LETTER FROM LEBANON: Reconstruction Wars

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The rebuilding effort is shaping up as a proxy battle for influence in the Middle East. Oil-rich Sunni Arabs who are worried about the rise of Hizballah and other militant Shi'ite groups in Iran and Iraq don't want to lose Lebanon. (Many of them have summer homes here.) The Saudis have already provided $1 billion in emergency funds to Lebanon's central banks and an additional $500 million in reconstruction aid to the Lebanese government. The rebuilding frenzy could provide an opportunity for the U.S. to improve its tarnished reputation with the Lebanese people. So far, the U.S. has pledged $50 million in humanitarian assistance, but few expect American efforts to have much impact. "This is going to be a very politicized reconstruction," says an officer from a U.S.-based aid group. To deliver aid effectively, "we have to work through existing institutions, but in the parts of Lebanon that need the most help, Hizballah is the only institution."

Washington isn't alone in being wary of getting too involved. Although many countries are willing to throw money at Lebanon's problems, few seem inclined to make more serious commitments. The news that France--Lebanon's closest ally in the West--would increase its force by just 200 soldiers to help the Lebanese Army take control of the south provoked dismay in Beirut. "We thought they were going to send thousands," says a Lebanese military expert. "This means they don't think it's safe." With Israeli commandos raiding a Hizballah stronghold in the Bekaa Valley on Saturday and Israeli drones still flying over Beirut and Hizballah ready to reload, it's hard to disagree.