2017年11月01日
イラクの新たな戦争。シーア派アラブ人とクルド人とで。 イラクの指導者たちはクルド人からその都市と油田を取り戻す行動を起こした。
A new war in Iraq, now between Shia Arabs and Kurds
Iraqi leaders act to retake the city and its oilfields from the KurdsOct 16th 2017 | KIRKUK
イラクの新たな戦争。シーア派アラブ人とクルド人とで。
イラクの指導者たちはクルド人からその都市と油田を取り戻す行動を起こした。
WITH its rich reserves of oil and multitude of ethnicities and religions, the city of Kirkuk was always contested. The jihadist takeover of much of northern and western Iraq in 2014 allowed the Kurds both to take over the disputed city, and pose as defenders of Iraqi freedom. Now that Islamic State (IS) is being defeated, the old disputes over who controls the city have reignited.
multitude:多数の
ethnicities:民族性
contested:〈賞議席地位など〉を得ようと争う
pose:(モデル被写体として)ポーズをとる
In the early hours of October 16th, Iraqi government forces advanced on the city, taking over the oilfields, the biggest military base outside the city, and then the governorate building in the centre. Oil production was briefly shut down. Thousands of civilians are fleeing the city and surrounding province, choking the Kurdish checkpoints on the roads into the mountainous north. So far the casualties have been relatively light. Most Peshmerga fighters withdrew without much of a fight. But some Kurds in the city have responded to calls from their leaders to take up arms in Kirkuk’s defence.
governorate:〔governorの治める〕行政区域
The drain was choked with mud.:排水溝は泥で詰まっていた.
Several factors are inflaming tensions. The first was a referendum on Kurdish independence last month. It had been called by the regional government’s president, Masoud Barzani, against the advice of many officials. Iraq’s prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, has vowed to prevent secession and halted international flights into Kurdish cities. Rival Kurdish factions are openly accusing each other of betraying Kirkuk.
secession:【国からの】分離独立
Mr Abadi, sounding uncharacteristically belligerent, says the referendum will cost the Kurds “everything” they have gained since establishing an autonomous government in 1991. The loss of Kirkuk’s oilfields would certainly cost the Kurdish regional government its prime source of revenue at a time when it is already struggling to finance its rule.
uncharacteristically:珍しく
Trade routes into the landlocked region have been severely impaired after Iran closed their common border. And Kurdish business interests elsewhere in Iraq have come under attack. Last week, gunmen attacked a regional office of Korek Telecom, a mobile-phone network run by Mr Barzani’s nephew, disabling its coverage in southern Iraq.
Hard work impaired his sight.:彼は働きすぎて視力を害した.
A second cause of conflict is the mounting tension between America and Iran. American diplomats are shuttling between Erbil and Baghdad, urging Messrs Abadi and Barzani, both of whom they consider allies, to restrain their forces. But America’s president, Donald Trump, risks undermining their efforts. On October 13th Mr Trump spoke out against Iran and vowed to curb its influence in the region.
He denounced the nuclear deal struck with Iran (and five other global powers) by his predecessor, Barack Obama, to lift certain sanctions on Iran in exchange for it curbing its nuclear programme and submitting it to tighter international scrutiny. Mr Trump also threatened to designate Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC), the country’s praetorian guard, as a terrorist organisation.
scrutiny:監視
designate:指定する
praetorian guard :〘史〙ローマ皇帝の護衛, 近衛兵; (一般に権力者政権などの)近衛団.
The IRGC has responded to his bombast with force. Ahead of the Kirkuk offensive, General Qassem Suleimani, the head of the Quds Force, the IRGC’s foreign-operations arm, arrived in Iraq. Two armed groups closely linked to Iran—the Popular Mobilisation Units (or Hashd al-Shaabi) and the Federal Police—led the assault.
bombast:⦅非難して⦆大言壮語, 大げさな言葉.
Across the border in Syria, Iran’s allies are also advancing, rubbing close to the Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces, which are backed by America. On October 14th, Syrian forces took al-Mayadin, another town on the Euphrates, from Islamic State. Across the region, General Suleimani is demonstrating that while Mr Trump talks, Iran speedily acts.
rubbing:こする
General Suleimani:ガーセム・ソレイマーニーは、イラン・イスラム革命防衛隊の一部門で、イラン国外で特殊作戦に従事するゴドス部隊の司令官。少将。ケルマーン州ラーバル郡出身。 ソレイマーニーは米国のテロ関係者リストに記載されており、米国民は同氏との経済活動を禁じられている。
Underlying these local fights is a broader scramble for vast swathes of the Fertile Crescent from which IS has retreated. Local militias and regional powers are racing to create facts on the ground. Raqqa, the capital of IS in Syria, is about to fall to American-backed Syrian rebels. But the Syrian government, and its Iranian and Shia allies, seem likely to win the race for control of Syria’s borders. Some still look for an agreed way forward. Last week Mr Abadi suggested establishing a joint administration in Kirkuk, involving Iraqi government and Kurdish officials. But as erstwhile allies in the struggle against IS turn their guns on each other, calls for negotiations look worryingly late.
erstwhile:かっての
クルド人が国民投票をして、独立を検討したことから、イラクとの関係が悪化し、イラクがキルクークに軍隊を進めることになった。折角保有していた自治権をクルド人は放棄することになった。大統領のMasoud Barzaniの責任だ。結局、イラクのアバディ首相がキルクークを占領する指示を出した。イランはイラクを支持している。アメリカはクルドを支持してきたが、今回はイランを非難はしても、クルドの独立には賛成していない。中東の利権の混乱は当面続きそうだ。
水曜日。今日は海野塾がある。ではまた明日。