Noda promised in August to call an election "soon" in order to secure opposition votes for another key piece of legislation - his signature sales tax increase plan designed to shore up state finances saddled by swelling social security costs.
It also needed to convey the impression that the RMBSs in Abacus were selected solely by an independent third-party (ACA) in order to secure certain investors.
In addition, some current and former Afghan officials say, Kabul Bank became an unofficial arm of the Karzai government, bribing parliamentarians in order to secure votes for its legislative agenda.
For want of a better term, such an environment might be called Pax Americana, a world order that has in the past proven much more secure and conducive to Western interests than that now being contemplated by Gen.