Some are wondering why the Saudi government cares more about the situation in Lebanon than about the situation in Iraq, Yemen or Sudan and why it is offering Lebanon all this aid and all these donations despite its small surface, its limited capacities and the denial by some of its people of its ongoing efforts to secure unity and peace? Professor of Political Sciences at King Saud University, Saleh al-Khathlan, wrote in Elaph an article entitled “Lebanon: the time has come to change the compass.” In his article, he indicated that the Kingdom was going through a domestic revival which required more effort and focus on some regional and international issues, considering that the attention given to the Lebanese issue was keeping the command busy, sidetracking the energies away from the great developmental work and having a negative impact on what was more important at the level of our foreign relations. In conclusion, Al-Khathlan called for putting Lebanon in its small place and shifting the Saudi diplomatic effort toward what was more essential instead of wasting it on the Lebanese file. What Saudi Arabia is offering Lebanon cannot be compared with what Iran or any other Arab or Western country is offering it, starting from its “successful” efforts to end the Lebanese conflict during the Taif conference following a devastating civil war and ending with an agreement that has become the final reference for the Lebanese. Moreover, the Saudi efforts to help the country never stopped, since King Abdullah Bin Abdul-Aziz held a tripartite summit at the end of July in the presence of the Syrian and Lebanese presidents to enhance national concord, support domestic stability, encourage calm, dialogue and national unity, maintain the country's stability and distance the threats. In terms of financial and logistic support, Saudi Arabia is considered to be Lebanon's biggest backer and never supported a sect against the other. Indeed, in the context of the Saudi campaign to reconstruct Lebanon, it offered billions of dollars in donations and aid and adopted the rebuilding of 220 villages out of 323 affected villages throughout the Lebanese regions, including 167 villages in the South. It also rebuilt and rehabilitated 54,737 housing units and offered $100 million to equip the army and the internal security forces, $12 million to help the population of the Nahr al-Barid camp, $100 million in donations and one billion dollars in facilitated loans to fund developmental projects via the Paris conference. Moreover, it paid the school fees and bought the books of all the Lebanese students in public schools and deposited one billion dollars in the Central Bank of Lebanon to support the country's monetary stability in addition to the previous massive deposits it had made in that bank. What was noticeable however, was that during the visit of Iranian President Ahmadinejad to Lebanon, the country was turned into a “demonstration of Iranian and Persian slogans.” This reached the point where whoever saw the televised footage aired from Rafik al-Hariri Airport, the southern Suburb and the South, thought that Lebanon had become an Iranian “reserve” and that Ahmadinejad was “king of the country” or had colonized it. He was greeted with a massive popular reception organized by the supporters of Hezbollah, Amal and their allies, one which no visitor had ever earned even in his own country. We thus saw the Lebanese allies and rivals gathered around Ahmadinejad's “Beiruti” table, displaying smiles and disregarding the disputes. During the last three months, positions changed and wide-scale political maneuvers and diplomatic actions were witnessed, all revolving around Lebanon and Iraq. There were exchanged visits between Ahmadinejad and the Syrian president and secret understandings between Washington and Tehran resulting in the agreement to back up the pro-Iran Nouri al-Maliki. On the Lebanese level, there were voices in the opposition rising against the Saudi role and Lebanese reconciliation, provoking disputes and awaiting the right moment to stage the coup while claiming to enjoy a cover and support from Damascus. Lebanon is not a Saudi neighboring state. On the geographic map, the Kingdom has the longest border with Yemen – around 1,470 km – and the second longest border with Iraq – 814 km - and is separated from Sudan by the Red Sea along its Western border. Therefore, the direct effects will not reach it via Lebanon but via the Saudi southern and northern borders (Yemen and Iraq), without however downplaying any problems which might be provoked by Iran inside the Gulf States. Over the past decades, Saudi Arabia worked to ensure the best interests of Lebanon as an Arab country in which all the Lebanese were partners. However, the continuation of the conflict between the different parties and the wish of the “warlords” to maintain the regional frictions and the tensions between the Lebanese sects and movements to serve their own interests instead of those of the country, are depleting the Saudi efforts and energies and shifting them away from more important regional files directly affecting the Kingdom's security and interests as well as its sisters among the Gulf States. This is especially truly in light of growing concerns vis-à-vis the deterioration of the situation in Iraq and Yemen and the ongoing Iranian obstinacy in regard to its nuclear program and its adoption of an “expansionist” policy. I believe that the aid, the support, the numerous and massive donations and the continuous Saudi diplomatic efforts to build Lebanon and help its people, and the ingratitude, the accusations of treason and the tensions with which these efforts are being met, deserve contemplation and “extensive” thought. This is necessary to redirect the Saudi efforts toward regional and international interests and files which are more important than Lebanon, especially in light of what some neighboring states such as Iraq, Yemen and Sudan are going through in terms of crises which are directly affecting our security, stability and border.
