Take Away Their Mercedes

Take Away Their Mercedes, was written by Marcus Noland who is author of “Avoiding the Apocalypse: The Future of the Two Koreas” and “Korea after Kim Jong-Il”. Marcus Noland has been associated with the Peterson Institute for International Economics since 1985. His areas of geographical knowledge and interest include Asia and Africa where he has lived and worked. In the past, he has written extensively on the economies of Japan, Korea, and China. He is unique among American economists in having devoted serious scholarly effort to the problems of North Korea and the prospects for Korean unification.

His targeted audience is not only U.S. government but also, private organizations which provide donations to North Korea without any condition.
In this article, the author wrote about the speculation of North Korea’s recent missile launching test. He mentioned several reasons for North Korea’s recent naughty behavior. There aggressive behavior might be towards South Korea’s new government, which they have strict policies toward North Korea, or a test of the new Obama administration, or even to advertise indirectly to potential weapon buyers like Iran, Syria and Libya. The U.N. has tried several different methods to calm North Korea attempts towards weapon testing and weapons of mass destruction, but it shows to be ineffective.

Another thing that the author mentions is that it might be easier for the U.S to deal with North Korea right now, because China and South Korea are in favor of tougher sanctions. He briefly mentions a way to solve this problem with North Korea. North Korea depends on outsiders for oil, food, and medicines. The U.N. has been talking about cutting the source for oil but not for food or essential medicines. The author stated that they should cut the food and medicine which would have a bigger impact on North Korea.

The author only looks at this matter from the American point of view. He never mentioned about how it might affect South Korea. The thought is, if the U.S. were to cut down food and essential medicines for North Korea, then they won’t have any other choice but to give up on weapon testing. But what is not being mentioned is the possibility of North Korea still pursuing weapon testing. Even though the missiles being tested may not reach a U.S. border, there is still a possibility of one landing in an unintended area like South Korea. South Korea has had a cease fire agreement with North Korea since the 1960s. U.S military forces have had a presence in South Korea ever since then; for the purpose of protecting South Korea from North Korea’s invasion. The U.S will react regardless of where the rocket lands. So the U.S. government can’t just corner them and cut out all aids they need.

U.S. to Offer Spare Airline Parts Sales to Syria

U.S. to Offer Spare Airline Parts Sales to Syria, Officials Say, was an article written by Jay Solomon of the Wall Street Journal.

Our new administration in Washington are now allowing the sales of spare parts to Syria’s national airline, which they hope to start easing their relationship with Syria.

The Bush administration passed Syria Accountability Act into law on December 12, 2003. Syria Accountability Act is to penalize Syria for their engagement with militant groups in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories.

President Barack Obama made it clear that they will directly communicate with Syrian President, to stabilize troubled areas in the Middle East.

The Commerce Department is now given the right to grant limited waivers to companies to sell spare parts to the Arab Airline. With the sales of spare parts, these companies are warned not to violate U.S. Laws.

The President of Syria has stated that Obama’s administration has given the final decision and the Transportation Ministry says that U.S. Commerce has given grants to Boeing, to fix two aircrafts that have been out of service for a year. The U.S. government has not denied nor confirmed these allegations.

This article is well worth reading, because we seem to forget about what we have been through with the Middle Eastern countries. We are, right now, blinded by stimulus packages and economic chaos which is being covered exclusively. This article gives us some very important information about the past issues that were during the Bush Administration and the present plan for building relations with these Middle Eastern nations. Syria Accountability Act, stated purpose, is to stop Syria from doing illegal actions against U.S such as, the illegal importation of Iraqi oil and to end illegal shipment of military items to anti-US forces in Iraq. What the Obama administration is now offering to Syria, might create more jobs for airline companies, but are we ready to move forward with these actions with Syria? Can we trust them?


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123446418763978491.html