The United States and Israel have put sanctions on Syria and Iran, among other countries. Sanctions means that Iran and Syria are not allowed to enter into business agreements with America or Israel. Unfortunately, in my opinion, sanctions always hurt the workers in a country, rather than the leaders who make up the unpopular policies in the first place. Businessmen in places like Iran, who have nothing to do with their government’s policies, and often strongly disagree with them, are being punished for the actions of their leaders. This is unfair. There is also a practical reasons why economic sanctions can be so dangerous. It sets up a situation where countries, because they are not allowed to export goods, become more desperate financially. This leads to their being friends with other countries that the United States, for example, might not like. So what America is doing when it sanctions countries, is encourage those countries to build up support from others that America does not like. Iran and Syria are perfect examples of this. Assad, President of Syria, and Ahmadinejad, President of Iran, are not people that Americans should want working together. They build up their strength in numbers when they start working together. Since America is more powerful economically, at least for now, than these other countries, they should come up with a different way to punish places like Iran for their human rights abuses. One that does not punish the working people. Punish the people who come up with the evil policies, do not punish those who are just trying to make an honest living.