US Defense Sales of Rifles, Shotguns and Assault Rifes to Bahrain Rose Before Crackdown

Published on Saturday, June 11, 2011 by Associated Press
US Defense Sales to Bahrain Rose Before Crackdown

WASHINGTON – The U.S. government approved $200 million in military sales from American firms to Bahrain in 2010, months before the autocratic regime was rocked by instability amid a harsh crackdown on protesters, according to a State Department report.

Bahraini Shiite Muslims chant slogans to free prisoners during a sermon Friday, June 10, 2011, in Diraz, Bahrain, when Sheik Issa Qassem, Bahrain’s top Shiite cleric, said Bahrain should free political prisoners and that the nation’s reputation is being damaged by prosecuting doctors, teachers, youths, women, clerics and other professionals arrested during the crackdown on anti-government protesters. Many Shiite Muslim clerics, including Sheik Ali Salman, leader of the largest opposition party, attended midday prayers in Diraz, an unusual move to show their solidarity with Qassem. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali) The annual report, which provides totals of U.S.-authorized arms sale agreements between American defense firms and foreign governments, showed a $112 million rise in licensed defense sales to Bahrain between the 2009 and 2010 fiscal years. The U.S. had green-lighted $88 million in military exports to Bahrain in 2009.

Much of the flow of military hardware to Bahrain was for aircraft and military electronics, but the U.S. also licensed $760,000 in exports of rifles, shotguns and assault weapons in 2010. Since mid-February of this year, the Persian Gulf kingdom has confronted demonstrators with cordons of armed military and police firing live ammunition. At least 31 people have died and hundreds more injured in the clashes. …more