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あるコンテスト
ニューヨーク・レビュー・オブ・ブックス』に、
あるコンテストのお知らせが掲載された。
「テロリズム」を定義した人に
1,000ドルの賞金を出すというものだ。
A contest
The following advertisement appeared in the Oct. 11 edition of the New York Review of Books:
"CONTEST: $1,000 (¥120,000) prize to the first person who offers a definition of 'terrorism' that both a) captures its character as a mode of combat, and b) excludes all U.S. military strategy and tactics. Respond to NYRB Box 16050. Society for Promotion of Accuracy in Political Speech. Frank Bardacke, Douglas Lummis, Jeffrey Lustig, founders."
The sponsors of this advertisement are not worried that they might have to pay anyone $1,000. The thing cannot be done.
Terrorism is a tactic of violent combat. It means killing or injuring non-combatant civilians intentionally and randomly. Of course, this violates the laws of war. According to the laws of war, fighters must try to kill or injure only members of the enemy's military forces. If this rule is followed, civilians on both sides can feel relatively safe. But if fighters begin to kill civilians, this sense of safety is destroyed. Since the killing is random, no one can know who will be next. Those who use this tactic hope that by terrifying the enemy population they can gain an advantage. That's why it's called "terror."
This tactic can be used by a government or by an anti-government organization. A classic act of terror is to throw a bomb into a crowded restaurant or to blow up a bus full of commuters. The bomber doesn't know or care who will be killed. (This is the difference between terror and assassination: the assassin always chooses the victim carefully.)
Bombing crowded cities from airplanes is the same tactic on a larger scale. Not only are restaurants and buses blown up, but buildings, schools, homes, places of worship, everything. The bomber pilot does not know or care who is in those buildings. And it is well known that one of the purposes of bombing cities is to "lower the morale" of the enemy population. "Lower the morale" means to spread terror.
Recently the United States and its allies have been claiming that their new technology makes possible "pinpoint bombing," so that few non-combatants are killed. Right after the Gulf War, I visited Iraq to see if this was true. I saw private homes, hospitals and public markets that had been bombed. If the pinpoint technology is as good as they say, then we must assume these places were bombed intentionally.
In any case, the possible use of nuclear weapons is still part of U.S. military strategy (and the strategies of the other nuclear powers). There are no pinpoint nukes.
The purpose of this contest is not to promote cynicism, but to reduce it. Americans have learned the horror, grief and despair that come with a terrorist attack. It is time to take the next step and recognize that terrorist attacks carried out by their own government bring the same horror, grief and despair to others. Gandhi's words are worth quoting again: Seek an eye for an eye and the whole world goes blind.
Shukan ST: Oct. 18, 2002
(C) All rights reserved
- New York Review of Books
- 書評誌の名前
- 〜 prize to 〜
- 賞金〜を〜に差し上げます
- definition
- 定義
- character
- 性格
- mode of combat
- 戦闘の一形態
- excludes 〜
- 〜を除外する
- U.S. military strategy and tactics
- 米軍の戦略と戦術
- Accuracy
- 正確さ
- are not worried that 〜
- 〜を心配してはいなかった
- injuring
- 負傷させる
- non-combatant civilians
- 非戦闘員の民間人
- intentionally
- 故意に
- randomly
- 無差別に
- violates
- 違反する
- laws of war
- 戦時国際法
- enemy
- 敵
- military forces
- 軍隊
- is followed
- 順守される
- population
- 人々
- gain an advantage
- 有利になる
- classic
- 典型的な
- throw a bomb into 〜
- 〜に爆弾を投げ込む
- crowded
- 込んだ
- blow up
- 吹き飛ばす
- full of commuters
- 通勤客でいっぱいの
- bomber
- 爆破犯
- assassination
- 暗殺
- assassin
- 暗殺者
- victim
- 犠牲者
- on a larger scale
- もっと大きな規模で
- places of worship
- 礼拝所
- purposes
- 目的
- lower the morale
- 士気をくじく
- allies
- 同盟国
- have been claiming that 〜
- 〜だと主張している
- pinpoint bombing
- 精密照準爆撃
- Gulf War
- 湾岸戦争
- must assume 〜
- 〜だと考えねばならない
- nuclear weapons
- 核兵器
- nuclear powers
- 核保有国
- nukes
- 核兵器
- promote cynicism
- 皮肉な考え方を広める
- reduce
- 減らす
- grief
- 悲しみ
- recognize
- 認める
- carried out
- 遂行された
- Gandhi
- (非暴力主義を貫いたインドの政治家)ガンジー
- are worth quoting again
- 再度引用するに値する
- Seek 〜
- 〜を求める
- an eye for an eye
- 目には目(同じ方法での報復)