Posts from — May 2011

How Bahrain is oppressing its Shia majority

Bahrain’s parliament once gave me a standing ovation, now I’ve been banned from the kingdom – both for pursuing human rights

by Joshua Colangelo-Bryan – guardian.co.uk, Sunday 22 May 2011 15.00 BST

Six years ago, Bahrain’s parliament gave me a standing ovation. This month, the Bahraini government barred me from entering the tiny kingdom which sits off Saudi Arabia’s coast and hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet. While this fall from grace might seem extreme, it is easy to explain.

In 2005, I was representing the Bahrainis detained at Guantánamo Bay and, with a colleague, went to Bahrain to advocate on their behalf. We emphasised that the US had denied our clients due process, had asserted that our clients had no right to humane treatment, and had inflicted abuses on certain clients, as corroborated by US government sources.

Bahraini officials welcomed us with open arms. A prominent member of parliament invited us to a session at which Guantánamo would be discussed. There, he thundered that the rights to due process and humane treatment were universal, and decried that they were being denied to his fellow Bahrainis. Pointing to us in a spectators’ balcony, he said we had done more for his countrymen than anyone and offered his heartfelt gratitude. His colleagues arose in spontaneous applause.

By 2007, our Guantánamo clients had been released. Having met a number of Bahraini activists who assisted with our Guantánamo work, I naturally turned my attention to the deteriorating human rights situation in Bahrain itself. At the time, Bahrain was marketing itself as a “constitutional monarchy”. King Hamad, of the ruling Al-Khalifa family, had instituted some important reforms after assuming power in 1999. However, by 2007, it appeared that the government was reverting to its more repressive past, including reviving the use of torture during interrogations of national security suspects. …more

President declares support for human rights in Middle East speech but makes no mention of Saudi Arabia
by Ian Black

Barack Obama’s speech on the Middle East was a belated response to extraordinary events over which the US has so far exercised precious little influence.

Strikingly, Saudi Arabia, one of the most repressive countries in the Arab world and a key US ally and oil supplier, got not a single mention in the 5,400-word speech. On Bahrain – “a long-standing partner” (and home to the US fifth fleet) – there was no sense that locking up the opposition would be punished by the US. (AFP/Jim Watson) The president lavished praise on the spirit of people power that has animated this year’s “Arab spring” but also made clear that direct US involvement in the region would remain selective.

Billions of dollars in debt relief and loans for post-revolutionary Egypt and Tunisia will be a boost for troubled economies, though it will not erase the memory of long years of US support for their now deposed dictators, Hosni Mubarak and Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali.

Strikingly, Saudi Arabia, one of the most repressive countries in the Arab world and a key US ally and oil supplier, got not a single mention in the 5,400-word speech.

Nor did Obama offer any really new ideas on the Israeli-Palestinian impasse, reiterating the “unshakeable” US commitment to Israel’s security. Support for the 1967 border has long been the basis for any workable settlement, even if mention of it annoys Israeli right-wingers. It was clearly intended as a sharp reminder to Binyamin Netanyahu of where the parameters lie.

The president’s ringing declaration of support for Arab human rights was tempered by careful anticipation of the charge that US policies are inconsistent or selective policies. America could not “prevent every injustice perpetrated by a regime against its people”, but in Libya the prospect was one of imminent massacre by Muammar Gaddafi’s forces. Still, he gave no clues on future strategy in Libya.

Obama had harsh words for Bashar al-Assad of Syria, where hundreds have been killed by the security forces, but he did not address the reason why Libyan logic did not apply, and why Syria’s dictator should not also be removed.

Iran was rebuked for its “hypocrisy” in supporting Arab protests abroad while crushing them at home. On Bahrain – “a long-standing partner” (and home to the US fifth fleet) – there was no sense that locking up the opposition would be punished by the US. …more

Obama Should Follow His Own Advice on the ‘Moral Force’ of Non-Violence
by Medea Benjamin and Charles Davis, May 21, 2011

Given that President Obama daily authorizes the firing of hellfire missiles and the dropping of cluster bombs in places such as Afghanistan, Pakistan and Yemen, it was awful odd seeing him wax eloquent this week about the “moral force of non-violence” in places like Egypt and Tunisia. But there he was, the commander-in-chief of the largest empire in history, praising the power of peaceful protest in countries with repressive leaders backed by his own administration.

Were we unfamiliar with his actual policies – more than doubling the troops in Afghanistan, dramatically escalating a deadly drone war in Pakistan and unilaterally bombing for peace in Libya – it might have been inspiring to hear a major head of state reject violence as a means to political ends. Instead, we almost choked on the hypocrisy.

Cast beforehand as a major address on the Middle East, what President Obama offered with his speech on Thursday was nothing more than a reprisal of his 2009 address in Cairo: a lot of rhetoric about U.S. support for peace and freedom in the region contradicted by the actual – and bipartisan – U.S. policy over the past half-century of supporting ruthless authoritarian regimes. Yet even for all his talk of human rights and how he “will not tolerate aggression across borders” – yes, a U.S. president said this – Obama didn’t even feign concern about Saudi Arabia’s repressive regime invading neighboring Bahrain to put down a pro-democracy movement there. In fact, the words “Saudi Arabia” were never uttered.

It was that kind of speech: scathing condemnations of human rights abuses by the U.S.’s Official Enemies in places like Iran and Syria and muted criticism – if any – of the gross violations of human decency carried out by its dictatorial friends in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and Yemen.

Obama predictably glossed over the reality of U.S. policy and, in an audacious attempt to rewrite history, portrayed his administration as being supportive of the fall of tyrannical governments across the Middle East and North Africa, ludicrously suggesting he had supported regime change in Hosni Mubarak’s Egypt – a claim betrayed by the $1.3 billion a year in military aid his administration provided to Mubarak’s regime right up until the moment he resigned. The president’s revisionism might fool a few cable news personalities – what wouldn’t – but it won’t fool Egyptians, less than one in five of whom even want the closer relationship with the U.S. that Obama offered in his speech, at least one that involves more military aid and economic “reforms” imposed by the International Monetary Fund.

And Obama’s remarks shouldn’t fool their primary audience: American voters.

Contrary to the rhetoric of Obama’s speech, if the U.S. has sided with Middle Eastern publics against their brutal dictators it has not been because of their dictators’ brutality, which in the case of Mubarak was seen as a plus in the age of the war on terror. Nor has that support for the oppressed come in the form of – hold your laughter – non-violence. Rhetoric of change aside, how best to use the liberating power of bullets and bombs continues to be the guiding principle of U.S. policy in the Middle East. …more

Obama’s Middle East speech missed ‘historic opportunity,’ say many Arabs

While those involved in Arab uprisings welcomed Obama’s support, others were disappointed with his failure to apologize for US support for Middle East dictators.

By Kristen Chick, Correspondent / May 19, 2011 – Cairo

President Obama pledged American support for pro-democracy uprisings in the Middle East Thursday, trying to put the US on the right side of history as he laid out his vision for US involvement in the region after the Arab Spring.

Those from nations where opposition movements are fighting brutal crackdowns welcomed the president’s messages of support. But what was billed as a major speech left some in the region nonplussed. They said that the speech didn’t cover new ground, was short on policy prescriptions, and that the president missed a chance to apologize for America’s history of supporting the dictators people revolted against.

“Obama really had an opportunity to reshape and reframe the debate and … he gave it away,” says Shadi Hamid, director of research at the Brookings Doha Center, adding that there was nothing distinctive or imaginative about the address. “This speech was an opportunity to say to Arabs, ‘We as Americans made mistakes, we did not support democratic aspirations as much as we should have, but we’re going to do better.’ Obama didn’t say that.”

Marked difference from Obama’s 2009 Cairo speech

The muted response to the speech differed markedly from the widespread interest and pockets of hope generated by Obama’s landmark speech to the Muslim world from Cairo two years ago. Many felt that Obama has failed to follow through on the promises he made in 2009, and declined to give him another chance.

The protests that began six months ago have imparted to Arabs a strengthened sense of independence, even as subsequent uprisings have stalled with a bloody conflict in Libya, prolonged and brutal crackdowns in Syria and Yemen, and the near-total crushing of a protest movement in Bahrain. Obama said that the US aimed to throw its full weight behind supporting those uprisings. …more

THE ROVING EYE
What Obama could not possibly say
By Pepe Escobar

Facts on the ground will decide whether the United States really “values the dignity of the street vendor in Tunisia more than the raw power of the dictator”.

So let’s start with a fact. For US President Barack Obama, Saudi Arabia is not in the Middle East. Maybe the House of Saud has relocated the deserts and the oil to Oceania without telling anyone. In his major speech on Thursday from where the opening quote comes, and where, according to the Reuters gospel, he would “lay out a new US strategy toward a skeptical Arab world”, the skeptical Arabs, and the whole world for that matter, never heard these fateful two words, “Saudi” and “Arabia”. Even India, Indonesia and Brazil were mentioned.

That goes a long way to explain how the US, once again according to the Reuters gospel, plans to “shape the outcome of popular uprisings”; by not even naming the Middle Eastern power behind the ongoing counter-revolution against the great 2011 Arab revolt.

Obama tried to shape what Clintonites define as “ambitious realism”. It was more like ambitious fiction. By insisting on America’s set of “principles” and not so subtly trying once again to monopolize the moral high ground – issuing dispensations on regime change from Muammar Gaddafi (already gone) to Syria’s Bashar al-Assad (reform or go), Obama tried to rewrite history by inscribing Washington at the heart of the Arab-wide push for democracy. It may fool Americans. It didn’t fool the Arab street.

It took three long months for Obama to finally deal with the al-Khalifa dynasty in Bahrain – without ever mentioning their masters Saudi Arabia. He let the Bahraini rulers off the hook with a State Department-issued velvet glove, at the same time deviating into a Riyadh/Tel Aviv-approved script blaming the evil of all evils Iran; “We recognize that Iran has tried to take advantage of the turmoil there, and that the Bahraini government has a legitimate interest in the rule of law. Nevertheless, we have insisted publicly and privately that mass arrests and brute force are at odds with the universal rights of Bahrain’s citizens, and will not make legitimate calls for reform go away.”

It’s much more Orwellian than mere “brute force”; it’s the University of Bahrain, for instance, forcing students to sign a pledge of allegiance to the government, promising not to defy the monarchy; otherwise they’ll be expelled. …more

President of Bahrain’s Center for Human Rights Nabeel Rajab says the Bahraini regime dismiss people from their jobs for sending information of the government’s harsh crackdown on protesters via social networks.

Bahrain Insists It is Open to Dialogue with Opposition

VOA News May 20, 2011
Residents of the Shiite Muslim village of Malkiya, Bahrain, southwest of Manama, watch, some with stones in hand and others photographing riot police and tanks moving in, Sunday, March 20, 2011

Bahrain’s government is insisting it is open to dialogue with the opposition, following criticism from U.S. President Barack Obama for its deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters.

In his address Thursday, Obama said the United States has made clear that “mass arrests and brute force” are at odds with the universal rights of Bahrain’s citizens. He said the only way for Bahrain to move forward is through dialogue.

In a statement, the Bahraini government welcomed Obama’s comments and said his speech included “visions and principles” that match what it called its “democratic strategy.”

The government appeared to dismiss reports of human rights abuses on its part, saying it has responded to “false accusations.”

The Sunni-ruled Gulf nation has arrested hundreds of mostly Shi’ite protesters and put dozens on trial in special courts since protests were crushed in March. Bahraini officials have said 24 people died in the unrest. The state also imposed emergency law during the crackdown, which is due to be lifted on June 1.

British Prime Minister David Cameron raised his own concerns about the situation in Bahrain Thursday in talks with the Gulf kingdom’s crown prince, Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, in London. Cameron’s office said he stressed the importance of the Bahraini government moving to a policy of reform rather than repression.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and AFP. …source

Bahrain: Sentencing on 8 protesters and prominent cleric “20 years imprisonment”
May 19th, 2011

Bahrain Youth Society for Human Rights (BYSHR) is deeply concerned about sentencing on 9 demonstrators today in National Safety court ( Emergency court) .

On 19 May , 2011 :

1-Hamid Ibrahim Al-Madhoun
2-Khalil Ibrahim Al-Madhoun
3-Jassim Ali Yahya
4-Bassam Jalil Saeed
5-Jalal Saeed Mohammed
6- Fouad Ali Fadel
7- Falah Ali Fadel
8- Mohamed Ali Mirza
9-Mohammed Habib Al Safaf. ( Mohammed Habib Miqdad)

All of them sentenced: 20 years imprisonment

Charge: Kidnapping of a policeman
…source

British firm offered spy software to Egypt
Activists say they were the targets
By Eli Lake
The Washington Times
8:35 p.m., Monday, April 25, 2011

Egyptian anti-regime activists found a startling document last month during a raid inside the headquarters of the country’s state security service: A British company offered to sell a program that security experts say could infect dissidents’ computers and gain access to their email and other communications.

The discovery highlights the emerging market of Western companies that sell software to security services from the Middle East to China to spy on the kinds of social media activists who recently toppled regimes in Egypt and Tunisia.

Amid the scattered papers, interrogation devices and random furniture found during the raid, the activists uncovered a proposed contract dated June 29 from the British company Gamma International that promised to provide access to Gmail, Skype, Hotmail and Yahoo conversations and exchanges on computers targeted by the Interior Ministry of ousted President Hosni Mubarak.

The proposal from Gamma International was posted online by Cairo physician Mostafa Hussein, a blogger who was among the activists who seized the ministry’s documents.

“It is important evidence of the intent of the state security and investigation division not to respect our privacy,” Mr. Hussein said. …more

Bahrain Excerpt, US President Obama – Arab Uprising Speech – May 19, 2011.

Our opposition to Iran’s intolerance — as well as its illicit nuclear program, and its sponsorship of terror — is well known. But if America is to be credible, we must acknowledge that our friends in the region have not all reacted to the demands for change consistent with the principles that I have outlined today. That is true in Yemen, where President Saleh needs to follow through on his commitment to transfer power. And that is true, today, in Bahrain.

Bahrain is a long-standing partner, and we are committed to its security. We recognize that Iran has tried to take advantage of the turmoil there, and that the Bahraini government has a legitimate interest in the rule of law. Nevertheless, we have insisted publically and privately that mass arrests and brute force are at odds with the universal rights of Bahrain’s citizens, and will not make legitimate calls for reform go away. The only way forward is for the government and opposition to engage in a dialogue, and you can’t have a real dialogue when parts of the peaceful opposition are in jail. The government must create the conditions for dialogue, and the opposition must participate to forge a just future for all Bahrainis.

Video – al Khalifa Representitvies seeking dialogue with Bahraini Protesters – March 16, 2011

Obama Speech on Middle East Transcript, May 19, 2011
Posted by Aurelius at 1:22 PM

In case you missed the speech and really want to read a few thousand words, here’s the transcript:

I want to thank Hillary Clinton, who has traveled so much these last six months that she is approaching a new landmark — one million frequent flyer miles. I count on Hillary every day, and I believe that she will go down as of the finest Secretaries of State in our nation’s history.

The State Department is a fitting venue to mark a new chapter in American diplomacy. For six months, we have witnessed an extraordinary change take place in the Middle East and North Africa. Square by square; town by town; country by country; the people have risen up to demand their basic human rights. Two leaders have stepped aside. More may follow. And though these countries may be a great distance from our shores, we know that our own future is bound to this region by the forces of economics and security; history and faith.

Today, I would like to talk about this change — the forces that are driving it, and how we can respond in a way that advances our values and strengthens our security. Already, we have done much to shift our foreign policy following a decade defined by two costly conflicts. After years of war in Iraq, we have removed 100,000 American troops and ended our combat mission there. In Afghanistan, we have broken the Taliban’s momentum, and this July we will begin to bring our troops home and continue transition to Afghan lead. And after years of war against al Qaeda and its affiliates, we have dealt al Qaeda a huge blow by killing its leader — Osama bin Laden.

Bin Laden was no martyr. He was a mass murderer who offered a message of hate — an insistence that Muslims had to take up arms against the West, and that violence against men, women and children was the only path to change. He rejected democracy and individual rights for Muslims in favor of violent extremism; his agenda focused on what he could destroy — not what he could build.

Bin Laden and his murderous vision won some adherents. But even before his death, al Qaeda was losing its struggle for relevance, as the overwhelming majority of people saw that the slaughter of innocents did not answer their cries for a better life. By the time we found bin Laden, al Qaeda’s agenda had come to be seen by the vast majority of the region as a dead end, and the people of the Middle East and North Africa had taken their future into their own hands.

That story of self-determination began six months ago in Tunisia. On December 17, a young vendor named Mohammed Bouazizi was devastated when a police officer confiscated his cart. This was not unique. It is the same kind of humiliation that takes place every day in many parts of the world — the relentless tyranny of governments that deny their citizens dignity. Only this time, something different happened. After local officials refused to hear his complaint, this young man who had never been particularly active in politics went to the headquarters of the provincial government, doused himself in fuel, and lit himself on fire. …more

Bahrain wants to expand military bases
By Erika Solomon

DUBAI | Thu May 19, 2011 3:25pm EDT

DUBAI (Reuters) – Bahrain floated the idea of expanding military bases within a bloc of Sunni-led Gulf Arab allies that helped it quash Shi’ite protests in March, while U.S. President Barack Obama criticized Manama over its crackdown.

Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid al-Khalifa said fear of Shi’ite Iran interfering in Bahrain may push the Gulf Cooperation Council to revise its military presence in Bahrain instead of pulling out when emergency law, imposed in March, ends on June 1.

“Any threat that any country would face would definitely, no doubt, affect its neighbors. Saudi Arabia is only 28 kilometers (17 miles) away from here. We are looking at the GCC force to be expanded, to have multi-bases everywhere in the GCC,” he said in an interview with PBS Newshour.

“So whether they leave or stay or be restructured, that’s what is to be discussed in the future,” he said.

Bahrain’s Sunni rulers imposed emergency law and called in troops from neighboring Gulf countries in March to quash protests led mostly by its Shi’ite majority, who are demanding democratic reforms. Some hardliners had called for a republic.

Obama on Thursday criticized the crackdown, saying that “mass arrests and brute force” were at odds with the universal rights of Bahrain’s citizens, and would not make legitimate calls for reform disappear.

“The only way forward is for the government and opposition to engage in a dialogue, and you can’t have a real dialogue when parts of the peaceful opposition are in jail,” Obama said in a Middle East speech. …more

Why Bahrain Should to Be Front And Center in Obama’s Middle East Speech
Mark Leon Goldberg
May 19, 2011

Nowhere in the Arab world today does the Obama administration face a policy dilemma more vexing as it does toward Bahrain.

Bahrain is important to American geopolitical interests in the region. It is the host of America’s largest naval base in the Persian Gulf and it is also considered a bulwark against Iranian influence in the region. For that latter reason it is also a staunch ally (some would say client) of its neighbor, Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia, of course, is also a long time American ally and major oil supplier.

So, on one side of the ledger for American policy on Bahrain you have: 1) oil interests 2) a huge military base 3) a geopolitical ally to help contain Iran. On the other side, you have American commitment to human rights and democracy. Amidst a particularly brutal crackdown against activists since February, it would not be a stretch to believe that hard security interests have, so far, outweighed human rights in developing American policy on Bahrain.

Several dozen people have been killed; several hundred brutalized; and the opposition has been completely decimated. (The top UN Human Rights Official says 1,000 people have been imprisoned, which is a massive figure considering the entire population of Bahrain is only about 500,000). Yet, so far, the Obama administration has only issued some mild rebuke. It has not implemented any punitive measures against the Bahraini regime to demonstrate that it is truly supportive of the legitimate aspirations of the protest movement.

This shows which side the Obama administration is on–and, unfortunately, it is not the side of history. With the speech today, Obama has the opportunity to chart a new course.

Bahrain is the perfect proving ground to see whether or not this speech offers a meaningful re-balance of American policy in the region toward human rights and democracy. …source

May 18, 2011 at 3:00 PM EDT
Doctors Detained in Bahrain Face Accusations of Medical Abuses
By: Talea Miller

More than 100 medical workers have been targeted and detained by Bahrain’s government in recent months for their role in aiding protestors, say human rights groups, and many are still locked up facing military trials. But the government says some health workers engaged in gross medical abuses, including refusing care based on sect and exaggerating injuries to the media.

“If you are a health professional and wear a lab coat you are suspected of being subversive. You are interrogated, videotaped and compelled to offer false confessions of wrong doing,” said Richard Sollom, deputy director of Physicians for Human Rights, who was in Bahrain in April and authored an investigative report on the detention of medical workers.

“They are being abducted in the middle of the night sometimes from their homes in front of their children, blindfolded,” he said. Human Rights Watch has also received credible reports of torture and mistreatment from detainees who have been released. A doctor the NewsHour team spoke with in Bahrain — and agreed not to identify for safety reasons — said she treated protestors during her off hours and was detained for weeks as a result.

“During the interrogation, whenever I said something which they don’t like it, they will slap me again. And I was beaten also by a hose on my hands and my thighs,” she said. “In the dark…they gave me the paper of confession to sign it and thumb — thumbprint without knowing what is there in that paper.”

Bahrain’s Minister of Justice Sheikh Khalid bin Ali bin Abdulla al Khalifa denied any form of maltreatment for detainees in an interview with senior correspondent Margaret Warner. …more

19 May 2011 AFP

British PM and Bahrain crown prince hold talks
LONDON, May 19, 2011 (AFP) – British Prime Minister David Cameron was expected to discuss the crackdown on anti-regime protesters in Bahrain during talks with the Gulf state’s crown prince on Thursday.

Bahrain has been strongly criticised by international human rights groups for its crackdown, which has included requesting troops from neighbouring Saudi Arabia to help put down protests against the ruling family.

Crown Prince Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa’s visit to London comes after he declined an invitation to the wedding of Prince William and Princess Catherine last month amid fears that his presence might act as a distraction.

Cameron’s spokesman said the talks were expected to focus on the anti-regime uprisings in the Middle East and north Africa and the Middle East peace process.

“Bahrain has been seeking to reform their political system in a number of ways, and that is something we welcome.”

Asked why Britain was welcoming the Crown Prince, when British forces were involved in military action to prevent the repression of protesters in Libya, the spokesman said: “We said all along that the situation in different countries is different.

“There are different circumstances and we need to reflect that. Clearly, in all cases we would support reform and dialogue.”

Denis MacShane, a former junior foreign minister from the opposition Labour party, said Cameron should not be “rolling out the red carpet for Bahrain’s torturer-in-chief”.

“We have well-documented reports of torture, including the torture of women doctors, killings, and even the Saudis sending tanks across to Bahrain to crush the protests in the time-honoured fashion of the Soviets in Prague or Budapest,” said MacShane.

Amnesty International UK director Kate Allen called for Cameron to use the meeting “to make it absolutely clear that the Bahraini government must end its relentless crackdown on human rights.”

Britain has close trade links to Bahrain, but as protests began sweeping the Gulf this year, London revoked licences for the export of some security equipment to the country fearing it might be used to suppress protests.

Obama to deliver a speech on ‘Arab Spring’
The address aims at spelling out US policy toward waves of political changes sweeping North Africa and the Middle East.
Gregg Carlstrom Last Modified: 19 May 2011 01:02

US president Barack Obama will announce economic aid for Egypt and Tunisia during a speech on the Middle East on Thursday, but White House officials are saying little about how he will address key policy issues after months of revolution and unrest in the region. Obama will announce a plan to cancel roughly $1 billion of Egypt’s debt to the United States, a senior administration official said during a conference call on Wednesday. The US will work with the Egyptian government to funnel that money into job creation. Washington will also offer Egypt another $1 billion in new loan guarantees to support infrastructure development. Other international institutions, like the IMF and the World Bank, are expected to offer several billion dollars in additional financing.

“We think it’s important to note that some of the protests in the region are deeply rooted in a lack of individual opportunity and economic growth, as well as a suppression of political rights,” the administration official told reporters.

Modest debt relief

White House officials have billed Thursday’s speech at the US state department as a “major address.” They have avoided discussion of difficult issues in advance of the speech; Wednesday’s conference call dealt exclusively with Egypt and Tunisia, the first two countries to revolt against their autocratic leaders, which the White House dubbed “beacons for this region.”

Officials focused on trade and economic proposals for the two countries, bound to be the least controversial parts of Obama’s speech. Asked about US policy towards Syria, though, an administration official flatly refused to discuss the subject. “We’re going to put that in the category of things you’re going to have to wait for the speech tomorrow to get more clarity on,” the official said. …more

Left-wing web sites attacked
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
ISTANBUL – Daily News with wires

A number of left-wing Internet news portals, including Birgün, Bianet and Sendika.org, were attacked Tuesday by unknown hackers, and some sites are reportedly still facing technical problems.

The publication of Bianet.org was interrupted Tuesday between 3:30 p.m. and 11.30 p.m. as a result of a cyber attack. On their website, Bianet.org said they believed this was an organized attack and tens of thousands of computers were controlled for the attack via Trojan viruses. “The attack is currently still going on, but the publication is continuing,” the website said.

The website of left-wing Birgün newspaper, birgun.net, was another target attacked Tuesday. In a statement, site administrators said access to the daily’s website had been made almost impossible. Another leftist website sendika.org was attacked Tuesday evening, CNNTürk reported Wednesday. The Independent Communication Network, or BİA, said they would file a complaint regarding the attack.

Sezgin Tanrıkulu, deputy chairman of the Republican People’s Party, or CHP, said instead of filtering the Internet, the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP, should prevent virtual attacks on libertarian, democratic and leftist websites. In a written statement, Tanrıkulu said these attacks cannot stop web-based media.

According to him, the ruling party is responsible for solving the problem. “The AKP, through bringing a password system for accessing the Internet, wants to dominate the people with its own mentality,” said Tanrıkulu, adding that the party seems to have taken the side of the attackers as it tries to pressure oppositional voices. ..source

Obama’s Reset: Arab Spring or Same Old Thing?
How the President and the Pentagon Prop Up Both Middle Eastern Despots and American Arms Dealers
by Nick Turse

If you follow the words, one Middle East comes into view; if you follow the weapons, quite another.

This week, the words will take center stage. On Thursday, according to administration officials, President Obama will “reset” American policy in the Middle East with a major address offering a comprehensive look at the Arab Spring, “a unified theory about the popular uprisings from Tunisia to Bahrain,” and possibly a new administration approach to the region.

In the meantime, all signs indicate that the Pentagon will quietly maintain antithetical policies, just as it has throughout the Obama years. Barring an unprecedented and almost inconceivable policy shift, it will continue to broker lucrative deals to send weapons systems and military equipment to Arab despots. Nothing indicates that it will be deterred from its course, whatever the president says, which means that Barack Obama’s reset rhetoric is unlikely to translate into meaningful policy change in the region.

For months now, the world has watched as protesters have taken to the streets across the Middle East to demand a greater say in their lives. In Tunisia and Egypt, they toppled decades-old dictatorships. In Bahrain and Yemen, they were shot down in the streets as they demanded democracy. In the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, they called for reforms, free speech, and basic rights, and ended up bloodied and often in jail cells. In Iraq, they protested a lack of food and jobs, and in response got bullets and beatings.

As the world watched, trained eyes couldn’t help noticing something startling about the tools of repression in those countries. The armored personnel carriers, tanks, and helicopters used to intimidate or even kill peaceful protesters were often American models.

For decades, the U.S. has provided military aid, facilitated the sale of weaponry, and transferred vast quantities of arms to a host of Middle Eastern despots. Arming Arab autocrats, however, isn’t only the work of presidents past. A TomDispatch analysis of Pentagon documents finds that the Obama administration has sought to send billions of dollars in weapons systems — from advanced helicopters to fighter jets — to the very regimes that have beaten, jailed, and killed pro-democracy demonstrators, journalists, and reform activists throughout the Arab Spring. …more