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July 28, 2009
We welcome Syria, our new trading partner
Ed Lasky
Now how likely is that the Syrians will learn (under American tutelage, no less), and teach terror groups how to keep America and our allies from stopping terrorists?
Will the communication technology we give to Syria be passed onto Iran, where it might be used to spy on its own citizens? Communications technology is a key strategic "weapon. After all, the Israelis were able to hack into Hezbollah's communication links during the Israeli-Hezbollah war. How will the selling of high-tech communications equipment to Hezbollah's sugar daddy, the Syrians, be employed so as to strip Israel of this high tech advantage? Will it be used to cripple the internet as the modern-day equivalent of the samizdat, the system Russian reformers used to help bring down the regime from within?
Syria now trumpets that access to airplane spare parts will open the nation up to investment from multinationals: which is exactly what we do not want. How will the French respond, considering that Syria has abused Lebanon-a nation that it feels an attachment towards?
Jay Solomon writing in the Wall Street Journal:
The move represents the latest action in a rapidly accelerating rapprochement between Washington and Damascus initiated after President Barack Obama took office this year, said officials from both countries.
Messrs. Mitchell and Assad also discussed Sunday the possibility of the Pentagon dispatching to Damascus its second delegation of officers from the U.S. Central Command to discuss greater cooperation in preventing the flow of al Qaeda militants and other foreign fighters into Iraq through Syrian soil, said Syrian officials.
The White House hopes to woo Mr. Assad away from his strategic alliance with Iran, in an effort to stabilize Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.
For Syria, Mr. Obama's decision could mean relief from pervasive sanctions that have crippled Syria's airlines and slowed the Middle East nation's entrance into the information age. Among the companies that could be affected are airplane maker Boeing Co.; software companies Intel Corp. and Microsoft Corp.; and information-technology companies like Cisco Systems Inc.
"We received assurances that the relations between the two countries should resume on the basis of mutual interests and most importantly on the basis of mutual respect," Syria's deputy foreign minister, Fayssal Mekdad, said Monday in an interview. "We really welcome such a new approach."
The rest of the world will now feel no restraints in engaging Syria: the era of sanctions is over. The next step will be the end of sanctions on Iran.
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