The absence of the Sunni voice in Lebanon

Describing the Lebanese government as a failed one in all aspects is the least that could be said amid this government's silence towards threats directed at Arab citizens in Lebanon, particularly at those who belong to the Gulf states. The Lebanese government has failed in building and preserving a stable state. It also failed in maintaining bridges with the civilised world instead of burning them. For the first time in Lebanon's history, the Lebanese government is giving the impression that it is willing to isolate Lebanon from its Arab surroundings, particularly the Gulf states who were never reluctant to support Lebanon and its people. Prime Minister Najib Mikati, the well-known Sunni figure of Tripoli has failed to set up a government that reflects his personal success. He failed to respond to the demands of his own people in Tripoli amid the injustice they are exposed to. How can Lebanon show hostility to the Arabs, the Gulf and even to Turkey which represents the sole success story in the eastern side of the Mediterranean? Was such a thing possible without some party imposing its plans on the small country and pushing it to join the Iran-Syria alliance? Unfortunately this happens with the endorsement of the Lebanese government, despite its head knowing well that the whole region has changed in a way that allows no future for the Syrian regime. A regime which can do nothing now except show its grudge against Lebanon and its people, particularly the Sunnis, Christians and Druze. This hostility is currently represented in open threats, sending weapons and explosives to Lebanon and stirring all kinds of disputes in the country, as the Syrian regime hopes this conduct will enable it to get over its own deep crisis. Unfortunately problems in Lebanon are unlikely to be settled until Syria explodes from the inside then eventually can be rifted and divided. It is unfair to oblige the Lebanese people to pay the price of the Syrian regime's self-made crisis which saw it destroy all signs of civilisation in Syria and force efficient figures to leave the country. This loss of talent led to a vast deterioration in quality of education in addition to the spread of extremism and uncontrolled population growth, especially during the era of the current President Bashar al-Assad. Since he succeeded his father, Bashar al-Assad always failed in understanding that escaping his regime's disadvantages and trying to eliminate the opposition is not the answer to Syria's problems. He failed to understand that assassinating Rafiq Hariri added to a long series of crimes he committed in Lebanon which will now never grant a lifeline for his regime. All these crimes have only made him more dependent on an Iranian-controlled sectarian militia known as Hezbollah. Now Bashar along with all the pillars of his regime can only hope to be granted a safe exit to Russia or Iran before it is too late for them. The Syrian regime always uses Lebanon as a field where it can react to a crisis it faces in Syria itself. But Bashar al-Assad has gone far beyond what his father had ever done in Lebanon simply because he knows nothing about politics and international and regional power balances. Bashar got it wrong if he thinks that using Lebanon in settling his scores with the Gulf states will do him any good. Or if he believes that stirring the situation in Tripoli will reflect positively on the Syrian regime's position within Syria. What is currently taking place in Tripoli is expected only to raise hostility in the city's Sunni community against its Alawites. It is supposed that Lebanon has responsible officials, Sunnis or otherwise, who should make it clear that criminal conduct carried out by the Syrian regime in Lebanon with Iran's support is firmly condemned by the Lebanese state. It is understandable that there are some Lebanese politicians who will never be able to say that because they serve as tools in the hands of both the Syrian and Iranian regimes, like the Christian MP Michel Aoun. But how can we understand the Sunni Prime Minister Najib Mikati remaining silent over the threats directed at Gulf citizens in Lebanon? Is it acceptable that the Sunnis' representative in authority shows no action towards the kidnap of two Turkish citizens and another Kuwaiti one (who was released later), plus abusing a Qatari citizen who came to Lebanon for medical treatment? The Gulf states were always good to Lebanon and its people. There are tens of thousands of Lebanese working freely and safely in the Gulf states and sending the money they gain back to their families in Lebanon. It is strange that nobody representing the Lebanese government came out to say that it is in the supreme interest of Lebanon and its people to remain associated to Lebanon's Arab surrounding and not be a card in the hands of both the Iranian and Syrian regimes. These regimes only want to use Lebanon as leverage to reach deals with what Iran calls "the big devil" (the United States) and "the small devil" (Israel). The deals made using Lebanon are of course expected to be at the expense of all the Arab interests in the region. Lebanon needs to be led at this stage by men who know that the extremist groups working in the country are supported by nobody but the Syrian regime. From where have weapons been smuggled into Lebanon since the sixties? Who armed the Palestinian groups in Lebanon and put them in open confrontation with the Lebanese Christians and then all Lebanese? Who stirred the dispute between the Sunnis and the Alawites in Tripoli? Is there anybody in Lebanon who still needs to be reminded of the massacres of Damour, al-Qaa and al-Eishiyeh? Or perhaps be reminded of what the Christians had suffered in the Christian town of Akkar during Syrian suppression in Lebanon? What draws both laughter and tears is that some of those who belong to the party of Michel Aoun (who himself can be considered a Hezbollah security soldier) are justifying their support to the Syrian regime through their fears of the Salafists whom they think are part of the Sunni community in Lebanon. Those people might have forgotten who was behind the events that took place in the Palestinian refugee camp of Nahr el-Bared in the spring and summer of 2007. Those people have to know that those Salafists are not at all linked to the Lebanese Sunni community. The fact is that they are only working for the Syrian security agencies which used them to impose their control on the Palestinian camp in order to stir a fight in which the largest number of Lebanese soldiers would be killed. Didn't Shaker al-Abssi come directly from the Syrian prisons to lead the battle of the Salafist group "Fatah al-Islam" against the Lebanese army? I reiterate that Lebanon needs to be led by powerful officials who can say openly that Lebanon's success depends on its relations with its Arab surrounding and that the Sunni community will never accept ruining Lebanon's relations with the Gulf states for the sake of satisfying the Syrian and Iranian regimes. Is there a Sunni leader in Lebanon who dares to say this and to follow the steps of the great Sunni leaders who contributed to Lebanon's earlier glory? Or are we witnessing an absence of the Sunni voice within the Lebanese government? --- The views expressed by the author do not necessarily represent or reflect the editorial policy of  Arabstoday.