Posted on 08/31/2009 6:00:56 PM PDT by Pan_Yan
DAMASCUS -- Syria is accelerating its economic opening -- boosting U.S. hopes that its tight relationship with Iran might be weakened.
For decades, Syria has been defined by its rigid socialist economy and its military ties to Iran against Israel and the West. Trade sanctions have taken a heavy toll: More than half the 16 jets in Syria's state airline can't fly for lack of spare parts.
But President Bashar Assad -- heir to his family's political dynasty -- has started unshackling the economy by permitting private banks and insurers to open shop and by letting Syrians hold foreign currency without risk of being tossed in jail. In March, he opened Syria's first stock exchange. Nearby are a Ford showroom and a KFC restaurant.
His four-year-old overhaul is now getting an unexpected lift from Washington. This fall the U.S. plans to name an ambassador to Damascus, its first in years. And in late July the State Department eased some sanctions set by President George W. Bush to punish Syria's support for militant groups Hezbollah and Hamas.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Gee, everyone gets capitalism but us!
“He said the Obama administration, by easing sanctions on Syria, seemed to signal that “other things than democracy are more important for the U.S.””
That's nothing. In the United States, a “state of emergency” was declared on March 9th, 1933. It has never been rescinded (Senate Report 93-549). Instead, it has been renewed by every President since then.
The National Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. 1601-1651) is a United States federal law passed in 1976 to stop open-ended states of national emergency and formalize the power of Congress to provide certain checks and balances on the emergency powers of the President. The act sets a limit of two years on states of national emergency. It also imposes certain “procedural formalities” on the President when invoking such powers.
The perceived need for the law arose from the scope and number of laws granting special powers to the executive in times of national emergency (or public danger).
At least two constitutional rights are subject to revocation during a state of emergency:
The right of habeas corpus, under Article 1, Section 9;
The right to a grand jury for members of the National Guard when in actual service, under Fifth Amendment.
In addition, many provisions of statutory law are contingent on a state of national emergency, as many as 500 by one count.[1]
It was due in part to concern that a declaration of “emergency” for one purpose should not invoke every possible executive emergency power that Congress in 1976 passed the National Emergencies Act. Among other provisions, this act requires the President to declare formally a national emergency and to specify the statutory authorities to be used under such a declaration.
There were 32 declared national emergencies between 1976 and 2001. [2] Most of these were for the purpose of restricting trade with certain foreign entities under the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) (50 U.S.C. 1701-1707).
I was thinking the same thing!
LOL
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