While economies across the globe are in meltdown mode, the banks in Lebanon appear flush, offering hefty interest rates on savings. The Lebanese have had a knack for business and banking since Phoenician times, when they traded with every nation around the Mediterranean. But one likely reason for the country's current economic health is the vast amounts of money pouring in to influence the general election scheduled for June 7.
No one knows for sure how much is involved. Observers of the Lebanese scene tell me hundreds of millions of election-related dollars are sloshing through the economy. While rival regional powers such as Saudi Arabia are involved, a former Lebanese army officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, says the Khomeinist regime in Tehran has emerged as the "big spender," supplying its various agents, clients and allies with "more money than they could use."
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