The fall of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria will help weaken Iran.
Air strikes can help weaken Isis, but no one would consider it wise today to send troops to the Middle East.
Disappointing Japan's exporters, Mr. Kan was silent on whether Japan would intervene directly in international currency markets to help weaken the yen.
Mr. Kan may also give hints as to whether Japan will intervene in international currency markets directly to help weaken the yen.
He said the recently passed sanctions on Iran might "help weaken the regime," but added: "Will it deter them from their ambitions with regard to nuclear capability?
He told Bloomberg, a news agency, this week that no measure should be considered taboo in hitting the inflation target.Some of the more ambitious ideas being floated, such as using the central bank to buy foreign-government bonds to help weaken the currency, would require changes to the BoJ law and cost a lot of political capital.
In particular, the government of Prime Minister Naoto Kan has called on the bank to do more to help weaken the powerful yen, which has risen to 15-year highs against the dollar in recent months, wreaking havoc with the country's export-led economy.
American officials hope that similar information gathered by American intelligence officers — including the location of Colonel Qaddafi's munitions depots and the clusters of government troops inside towns — might help weaken Libya's military enough to encourage defections within its ranks.
Although Japan spent a record nine trillion yen, or $77 billion, to help weaken the yen in currency markets from January to July, Japanese politicians today tried to make common cause with Mr. Snow as he prepared to fly to Beijing on Tuesday for a two-day visit.
Open access to such information would help weaken the "old boy" hiring network, boost diversity in staffing, increase awareness of postdoc issues among mentors and administrators, and allow young scientists to make better choices about postdoc positions and career options.
