Money Isn't Everthing

Seven and a half billion dollars or 5.77 billion euros -- the sum that Lebanese Premier Fuad Siniora is bringing home to his war-torn country from the Paris donor conference is clearly a nice one. He's not carrying it in his suitcase, and he won't be able to distribute it among the poor: The money is meant to support long overdue reforms in the medium term and fix war damages. That's why those people who are working to topple Siniora and are accusing him of heading a corrupt and incompetent government will not applaud him.

The dollar blessing -- whenever it arrives in Lebanon -- will not solve domestic problems. More than money is needed to do that and the frontlines are already drawn. Siniora's government wants to limit or prevent foreign -- i.e. Syrian and Iranian -- influence in Lebanon. Hezbollah and her allies meanwhile accuse the government of throwing itself at the West and becoming its servant.

It's an unfounded accusation which has only caught on with those Lebanese uninfluenced by ideology because the reforms and the restoration of the state take ever longer -- and the government is blamed for it. But this government has already put together a package of reforms, as Siniora said again in Paris. It now wants to implement them with foreign help.

It's important to note that "foreign" doesn't just mean "western": The largest single pledge comes from Saudi Arabia, and other Arabs have also offered generous help. They're not only united with the West in the realization that help is needed, but also the conviction that any increase in power for the Islamists of Hezbollah won't only harm Lebanon, but the whole region.

It's doubtful that the man on the street in Lebanon will see things that way, too. He probably remembers that Hezbollah distributed Iranian money among the needy after the last war. The money has long disappeared and did not help to get the state back on its feet. Aid packages like those announced in Paris are much better suited for that. But apart from their size, they're much less impressive -- especially for the Lebanese masses.

One more thing: French President Jacques Chirac is right when he demands unity among the Lebanese. Siniora is equally right when he describes the unrest of the past weeks as an attempt to overthrow a democratically elected government. It's one of the reasons why Lebanon's friends are willing to open their pockets yet again.

Middle East expert and Deutsche Welle's chief correspondent Peter Philipp reported from Paris (win).