火論：背に腹は、の前に＝玉木研二

毎日新聞の秀作。
東電の体質を世界大戦当時の状況に重ね合わせて、東電を断罪する。
(スラチャイ）

(Mainichi Japan) June 21, 2011
Gov't must stop forcing sacrifices on citizens and establish sensible policy
火論：背に腹は、の前に＝玉木研二
　＜ｋａ－ｒｏｎ＞

A report by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the ongoing crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant warns that Japan's complexity of organizations may slow its response at times of emergency.
　日本の複雑な体制や組織が緊急時の意思決定を遅らせる可能性がある、と福島第１原発事故処理をめぐり国際原子力機関（ＩＡＥＡ）の報告書は不信感を表したという。

We can't brush aside such a warning as mere meddling. Indeed, the country's decision-making mechanism, shouldering of responsibility, and actions are all operating separately without linking to each other.
　余計なお世話だと言えないところがつらい。意思の骨、責任の関節、実行の筋肉がつながらず、ばらばらに動く。
As such, it is only natural to suggest that this situation is the result of a structural flaw -- and not an unfortunate coincidence.
偶然そんな取り合わせになったという不運ではなく、構造的欠陥を疑うのは当然だ。

It is unlikely that malicious intent had anything to do with the delays in the government's reaction to the nuclear crisis.
　そのもたつきに「悪意」は介在していないだろう。

Rather, the delays represent a rigid structural climate that includes elusion, vertical sectionalism and exclusion, and scattered responsibility.
つかみどころのないあやふやさ。縦割りと排他、責任散在という、いわば硬直した組織風土の表れではないか。

Evasion of responsibility is often seen at times of war.
　つかみどころのない無責任は戦争にしばしば現れる。

Many of you probably have seen the film "Judgment at Nuremberg," based on the Judges' Trial of the Nuremburg war crime tribunal accusing several judges of cooperating with the Nazis.
　「ニュールンベルグ裁判」という名画を見た方は多いだろう。第二次大戦後、ナチ戦犯裁判のうちナチ協力の判事らを被告にした法廷を題材に、スタンリー・クレイマー監督がメガホンをとった米劇映画（１９６１年）だ。

Directed by Stanley Kramer in 1961, the American film portrays the pitfalls of irresponsibility, self-righteousness and the ability to adapt that people can fall into, even if they are rational members of the justice system.
理性あるはずの司法界の知識人らも陥っていく無責任と独善、状況適応の落とし穴を描く。

　裁判長は諭す。

"If the defendants were all depraved perverts -- if the leaders of the Third Reich were sadistic monsters and maniacs -- these events would have no more moral significance than an earthquake or other natural catastrophes," the judge in the movie says. "
　「被告がただ邪悪な変質者で第三帝国の指導者たちが怪物だったというだけなら天災のようなもの。

But this trial has shown that under the stress of a national crisis, men -- even able and extraordinary men -- can delude themselves into the commission of crimes and atrocities so vast and heinous as to stagger the imagination.
No one who has sat through this trial can ever forget."
そうではない。忘れてはならない。普通の人も優れた人も容易にこうしたことにかかわった」

The film shows that with heightening tensions between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, there are unexpected political interventions, and fears of a military conflict.
　思わぬ政治介入の動きも出る。米ソ対立の緊張が高まったのだ。軍事衝突の恐れも生じた。

Because the U.S. military does not want to antagonize Germans, it applies pressure on the court in a roundabout way to be lenient toward the defendants.
ドイツ人の反感を買いたくない米軍は、被告に寛大な措置をするよう法廷に遠回しに圧力をかけてくる。

The circumstances in the film have the same feel as the current situation in Japan, where the government has called for the restart of nuclear reactors currently suspended out of fears that otherwise Japan's summertime electricity demand will not be met, even though there is no end in sight to the nuclear disaster at the Fukushima power plant.
　これには今政府が電力供給不安から、原発事故収束の見通しがないまま「原発再稼働」要請に踏み切るのと通じる空気が感じられる。

The line of thinking is that certain "small" things have to be sacrificed to secure "bigger" guarantees.
背に腹は、という空気である。

In order to break free from our dependence on nuclear power, society must undertake broad and tireless discussions to change the course of energy and cultivate a sensible philosophy.
　原発依存から踏み出すには、エネルギーの質転換が社会に広く根気強く語られ、地に着いた理念を醸成することが必要だ。

You could call it a shift in values.
価値転換といってもいい。

It might be out of habit that the soldiers in the film put military prowess over the pursuit of justice.
映画で軍人が「正義」追求より「軍事」を優先したのは習性だろうが、

It is rather dubious for the Japanese government to suggest that "small" things have to be sacrificed for "bigger" purposes without making thorough efforts to establish safety measures or verify what happened.
原発の安全対策や検証も徹底せぬまま「背に腹は」的空気に包まれたのでは、心もとない。

In the film, the judge presiding over the case does not hold back, and metes out a heavy sentence.
　映画ではスペンサー・トレーシー演じる裁判長は手加減せず、厳しい判決を下す。

As an aside, the great thing about this film is that it does not provide us with a simple explanation on what is right or wrong, with a clean ending denouncing all evil.
　余談だが、この作品が優れているのは正邪を明らかにして断罪し大団円、といった単純なものではないからだ。

We are even made to become skeptical of the U.S. as the embodiment of justice in World War II.
果たしてアメリカは正義の具現者かという疑念もにじむ。

Maximilian Schell won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his portrayal of the defense attorney, who brought up what the U.S. did in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
　「広島、長崎で彼らは何をしたか」などと戦勝国の矛盾や不問の残虐行為を突き、被告の弁護人を熱演したマクシミリアン・シェルは、この作品でアカデミー賞の主演男優賞を得た。

(By Kenji Tamaki, Expert Senior Writer)
（専門編集委員）

毎日新聞　2011年6月21日　東京朝刊