Ending sanctions on Syria is a very rare positive for Trump

If he doesn't change his addled "mind," that is. Undoubtedly the neocowards are trying to get him to do so.

Syrians are rejoicing at the announcement on Tuesday by President Donald J. Trump that he will lift U.S. economic sanctions on Syria, at the advice of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan, among others. Saudi Arabia gave Trump the quid pro quos he wanted for such a favor, including a pledge of $600 billion in investments in the US and the purchase of military equipment worth over $100 billion.

Regardless of why Trump is taking the step, it is a welcome one, though it is attended by dangers. Economic sanctions have not been demonstrated to have any significant success in overthrowing governments or substantially changing their behavior. They have been shown, however, to drive ordinary civilians in the sanctioned country into poverty and to worsen their health. Since middle-income countries (and above) are more likely to be democracies, crashing a country’s economy probably dooms it to dictatorship. The US government is obsessed with sanctions, having slapped them on fully one third of the world’s population. Sanctions creep is driven in part by politicians who want to be seen as doing something dramatic about some problematic government but who do not wish to actually do anything. Sanctions are the bravado of the pusillanimous. - Informed Comment