IF ONLY WE'D REGIME CHANGE THEM TOO THEY COULD HAVE A HEALTHY ECONOMY:

Syria Looks to Iraq for an Economic Boost: Thaw in Relations Lifts Hopes of More Trade, Amid Plans to Improve Shipping and Rail-Freight Routes (JULIEN BARNES-DACEY, 6/01/09, WSJ)

Suffering from dwindling oil revenue and a sluggish, state-dominated market, Syria is banking on an economic boost from an unlikely source: Iraq.

A recent thaw in the countries' political relations is raising hopes in Damascus of an increase in trade.

Syrian Minister of Economy and Trade Amer Hosni Lutfi said during a recent trip to Iraq that he hopes to more than triple bilateral trade, now estimated at $800 million, far behind Syria's biggest trade partners, China and Turkey, at $2 billion each.

Syrian officials also have said that a railway line from the coastal city of Tartous to Umm Qasr port in southern Iraq is opening this month. The railway promises a faster and cheaper route to the Mediterranean for regional goods typically shipped through the Suez Canal.