アフガン:英国兵戦死者遂に444人
2013年 05月 02日
4月30日、'Mastiff' 搭乗中に死亡したThomas Savage, Samuel Flint, Robert Murray の各氏
戦火収まらぬイラク・アフガン・マリ:米・英・仏「武力行使の果て」の空しさ
山上 真
昨日5月1日付の*英国各紙は、アフガニスタンHelmand州に駐留している英国軍戦闘車両が、反政府武装勢力タリバンの強力なIED即ち即製爆破装置に遭って、車内に居た英国兵士3人が死亡、6人が重傷を負った事件を詳しく伝えている。
これら報道の焦点は、’Mastiff’ と呼ばれる、英国陸軍が最も誇る15トンに及ぶ重武装車両が、その「弱点」を如何にタリバンに見破られて、多くの死傷者を出したかという点にある。
結局、この重車両のこの上なく頑丈な装甲が破られた訳でなく、タリバンの嘗てなく強力なIED の爆発力で空中に跳ね上げられ、ひっくり返って落ちた衝撃で、大きな被害を出したという説に落ち着いた様だ。
2001年以来、アフガニスタンへの軍事介入を続けて来た米英連合軍は、2014年末までに完全撤退することを表明しているが、肝心のカルザイ政権は一向に安定せず、一方政権打倒を目指すタリバンは、10年以上に及ぶNATO軍の掃討作戦にも拘らず、全く衰えを見せていない。タリバンは、先日4月27日にアフガン全土で「春季攻勢」に乗り出すとの声明を発表し、カルザイ「腐敗政権」との訣別を政府職員などに呼びかけている。
去る4月28日付*『ニューヨーク・タイムズ』紙は、米国政府とカルザイ政権の「腐った関係」について、長文の「暴露記事」を掲載しており、表向きはカルザイ政権に「汚職との戦い」を呼びかけるオバマ大統領を大いに狼狽させている。
‘With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan’ 「現金袋でCIAはアフガンでの影響力を追求している」と題する記事に依ると、過去十数年に渉ってCIA(米国中央情報局)が「礼儀として」アフガン大統領府に毎月幾つものドル紙幣の束をスーツケースや時には買い物バッグに詰め込んで届けている、というのである。これまでにカルザイ大統領の元に渡された現金は数千万ドルに及ぶことを、過去及び現在の大統領補佐官が証言しているという。
2002年から2005年まで副補佐官だったKhalil Roman 氏に依ると、これらの現金は ‘ghost money’ と呼ばれ、秘密裏に渡され処理されたということだ。米国関係者の話では、これらの現金は地方有力者・政治家・麻薬取引関係者、更にはタリバンにさえ渡ったという。
斯くの如き重大な事実について、米国政府・CIAは、現在コメントを拒否しているが、「言う事と為す事」が全く矛盾しており、これまでにアフガン戦死者が米国人だけでも2千人を超えている以上、明確な説明が求められるのは当然である。
アフガン戦争での米国人犠牲者が、軍人ばかりでなく民間人多数に及ぶことは、先日4月29日に起きた米国ボーイング747 ジャンボ輸送機の、カブール郊外バグラム空港近くでの*墜落事故で7人の米国人スタッフが死亡したことでも歴然だ。この墜落事件について、タリバンが早速「犯行声明」を出しているが、その真偽は不明だ。
バグラム米軍基地近くで墜落し、死亡した747ジャンボ機・Jaime Brokaw 機長
タリバンの「春季攻勢」が宣言されて間もなく起きた英軍 ‘Mastiff’’ 攻撃の英兵戦死者は、2001年の参戦以来、444人目となった。
米軍が撤退した後のイラクでは、最近連日と言っていい程に、バグダッドなどで爆弾テロが頻繁に発生し、夥しい数の市民が犠牲になっている。加えて、スンニ派対シーア派の*暴力的衝突も随所で起きている。これも、手前勝手の理由で「軍事介入」した欧米の為せる悲劇だ。
つい先日、同じくアフガンに派兵している仏軍は、最近のマリ軍事介入で戦死した仏兵が*6人目を数えることになった。今後どれだけの戦争犠牲者が出るのか、アフガン戦争の例でも計り知れる。
日本・安倍政権は、右翼野党などと結託して、「戦争放棄」を規定した日本国憲法の「改変」を急いでいるが、その最も大きな目的は、「尖閣」などで米国と歩調を揃えて「武力行使」をしたいということが本音だ。以上述べた様に、米国を初めとする諸国が、多大な国民的犠牲を伴いつつ、どれだけの正当性を持って、世界各地で「戦争行為」に出ているのかを顧みる時、一歩踏みとどまって改めて政治の有り様を熟慮することが日本国民一人一人に求められているのではないか。 (2013.05.02)
<追記>
1. 5月5日付の英国*「デイリー・テレグラフ』紙に依ると、英国情報機関MI6 も、米国CIAと同様に、カルザイ政権に対して「札束」を運び込んでいたことが明らかになった。これは、CIAが莫大な秘密資金をアフガン大統領府に持ち込んでいたことについて、カルザイ大統領がその事実を認めた際に、英国MI6も同様の行為を行っていたことを明らかにしたからであった。但し、英国の直接資金持ち込み額は、比較的少額であった様だ。いずれにしても、米・英両国の、カルザイ政権の腐敗構造を助長していた責任は大きいと言わねばならない。 (2013.05.06)
<写真> The New York Times, The Independent, Daily Mail, Le Nouvel Observateur
<参考資料>
1. 5月1日付英国『インディペンデント』紙—「アフガニスタンで初めて即製爆弾対処の車両で死者が出た」
Troops are first to die in vehicle brought in to protect against IEDs in Afghanistan
Kim Sengupta
Wednesday, 1 May 2013
Three British soldiers have been killed and six others injured in a huge roadside bombing in Afghanistan - the first troops to have died in a heavy-armoured Mastiff vehicle.
The soldiers, Corporal William Savage and Fusilier Samuel Flint of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, and Private Robert Hetherington, of the 7th Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland, were travelling in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand on a stretch of road that had been in regular use and was believed to be in a safe area.
Their deaths come as international forces prepare to leave the 12-year-old war.
Military officials are investigating whether insurgents are designing bigger bombs aimed at piercing the 23-tonne Mastiff's armour. They will not only look at how the bomb was made, but also into checks used by Afghan and British troops on patrol. “If you build a big enough bomb it will overcome a Mastiff. It's just never been done before,” a military source said.
The convoy was on Route 611, a new road that had been used to show the reconstruction taking place in the province. Increasingly, the Afghan army and police are carrying out searches for IEDs as they take over security duties.
The last time so many British soldiers were killed in one incident was last March when six died after their Warrior vehicle was blown up by an IED about 25 miles north of Bashkir Gash.
The Taliban announced last weekend its “spring offensive” had started with a series of bombings. The insurgents said they were running large parts of the country, publicising the case of a father who executed his 18-year-old daughter, on their orders, after she had run away from home.
Former Army chief of staff Lord Dennett told the BBC: “As in any cycle of conflict, there's invention and counter-invention. The Taliban have found a way of countering the protective qualities of the Mastiff.”
<後略>
2. 4月28日付米国『ニューヨーク・タイムズ』紙—「CIA は現金袋で影響力を追求する」
The New York Times
April 28, 2013
With Bags of Cash, C.I.A. Seeks Influence in Afghanistan
By MATTHEW ROSENBERG
KABUL, Afghanistan — For more than a decade, wads of American dollars packed into suitcases, backpacks and, on occasion, plastic shopping bags have been dropped off every month or so at the offices of Afghanistan’s president — courtesy of the Central Intelligence Agency.
All told, tens of millions of dollars have flowed from the C.I.A. to the office of President Hamid Karzai, according to current and former advisers to the Afghan leader.
“We called it ‘ghost money,’ ” said Khalil Roman, who served as Mr. Karzai’s deputy chief of staff from 2002 until 2005. “It came in secret, and it left in secret.”
The C.I.A., which declined to comment for this article, has long been known to support some relatives and close aides of Mr. Karzai. But the new accounts of off-the-books cash delivered directly to his office show payments on a vaster scale, and with a far greater impact on everyday governing.
Moreover, there is little evidence that the payments bought the influence the C.I.A. sought. Instead, some American officials said, the cash has fueled corruption and empowered warlords, undermining Washington’s exit strategy from Afghanistan.
“The biggest source of corruption in Afghanistan,” one American official said, “was the United States.”
The United States was not alone in delivering cash to the president. Mr. Karzai acknowledged a few years ago that Iran regularly gave bags of cash to one of his top aides.
At the time, in 2010, American officials jumped on the payments as evidence of an aggressive Iranian campaign to buy influence and poison Afghanistan’s relations with the United States. What they did not say was that the C.I.A. was also plying the presidential palace with cash — and unlike the Iranians, it still is.
American and Afghan officials familiar with the payments said the agency’s main goal in providing the cash has been to maintain access to Mr. Karzai and his inner circle and to guarantee the agency’s influence at the presidential palace, which wields tremendous power in Afghanistan’s highly centralized government. The officials spoke about the money only on the condition of anonymity.
It is not clear that the United States is getting what it pays for. Mr. Karzai’s willingness to defy the United States — and the Iranians, for that matter — on an array of issues seems to have only grown as the cash has piled up. Instead of securing his good graces, the payments may well illustrate the opposite: Mr. Karzai is seemingly unable to be bought.
<後略>
Mark Mazzetti contributed reporting from Washington.
3. 5月1日付CNN ニュースー「アフガニスタンで貨物機が墜落し、7人の米国人が死亡」
By Holly Yan and Dave Alsup, CNN
updated 1:18 AM EDT, Wed May 1, 2013
(CNN) -- A cargo plane crashed in Afghanistan killing all seven crew members on board Monday.
All seven were U.S. citizens, the cargo carrier National Airlines said.
The crash happened shortly after takeoff from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan, the U.S.-based company said. The Boeing 747-400 was en route to Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
"This was a purely cargo flight and no passengers were aboard," a company statement said. "Cargo consisted of vehicles and routine general cargo."
National specializes in moving freight for the military and businesses, as well as charter passenger service in the Middle East.
The cause of the crash has not been determined.
But Taliban spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said his group shot down the aircraft and that "several foreign soldiers were killed."
That claim could not be immediately verified. But in the past, the Taliban has exaggerated casualty figures.
"This is a devastating loss for our family and we'll work diligently with authorities to find the cause," National Airlines President Glen Joerger said in the statement.
"Our focus at this time is on the family members of those we've lost, and on assisting the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Board) and Afghanistan Civil Aviation Authority in their investigations."
Six of the victims were from Michigan, National said, and they were identified as Brad Hasler, Jeremy Lipka, Jamie Brokaw, Rinku Summan, Michael Sheets and Gary Stockdale.
The other victim, Timothy Garrett, was from Kentucky.
4. 4月27日付『ワシントン・ポスト』紙ー「イラク政府軍はスンニ派の町を奪い返した」
The Washington post
Iraqi soldiers retake control of Sunni town
By Sameer N. Yacoub, Published: April 27
BAGHDAD — Iraqi soldiers backed by tanks retook control of a Sunni town north of Baghdad on Friday after gunmen withdrew without a fight, although violence erupted at three Sunni mosques and clerics called for the formation of a tribal army to protect Sunni cities.
The Sunni gunmen had seized Suleiman Beg on Thursday after a firefight with security forces, one in a string of incidents that have left more than 170 people dead in Sunni Muslim towns in western and northern Iraq during the past four days.
Police and military officials said army units entered Suleiman Beg after negotiations with local tribal leaders.
The growing turmoil prompted the top U.N. official in Iraq, Martin Kobler, to warn Friday that the country is “at a crossroads.” The unrest in the country followed a deadly security crackdown on a Sunni protest in the northern town of Hawijah four days ago.
In Iraq’s predominantly Sunni provinces, antigovernment rallies continued as preachers at protest sites called for a tribal force to protect Sunni areas.
In Samarra, Sunni cleric Najih al-Mizan lashed out at what he said were “the policies of tyranny and repression” adopted by Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. He said Maliki’s resignation was the only solution to save the country from the current crisis.
“We call upon our tribes to form an army that can protect us from a government that does not hesitate to kill its people,” said al-Mizan.
In Fallujah, Sunni cleric Ali al-Basra repeated the call to form a tribal army to protect Sunni cities. Several protesters held aloft al-Qaeda flags during the rally.
In western Baghdad, a bomb blast hit Sunni worshipers as they were leaving a mosque after Friday prayers, killing five. Minutes later, a Sunni was killed when a bomb struck Sunnis near a mosque in the Rashidiya area, 12 miles north of the capital. A bomb also exploded near a third Sunni mosque in northeastern Baghdad, killing two people.
There was no claim of responsibility for the mosque attacks.
Also Friday, police said a bomb exploded shortly after sunset near a small restaurant in Baghdad’s Shiite neighborhood of Sadr City, killing four people. Later, police said three people were killed when a car bomb went off in a commercial street in southern Baghdad.
Al-Qaeda’s Iraqi branch, known as the Islamic State of Iraq, frequently carries out attacks against civilian targets such as mosques, markets and restaurants. It mainly attacks Shiites but has also struck Sunni targets in an attempt to reignite the sectarian strife that almost resulted in civil war in the years after the 2003 U.S. led-invasion.
5. 4月29日付仏『ヌーベル・オプセルヴァトウール』誌ー「マリで6人目の仏兵戦死、2人負傷」
Mort d'un sixième soldat français au Mali, deux blessés
Créé le 29-04-2013 à 20h31
Nouvel Observateur
Soldat français à Gao, au Mali. Un soldat français est mort lundi après-midi dans l'extrême nord du Mali, devenant le sixième à être tué au Mali depuis le début de l'opération Serval, le 11 janvier dernier. /Photo prise le 9 mars 2013/REUTERS/Joe Penney (c) Reuters
PARIS (Reuters) - Un soldat français est mort lundi après-midi dans le nord-est du Mali après que son véhicule a sauté sur un engin explosif, ont annoncé les autorités françaises.
Il s'agit du sixième Français tué au Mali depuis le début de l'opération Serval, le 11 janvier dernier.
Deux soldats français ont également été grièvement blessés dans l'explosion, mais leur pronostic vital n'est pas engagé, a précisé le ministère de la Défense. Ils ont été évacués par hélicoptère vers Tessalit, dans le nord-ouest du Mali.
"Le président de la République a appris avec une grande tristesse la mort au combat d'un équipier commando du 1er régiment de parachutistes d'infanterie de marine de Bayonne", peut-on lire dans un communiqué de la présidence.
Le caporal-chef Stéphane Duval, 32 ans, est mort dans le nord-est du pays, entre Tin Zaouaten et Boughessa, alors qu'il participait à une opération de "sécurisation" qui avait pour objectif "d'affaiblir les groupes terroristes en les poursuivant sans relâche et en détruisant toute leur logistique", précise le ministère de la Défense.
"Le véhicule léger dans lequel il circulait a sauté sur un engin explosif", poursuit-il.
La France a amorcé un retrait progressif de ses quelque 4.000 soldats présents au Mali. Ils ne seront plus qu'environ 2.000 à la fin de l'été et un millier d'hommes resteront après 2013 "pour une durée indéterminée", a indiqué lundi le ministre de la Défense, Jean-Yves Le Drian.
Chine Labbé, édité par Henri-Pierre André
6. 5 月5日付英国『デイリーテレグラフ』紙ー「MI6はハミッド・カルザイに札束を渡していた」
MI6 'handing bundles of cash to Hamid Karzai'
British intelligence is handing "bundles" of cash over to Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai for special peace projects despite warnings that handouts are promoting corruption at the heart of his regime.
Britain has channelled cash into "special projects" undertaken by Karzai's officials. Photo: AFP
By Damien McElroy, Foreign Affairs Correspondent5:39PM BST 05 May 2013
MI6 officials have acknowledged that the organisation has made direct cash payments to their Afghan counterparts periodically over the 12 years Britain has been at war in Afghanistan.
Mr Karzai declared handouts from the CIA and MI6 are an "easy source of petty cash" for his government as it attempts to seal alliances with powerful regional warlords and secure defections from the Taliban.
The CIA support is believed to have amounted to tens of millions of dollars since 2001 while Britain has channelled a smaller fraction of that amount into "special projects" undertaken by Karzai's officials.
MPs expressed concern that by simply handing over so-called "ghost money" to President Karzai and his lieutenants, British spies could not be sure that the money would not be lost to corruption.
Adam Holloway, a Conservative MP and member of the Defence Select Committee, warned that they could not be trusted even if the payments could be justified on the grounds that Taliban and other insurgents must be rewarded if they give up the fight against Nato troops.
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"Every effort towards a political fix in Afghanistan must be made and those efforts welcomed but whether or not the money is well spent is a matter that must also be considered," he told the Daily Telegraph. "There is plenty of evidence that Karzai and his clique do not have an interest in a peace settlement but instead have an interest in continuing the conflict."
As Britain draws down troop numbers before withdrawing at the end of next year, there are fears that the pressure to seek a deal with insurgents to stop or reduce attacks will see increasing amounts of secret cash spent in Afghanistan.
"We also need to know more about how and where any cash from the UK is being used – how it is being monitored, and what benefits it is actually bringing to the people of Afghanistan," said Angus Robertson, the SNP MP and party defence spokesman. "It is enormously important to ensure that Afghanistan is as peaceful as it can be in the build up to withdrawal. The terrible roadside attack on Royal Regiment of Scotland personnel last week shows the terrorist threat is still a very real one."
The revelation that Mr Karzai's office is awash with cash from his allies has caused a furore in the Afghan parliament where Mr Karzai's government has faced a barrage of corruption allegations.
<後略>
by shin-yamakami16
| 2013-05-02 20:41