quo. You see, China can murmur to Asian governments now: democracies are unstable and inconstant. 

guarantor：保証人
twist himself in knots：混乱に陥る
convince：納得させる
unvarying：不変の
murmur：ささやく

Here at the Shangri-La Dialogue, delegates do not hide their relief that America has a principled, clever man as defence secretary. But the Pentagon cannot and should not be the final arbiter of how America balances values and interests in national security and foreign policy. That, ultimately, is the job of the president. And here among the Asian military and security establishment, that thought is not reassuring at all. 

arbiter：仲裁者

マット国務長官が色々話をしても、その背後のトランプがどう動くかアジアの人たちはその不安を隠せない。トランプのNATOへの対応、TPPからの離脱、気象変動のパリ協定からの脱退はアジアの人たちにとって、大きな変化だ。そうしたトランプの考えが今まで通りにアジアの安全保障を考えているとは信じがたいと彼らは思っている。要するに信用していないということだ。

土曜日。今日は海野塾の日だ。ではまた明日。

James Mattis tries to reassure Asian allies about Donald Trump
At the Shangri-La Dialogue, the defence secretary was placed in an unenviable position
Democracy in America
Jun 3rd 2017by LEXINGTON | SINGAPORE

James MattisはDonald Trumpに関してアジアの同盟国に安心させようとしている。
Shangri-La Dialogueで彼は誰からもうらやまれない立場に置かれた。

Shangri-La Dialogue：ＩＩＳＳ（The International Institute for Strategic Studies）（英国国際戦略研究所） が主催するＩＩＳＳアジア安全保障会議（シャングリラ会合）は、地域安全保障枠組の設立を目的として設置され、毎年シンガポールにおいて、アジア太平洋地域の国防大臣などが多数参加する国際会議であり、地域の課題や防衛協力などが話し合われている。


DONALD TRUMP’S America still stands by allies in Asia and Europe, and “I can give you absolute optimism about this issue,” the Secretary of Defence, James Mattis, told an audience of generals, diplomats and security types at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on June 3rd. His words were stirring, and just what the gathering longed to hear. Perhaps no member of the Trump administration has as much worldwide credibility as Mr Mattis, a former four-star Marine general with no political background, revered by his peers as a ferocious yet learned “warrior monk”. But deep down the room did not believe him. 

stirring：興奮させる
revered ：深く尊敬する
ferocious：獰猛な
monk：僧侶
deep down：心の底では

Mr Mattis is a distinguished man in an unenviable position. His mission here in Singapore is to reassure allies and warn foes that America remains the ultimate guarantor of the rules-based international order that has brought years of nearly uninterrupted peace and prosperity to Asia. But if he does that job too well and insists that America’s global role is unchanged, who will think that he really speaks for President Donald Trump? 

distinguished：抜群の
guarantor ：保証人
speaks：代弁する・支持する

For all its high-tech staging (to ask a question, members of the audience must scan their ID badges on their microphone) the Shangri-La Dialogue has a distinctly pre-modern feel. It could be a conference in 19th-century Vienna, or perhaps the set of a James Bond film from the Connery era. Vietnamese generals stride past Australian admirals in tropical whites; a giant of a Fijian officer waits near a waif-like Saudi delegate, his gold-edged robe denoting princely rank. The tectonic energies unleashed by a rising China, a wavering West and an anxious Asia rumble beneath every meeting. 

pre-modern：近代以前の雰囲気
stride：跨いで越す
waif：痩せっぽちの
denoting：を示す
princely：王子の
tectonic：地殻変動の
wavering：浮足立つ
rumble：ダラダラと続く

American defence secretaries are big news at the Shangri-La. Lexington is travelling with Mr Mattis this week on his official military plane, and even an inward-looking America puts on quite the show. The head of the Pentagon travels the world aboard a doomsday plane, a windowless, radiation-shielded military version of a Boeing 747, filled with the secure communications kit to run a nuclear war from aloft. 

puts on quite the show：ショーを上演する
doomsday：最後の審判
aloft：空中に

As soon as the giant plane landed in Singapore and we zipped into the city in a fast motorcade, Mr Mattis was straight into bilateral meetings with prime ministers and ministers of defence, all broadly wanting to ask the same two questions. One, how does Trump’s America see its national security interests in Asia—a question which in June 2017 essentially involves ranking two issues: the urgent threat of North Korea developing a nuclear missile capable of hitting America versus the long-term challenge of a China seemingly intent on becoming a regional hegemon, including by building air bases on contested reefs in the South China Sea? Two, when weighing its interests and values in foreign policy, how much weight does Trump’s America attach to values? 

zipped：勢い良く進む

Mr Mattis used his formal speech to offer a carefully crafted answer to the first question. The short version of his reply is that America takes North Korea very seriously indeed and wants China to do more to rein in the regime there, but will not trade help in that sphere for concessions in the South China Sea that mock international law and the principle that all countries have equal rights regardless of size. The former general noted sharply that the North Korea regime has a “long record of murder of diplomats, of kidnapping, killing of sailors and criminal activity”. 

sphere：領域
concessions：譲歩
mock ：嘲る

Its attempts to develop nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles are a “clear and present danger,” Mr Mattis added. The Trump administration believes that China will come to see North Korea as a “liability not an asset,” and hopes to see China’s words opposing a nuclear North Korea matched by actions. 

matched：と一致する

At the same time, Mr Mattis did not soft-pedal his views on Chinese behaviour in the South China Sea. Accusing China of showing “contempt” for the interests of its neighbours, the defence secretary growled that America opposes “countries militarising artificial islands and enforcing excessive maritime claims unsupported by international law. We cannot and will not accept unilateral, coercive changes to the status quo.” 

soft-pedal：控えめに言う
contempt：軽蔑

Speak to American officials, and they insist that it is a false choice to suppose that Chinese co-operation over North Korea can only be bought with concessions in the South China Sea. To simplify, they suggest that this binary choice must be broadened to take in a wide range of other security interests, such as terrorism or global nuclear non-proliferation. They hint that American resolve in the South China Sea, perhaps involving increased freedom of navigation passages by warships and over-flights by airplanes, may demonstrate that as North Korea’s nuclear programme grows more dangerous, America’s appetite for risk will grow in lockstep. 

Speak：に対して意見を述べる
binary：２つの
lockstep：型にはまったやり方

In his public speech on June 3rd, Mr Mattis probably did as good a job as he could of answering that first question about interests. He was limited in what he could do when it came to the second query, about values. 

query：疑問

今年のアジア安全保障会議でマット国防長官は北朝鮮問題と中国の南シナ海の領有問題について、まずはアメリカがこうした２点に関して対処することを同盟国に伝えた。北朝鮮に関しては中国の対応を期待したいと行った。そうなると南シナ海の交渉はどうなるのかという疑問が出てくる。果たして、アメリカはこうした矛盾に対してどこまで真剣に対応しようとしているのだろうか。そもそもマット国防長官の言葉はトランプの考えを代弁しているのだろうか。

金曜日。ではまた明日。

Saudi Arabia cuts off Qatar
The kingdom is raising tensions with its immediate neighbours as well as with Iran and Yemen
Jun 5th 2017

サウジアラビアがカタールと断絶する
この王国はイランやイエメンと同様にこの隣国との緊張を高めている。

SAUDI ARABIA and its satellites have repeatedly put their neighbour Qatar on notice, but never as severely as this. In 2014, they temporarily recalled their ambassadors from the tiny, rich Gulf statelet: but on June 5th, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Bahrain announced they were not only severing diplomatic relations with Qatar, but their air, sea and land links too—meaning that Qatar’s only land border is to be closed. Panic buying is already reported in Qatari shops. Qataris must leave Saudi Arabia within days, and will henceforth be denied entry. For good measure the ambitious young Saudi defence minister and deputy crown prince, Muhammad bin Salman, expelled Qatar’s 1,000-strong force from the coalition he leads against rebels in Yemen. 

notice：通告する
statelet：小国
severing：切断する
henceforth：今後は
For good measure：更にその上
expelled：追い出す

Qatar is the world’s second-largest exporter of natural gas and will host the football World Cup in 2022, and it has sought to exert influence across the region. Saudi news outlets say the measures are reprisals for Qatar’s support for terrorism, including al-Qaeda. That said, other Gulf states, including Saudi Arabia and Kuwait, have also had to fend off claims that they—or their citizens—have helped to fund jihadists. 

exert：行使する
reprisals ：報復行為
fend：攻撃をかわす

There are broader and older grievances at play, rooted in geopolitics and the place of Islam in politics. For decades, Saudi and Emirati officials have blamed Qatar, which protrudes like a sore thumb from the western Gulf, for breaking ranks with the Saudi-dominated six-nation Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC). 

grievances：不満
at play：進行中の
protrudes：突き出る
sore thumb：ひどく目立つ
breaking rank：結束を乱す

Qatar is one of three GCC states that still maintains cordial relations with Iran (Kuwait and Oman are the other two). Its emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, was quoted expressing reservations about Saudi Arabia’s increasingly belligerent posture against Iran. Qatar also sponsors and provides sanctuary to the Muslim Brotherhood, particularly irking the UAE, which deems the Brotherhood a terrorist group. And it also funds and hosts Al Jazeera, a broadcaster that offers a platform to Arab dissidents everywhere but in Qatar, and which fanned the flames of revolution and armed revolt during the Arab Spring. 

cordial：友好的な
emir：首長
quoted：引用する
reservations：疑念
sanctuary：保護
irking：苛立たせる

For all their ambition, the Al Thanis have little appetite for confrontation. Qatar’s foreign ministry has meekly expressed “deep regret” at the severing of ties. In recent years Qatar has scaled back its public support for the Brotherhood. As tensions mounted in recent days it ejected senior members of the Palestinian branch of the Brotherhood, Hamas, and repatriated a dissident wanted in Saudi Arabia. It has disclaimed a headline criticising Saudi Arabia’s stance on Iran, and described the quote attributed to the emir as “fake news”. 

meekly：おとなしく
severing：切断する
ejected：追い出す
repatriated：強制送還する
disclaimed：否定する
headline：見出し
quote：引用句

But the isolation is unlikely to end soon. Saudi Arabia has yet to define its demands for restoring ties, and Qatar can expect little solace from other Arab states. Most of them are likely to welcome Qatar’s comeuppance. Egypt’s president and his fellow generals still fume at Al Jazeera for opposing their overthrow of the Brotherhood’s elected president in 2013; so Egypt quickly joined Saudi Arabia in cutting its links with Qatar. Yemen’s Saudi-supported government, and the UAE-backed authority in eastern Libya also declared they are following suit. 

solace：慰め
comeuppance：当然の報い
fume：憤慨する
suit：人の真似をする

Historically, Qatar looked overseas for protection against Saudi bullying. The British kept the Saudis from extending their rule to its coastal protectorates in the 1920s. More recently, Qatar has reached out to an unlikely assembly of Israel, Iran, Turkey and America for support. Of late, though, its alliances have seemed to fray. Israel has deepened its security relationship with Qatar’s rivals, the UAE, and to a lesser extent, Saudi Arabia. 

protectorates：保護国
assembly：集会を持つこと
Of late：最近は
fray：擦ってボロボロにする
to a lesser extent：それ程ではないが

American support may also be less certain. Qatar hosts the largest American base in the Middle East, al-Udeid. Located on the road to the Saudi border, Qataris have long viewed it as their best defence against invasion by land. But many Qataris now fear that America under Donald Trump might be less a regional referee than a Saudi cheerleader. Last month Mr Trump chose Riyadh, the Saudi capital, as the first foreign destination of his presidency, and in return was greeted with Saudi pomp and arms contracts. His foreign policy advisers are reckoned to maintain close ties with Muhammad bin Zayed, the UAE’s de facto ruler, who has been urging America to move its forces there from Qatar for years. 

less certain：それほど確かではない
referee：レフリー
greeted：反応する
pomp：威厳
de facto ：事実上の

Qatar could look to Turkey, which shares its favourable view of the Muslim Brotherhood and opened a base in the sheikhdom last year. Given his troubles at home, though, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, the Turkish president, might shy from a confrontation with the Al Sauds. That leaves Iran. The two countries jointly manage South Pars, the world’s largest gasfield. In addition, says a cleric close to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, Iran has a defence pact with Qatar which commits it to the latter’s defence in the event of a Saudi attack. Already, Iranian officials have offered to send food shipments across the Gulf. Saudi Arabia’s impetuous actions risk further driving Qatar into the arms of Iran, and increasing the danger of armed confrontation with Shia state. In response to nervousness about both outcomes, oil and gas prices are rising. 

shy：ためらう
impetuous：性急な

サウジがカタールとの国交を断絶したが、カタールはイランとの関係を強化しようとしている。アメリカはカタールに基地があるから、彼らとの関係を悪くすることは出来ない。サウジがアラブ諸国と組んで、カタールを締め出したところで、サウジにとっては何のメリットもないはずだ。なぜこんなことをするのだろうか。イランの味方を増やすだけだ。

木曜日。ではまた明日。

The outrageous death of Otto Warmbier
A travel ban for American citizens to North Korea may be in the offing
Jun 20th 2017

Otto Warmbierの許しがたい死に方
北朝鮮へのアメリカ市民の旅行禁止がもうじき起こりそうだ。



“HOW safe is it? Extremely safe!” So read the guidance for North Korea on the website of Young Pioneer Tours when Otto Warmbier, a 21-year-old American student, signed up for a five-day trip to North Korea in December 2015. The travel company based in China is one of a handful that offer tightly marshalled circuits around mostly beautified bits of the impoverished gangster state. “Despite what you may hear,” it continued, “North Korea is probably one of the safest places on Earth to visit.”

marshalled ：集める
circuits：巡回区域
impoverished：非常に貧乏な

Mr Warmbier was arrested the following month at the airport in Pyongyang, as he was leaving, and accused of attempting to steal a propaganda placard. This counts as an “anti-state crime” in North Korea, since without political slogans to inspire them, workers might slack off. He was tried in March 2016, and sentenced to 15 years’ hard labour. “I have been very impressed by the Korean government’s humanitarian treatment of severe criminals like myself,” he said during a televised confession.

since：以来
inspire：奮い立たせる
slack：怠ける

The North Korean authorities released him “on compassionate grounds” on June 13th, in a vegetative state. He was flown home to Ohio, where he died six days later. American doctors who treated him after his arrival said he was suffering from a catastrophic brain injury, probably sustained shortly after his trial. Their analysis was based on two MRI scans provided by the North Koreans, who reportedly said that Mr Warmbier had been in a coma for over a year.

vegetative ：植物状態
coma：昏睡状態

All other aspects of his 17-month-long detention at the hands of the regime are murky. The placard he was accused of removing was in a staff-only corridor at the Yanggakdo hotel in Pyongyang, where he had been staying (North Korea released grainy footage of what it said was Mr Warmbier removing it and placing it on the floor). In a tearful statement of apparent confession, Mr Warmbier said he had tried to take it as a “trophy” for an American church.

murky：不明瞭な
grainy：粒子の荒い

The North Korean government would not let Swedish diplomats acting on behalf of America, which does not have diplomatic relations with North Korea, visit Mr Warmbier after his trial. Yet it was quiet diplomatic shuttling that appears to have helped secure Mr Warmbier’s eventual release, culminating in a meeting in New York on June 6th between Joseph Yun, America’s special representative for North Korea, and North Korea’s ambassador to the UN, Pak Kil Yon. In that meeting Mr Yun learned of Mr Warmbier’s failing health. Within a week he flew to Pyongyang with a medical team.

shuttling：頻繁に往復する
eventual：起こりうる
culminating：締めくくる

According to Mr Warmbier’s parents, the North Koreans told their American counterparts that his coma was induced by a sleeping pill that he took after contracting botulism, a food-borne illness. American doctors treating Mr Warmbier say they found no evidence of the disease in his body; nor, as some had suspected, of beatings or other physical abuse. They suggest that a heart attack may have cut his supply of oxygen. It is one of a multitude of puzzling questions about the case. Why did North Korea admit that Mr Warmbier had been in a comatose state for over a year but lie about its cause? And why did it originally keep quiet about the coma and treat him for a year before coming clean?

botulism：ボツリヌス中毒
multitude：多数の
clean：白状する

On past precedent, it seems likely that the harm done to Mr Warmbier was unintended. Although 18 American citizens have been detained by North Korea over the past two decades (and ten since Kim Jong Un, its leader, took power five-and-a-half years ago), they have rarely been hurt. Foreign travellers are typically held either on espionage charges or for “hostile acts” against the North Korean state—bilingual Bibles left in bathrooms, for example. Yet these prisoners are mainly kept as bargaining chips in the hope of negotiations. Matthew Todd Miller, who sought political asylum in North Korea but was sentenced to six years of hard labour, said in an interview after his release six months later that he was permitted to keep his iPhone to listen to music, among other privileges. Kenneth Bae, who was charged with proselytising, was allowed to read his Bible in captivity. (Both men were released in late 2014.)

proselytising：改宗させる
captivity：監禁

Mr Warmbier’s case will fuel growing calls in America for a ban on travel to North Korea, for which a bill was proposed in May by two congressmen. About 1,000 Americans, or roughly one-fifth of all tourists to North Korea, visit the country every year (although America’s government strongly advises against it). Young Pioneer Tours, which also organises travel to former Soviet gulags, Chernobyl and Iran (or, “destinations your mother would rather you stayed away from”, as it brags), says it will no longer take Americans to North Korea.

gulags：強制労働収容所
brags：自慢する

Uri Tours and Koryo Tours, two other travel companies also based out of China that organise tours to North Korea, say they are reviewing their position on the matter. Backers of a ban say that such tours do “nothing but provide funds to a tyrannical regime”. Yet revenue from tourism, estimated at $30m-40m a year, is only a small sliver of even the North’s backward economy. Those who support interaction say that an embargo simply helps the North Korean government to shut out the outside world.

interaction：交流

Mr Warmbier’s sad fate will be taken as yet another instance of American vulnerability to Mr Kim’s regime, says Scott Snyder of the Council on Foreign Relations, an American think-tank. Concern about the North’s zeal to develop a missile that can hit continental America has mounted in recent months. Coming so soon after the news of his death, security talks between America and China (one of the North’s few backers) on June 21st in Washington, DC, will be charged. South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, called for the swift return of the three Americans and six South Koreans still detained there. Even if travel restrictions are put in place, talks like those conducted by Mr Yun may still continue, says Mr Snyder—indeed, cooler heads will argue that they are more necessary than ever.

vulnerability：脆弱性
mounted：高まる
charged：熱気を帯びた・緊張が高まった

北朝鮮に勾留されていたWarmbierさんが亡くなった問題で、今、アメリカ国内が騒いでいる。旅行を禁止用という動きがあるが、北朝鮮はそうなったとしても、こうしたツアーの収益は今までは大した収入になっていないので、なんとも感じないだろう。彼らは意図的に、彼を虐待したのではないと思う。そうした対応はしたことがないからだ。今回の事件は冷静に対処した方がいい。

水曜日。今日は海野塾がある。ではまた明日。

A U.S. Warplane Shot Down a Syrian Jet. Here's Why That's a Big Deal
Jared Malsin
TIME
Jun 19, 2017

アメリカの戦闘機がシリアの爆撃機を撃ち落とした。それがなぜ大したことなのか。

An American fighter jet shot down a Syrian government bomber in the eastern part of the country on Sunday, in one of the clearest signs yet of an open conflict between the United States and the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The downing of the Syrian plane raises the possibility of future fighting between pro-Assad forces and U.S. forces that are deployed in Syria in support of Syrian militias battling the Islamic State. During the first six years of the Syrian crisis, the United States supported rebel groups fighting Assad, but avoided direct conflict with his forces. That changed on April 6 when U.S. President Donald Trump ordered a cruise missile attack on a Syrian air base in response to a chemical attack that killed more than 70 people including civilians. Now, it has engaged in air-to-air combat in Syria for the very first time.

Russia, whose armed forces offer critical support to the Assad government, threatened retaliation. In a statement, the Russian defense ministry said it would regard any U.S. coalition aircraft detected west of the Euphrates river in Syria as legitimate targets. The ministry called the downing of the Syrian jet "a cynical violation of Syria’s sovereignty." Moscow also shut down the "deconfliction" channel designed to prevent midair contact between Russian and American warplanes in the skies over Syria. 

cynical ：けちのついた・冷笑的な
deconfliction：衝突回避
midair ：上空

As a result, the shooting down of the jet suggests a redrawing of the contours of the Syrian conflict. As the United States deepens its involvement in the ground war against ISIS in eastern Syria, it finds itself in direct conflict with the government in Damascus, and possibly with Moscow. The incident raises the risk of a wider, regional conflagration as the U.S. Assad, Russia, and Iran maneuver for control and influence in territory reclaimed from ISIS in eastern Syria.

contours：輪郭
conflagration：突発・戦争
maneuver：軍隊の作戦行動
reclaimed：取り戻す

The U.S. military said that it shot the Syrian plane down in order to protect American-backed Syrian militia forces from an attack by pro-regime troops. It military has now struck pro-regime forces at least four times, including the cruise missile strike on Shayrat airbase in Syria’s Homs province in April. The shooting down of a jet marks an escalation, however, as conflict spirals among rival powers for control of eastern Syria. In its campaign to dislodge ISIS, United States supports the SDF, a Kurdish-majority militia force who now control a major portion of northeast Syria. Supported by an estimated 1,000 U.S. Army soldiers and marines, those forces are currently advancing on ISIS’ de facto capital in the city of Raqqa.

spirals：急上昇する
dislodge：追い払う

The coalition said it struck the Syrian plane in order to protect allied forces in a “show of force.” Following the initial Syrian airstrike, the coalition also said it contacted the Russian military, which supports Assad’s forces, in order to de-escalate the situation. The statement did not mention the fate of the pilot of the Syrian aircraft. “The Coalition's mission is to defeat ISIS in Iraq and Syria,” the statement added. “The Coalition does not seek to fight Syrian regime, Russian, or pro-regime forces partnered with them, but will not hesitate to defend Coalition or partner forces from any threat.” 

coalition：同盟軍
defend：守る

In a communique carried by state media, the Syrian military called the downing of the plane an act of “flagrant aggression,” adding that it “reveals the evil intentions of the U.S. in administrating terrorism and investing it to pass the U.S.-Zionist project in the region.” Assad, who has stated that his aim is to retake all of Syria, has never granted his consent to the expanding U.S. military operation against ISIS. Sam Heller, a Beirut-based analyst at The Century Foundation tells TIME that the government attack on SDF forces on Sunday is a sign that Assad aims to disrupt the U.S.-led campaign in eastern Syria. “All the initiative is on their end,” he says. “What we do is likely to continue to be entirely reactive, and then hopefully it doesn’t accidentally escalate into something that is larger and impossible to control,” he adds in a phone interview.

flagrant：目に余る
aggression：不当な攻撃
administrating：運営する
Zionist：ユダヤ主義者
initiative：自ら行動すること
reactive：受身的な

In another sign of rising tensions, Iran fired missiles into Syria, saying it struck ISIS targets in response to a gun and bomb rampage carried out by the group in Tehran on June 7. Iran is a key supporter of the Assad regime, although there was no indication the missile strike was related to the downing of the Syrian plane. The incident also underscores a strategic dilemma for U.S. commanders and officials handling Syria. Even if the American-backed campaign succeeds in expelling ISIS from its territories in Syria, the Assad regime will remain in its rump state, and the larger Syrian civil war will remain unresolved. “Stomping on ISIS is not a vision for a future Syria,” says Heller.

underscores：明白にする
rump：残り物
Stomping：根絶する

Throughout eastern Syria, the United States is competing with Damascus for control of territory seized from ISIS. Assad’s forces declared a key victory on June 9 when they reached the Syrian-Iraqi border northeast of al-Tanf, where the U.S. garrison is located. The maneuver effectively blocked American-backed Syrian rebels from advancing north against ISIS, thwarting future gains in that region for America’s allies.

competing：張り合う
thwarting：阻止する

Former U.S. President Barack Obama called on Assad to step down in 2011 as a popular uprising consumed Syria during a year of revolt across the Arab world that ejected the autocratic leaders of Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, and Yemen. As Syria's revolution turned to war, the U.S. sided with armed opposition groups, but stopped short of directly attacking Assad's forces. Bolstered by Iranian, Russian, and other foreign support, Assad managed to halt and reverse some of his losses, recapturing the crucial city of Aleppo in December 2016, effectively ending the rebels' hopes of winning the war outright.

consumed：圧倒する
short：の手前で
halt：歯止めをかける
crucial：極めて重要な
outright：完全に

In 2014 the United States launched a campaign of airstrikes against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, shifting the focus of American policy away the binary conflict between Assad and the rebel groups, and toward the fight against ISIS, which is now concentrated in the eastern half of the country.Speaking on Monday Russian Foreign minister Sergey Lavrov chided the United States for not cooperating with the Assad government in its operations against ISIS. “Any actions ‘on the ground’, and there are many participants there, including those who carry out military operations, should be coordinated with Damascus," he said, according to Russia’s TASS news agency.

chided：小言を言う

アサド政権はロシアとイランの支援を受けて、ISISを攻撃している中で、アメリカはクルド人の軍隊であるSDFを支援して、ISISを攻撃している一方で、アサド政権と敵対している。以前のミサイル攻撃に続いて、今回はシリアの爆撃機を撃墜した。ロシアとイランへの挑戦状でもある。ISISがもうじき消滅するがその後始末は一体どうなるのだろうか。

どうも今のままではアメリカとロシア、イランとの代理戦争が始まってしまう。そこに、クルドの軍隊とトルコもかんできたら、まるで、第一次、第二次大戦の前哨戦みたいになってくる。トランプが間に入って仲裁できるタイプではない。どうなるのだろうか。メルケルとプーチンが組んで、何か行動しようとするのだろうか。

火曜日。アメリカの愚息と会食。ではまた明日。