一开始的消息说是火箭弹，结果是弹道导弹。
看起来短期停不下来。

Iran fired more than a dozen ballistic missiles at two military bases in Iraq where American troops are based, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

“It is clear that these missiles were launched from Iran and targeted at least two Iraqi military bases hosting U.S. military and coalition personnel at Al-Asad and Erbil,” Jonathan Hoffman, the Pentagon’s chief spokesman, said in a statement.

There were no immediate reports of casualties, and the Pentagon said Tuesday evening that it was still assessing the damage.

Iranian officials said the attacks were the start of a promised retaliation for the killing of a top Revolutionary Guards commander. “The fierce revenge by the Revolutionary Guards has begun,” Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps said in a statement on a Telegram channel.

Source: Iran Fires Missiles at U.S. Troops at Two Bases in Iraq: Live Updates – The New York Times

伊朗公开宣称要报复美国，而且是直接以伊朗的部队。
做这个姿态的声明并不奇怪，看后面行动。

In the tense hours following the American killing of a top Iranian military commander, the country’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, made a rare appearance at a meeting of the government’s National Security Council to lay down the parameters for any retaliation. It must be a direct and proportional attack on American interests, he said, openly carried out by Iranian forces themselves, three Iranians familiar with the meeting said Monday.

It was a startling departure for the Iranian leadership. Since the establishment of the Islamic Republic in 1979, Tehran had almost always cloaked its attacks behind the actions of proxies it had cultivated around the region. But in the fury generated by the killing of the military commander, Maj. Gen. Qassim Suleimani, a close ally and personal friend of the supreme leader, the ayatollah was willing to cast aside those traditional cautions.

Source: Khamenei Wants to Put Iran’s Stamp on Reprisal for U.S. Killing of Top General – The New York Times

中东不知道会变成怎样。
中国又获得十年发展？反正股市是涨了，东亚仅此一家。

伊拉克国民议会周日投票通过了要求美国军队撤出该国的决议，此前一名伊朗将军被杀事件令伊拉克陷入美国与伊朗不断升级的冲突中心。对伊拉克而言，美国和伊朗都是重要盟友。

这份无约束力的决议敦促伊拉克总理阿卜杜勒-迈赫迪(Adel-Abdul Mahdi)废除当初为打击伊斯兰国(Islamic State)而让美军进驻伊拉克的邀请。2014年，在伊斯兰国占据伊拉克约三分之一国土之后，伊拉克呼吁美国出兵。

阿卜杜勒-迈赫迪在投票前对议会发表的讲话中呼吁议会支持这项动议，称鉴于美国实施针对伊朗将军苏莱曼尼(Qassem Soleimani)和伊拉克民兵组织领导人穆汉迪斯(Abu Mahdi al-Mohandes)的袭击侵犯了伊拉克的主权，伊拉克和美国的优先事项已出现分歧。阿卜杜勒-迈赫迪已在2019年底辞去总理职务，之后一直主持看守政府的工作，这意味着将美军驱逐出伊拉克的决定可能要由其继任者来实施。

Source: 伊拉克议会通过要求美国撤军的决议 – 华尔街日报

原来是这么重要的“中国人民的老朋友”啊。
估计共产党要高兴得满地打滚了吧。

遭到美军袭击时终年62岁的苏莱曼尼，在伊朗对整个中东地区的外交、军事和情报战略中，发挥着举足轻重的作用。

他一手打造的“圣城旅”部队，几乎承担了伊朗全部的海外情报收集和非正式作战任务。正是通过这支特殊的精锐武装力量，伊朗得以在叙利亚、伊拉克、黎巴嫩、也门、阿富汗和巴勒斯坦等地建立起什叶派的亲伊朗代理人网络，并树立伊朗在中东地区事务中的跨国影响力。

作为伊朗伊斯兰革命和两伊战争的老兵，苏莱曼尼身负多项战功，是许多伊朗人眼中抵御外侮的“民族英雄”。

蓄着整齐短络腮胡须、惯以一身戎装示人的这位伊朗高级将领，也深受伊朗最高领袖哈梅内伊的器重和信赖，还曾被后者褒奖为伊朗“活着的烈士”（a living martyr）。他也因与伊朗最高层的密切关系，被视为伊朗政治安全体系中，地位仅次于最高领袖和总统的第三号人物。

Source: 伊朗“谍王”遭美袭击殒命 穿梭多方布建伊朗跨境势力_世界频道_财新网

Interesting.
美国贸易代表办公室否认WSJ关于美国将降低一半关税的报道。

Washington, DC – Bob Davis and Lingling Wei at the Wall Street Journal, based on anonymous sources, have reported at least three times this week that the United States negotiators offered to cut by as much as one half the tariff rates on approximately $360 billion of Chinese imports in exchange for certain purchases.

While we do not comment on the content of negotiations, we have said publicly and on the record that this is totally false, untrue and baseless. It did not happen.

In addition and to be completely clear, we have personally, and on the record, told Mr. Davis and another Wall Street Journal reporter repeatedly that this is utterly false. No such offer was ever made to China by the United States. There is not a single knowledgeable American negotiator who would support this falsehood. Further, there is no Chinese negotiator who could honestly be this source.

We will not speculate on why the Chinese or an American uninvolved with these negotiations would manipulate the story. This is another example of reporting on an important alleged event based on secret sources, some of which may have obvious bias. The Wall Street Journal should make very clear that those actually involved for the United States have so clearly indicated that they are untrue, fabricated falsehoods. It should also expose possible biases of the anonymous source.

Source: Statement From USTR and UST Spokesperson on behalf of Ambassador Lighthizer and Secretary Mnuchin | United States Trade Representative

财新这篇雄文的宏大叙事笔法太牛了，虽然整篇内容是狗屎，文笔是很好的。

历经数月翘首观望，刚刚过去的12月15日，终于没成为让举世扼腕、市场下滑的又一场错过。北京时间12月13日深夜，中美向全世界宣布：双方已就中美第一阶段经贸协议的文本达成一致。世界上最大的两个经济体历时一年多的经贸争端，自此迎来明确转机。单边作风的高墙不再上筑，相向而行的大桥开始合拢。

12月15日──中美政府均叫停了原本在这一时点拟对彼此加征的关税措施。一年多来，中美经贸关系在扰动中下探的势头由此刹住；在更广义层面，两国间诸如技术“脱钩论”“新冷战论”等危言也迅即沉淀。对于全球秩序的观察者而言，中美两国在超过一年来多个领域的疾风劲吹下，仍能保持定力，展现通过协商解决问题的能力和坚韧意志。这一信号，不论是对两国或其他各国而言，其价值和意义，绝不低于协议文本所将处理的种种具体问题。

Source: 评论│以落实经贸协议重筑中美关系正轨_世界频道_财新网

根据美国贸易代表办公室所发布的文件翻译，翻译版下载链接。

如果中国每年农产品进口规模变化不是很大的话，那么是不是可以理解为中国为了不从美国买农产品，宁愿花2.5倍价格从别的国家买？

韩俊：

其次，毫无疑问，实施这个协议，我们从美国进口的农产品也会大幅度增加。加入世界贸易组织以来，中国农产品贸易规模持续扩大。2018年，我们整个农产品贸易额达到了2168.1亿美元，其中进口额是1371亿美元，2018年一年就增长了125亿美元。进口额占到全球农产品贸易额的1/10。中国现在已经是全球最大的农产品进口国。随着人民生活水平的提高，我们对优质农产品的需求是强劲的，进口会进一步扩大。

中美同为农业大国，两国农业的互补性是非常强的，可以说中美是天然的农业合作伙伴，具有广阔的合作空间。在经贸摩擦之前的正常年份，中国自美农产品进口一直稳定在一个很高的规模上。比如，2015年至2017年，每年中国从美国平均进口242亿美元农产品。受加征关税影响，2018年中国自美农产品进口减少到162.3亿美元，同比下降了32.7%。今年1-10月份，中国自美农产品进口达到104亿美元，同比下降了30.8%。协议的达成和实施，将会解决两国在农产品和食品贸易方面存在的一些突出问题，将会消除很多分歧，也会为解决两国长期关切奠定一个很好的基础。

Source: 国新办就中美经贸磋商有关进展情况举行发布会（直播）_经济频道_财新网