Posts from — September 2012

Saudi demonstrators condemn US, Israel, France over anti-Islam moves
21 September, 2012 – Shia Post

Saudi protesters have held a demonstration in the oil-rich Eastern Province to condemn the United States, the Israeli regime and France over anti-Islam moves.

On Thursday, the demonstrators took to the streets in the Qatif region of Eastern Province, chanting anti-US and anti-Israel slogans.

The protesters deplored the production of an anti-Islam film in the United States and the recent publication of insulting cartoons of Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) by a French magazine.

The demonstration came despite a ban imposed by the Saudi regime on any protest in condemnation of the recent anti-Islam moves.

Outrage is growing across the Muslim world over the $5-million movie, named Innocence of Muslims, which was reportedly financed by more than 100 Zionist Jews.

The US-made anti-Islam movie triggered days of huge demonstrations across Iran, Turkey, Sudan, Egypt, Yemen, Tunisia, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Iraq, Morocco, Syria, Kuwait, Nigeria, Kenya, Mali, Nigeria, Australia, Britain, the United States, France, Belgium, Australia and some other countries.

On September 11, the US consulate building in the Libyan city of Benghazi was attacked, and US Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three staff members were killed in the incident. …more

Western missions in MENA brace for major protests
21 September, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Tunisia banned all demonstrations on Friday and Western missions across the Arab world went on high alert amid fears of new violence over a US-made film mocking Islam, called “Innocence of Muslims,” and cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in a French magazine.

France closed its missions, schools and cultural centers in 20 countries for the day. Schools in Tunisia were ordered shut from Wednesday, those in Egypt from Thursday.

Islamist groups were organizing planned rallies in several countries but security forces were on alert across the region for spontaneous demonstrations after the main weekly Muslim prayers at noon — a traditional focal point for protest.

In Libya’s second city Benghazi, where US Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans were murdered last week in what Washington has called a terrorist attack, rival demonstrations were planned and there were fears clashes could break out.

The hardline Salafi group Ansar al-Sharia, which denied any role in the Stevens killing, called for supporters to rally around al-Kish Square, a key battleground in the uprising that overthrew dictator Muammar Gaddafi last year.

The demonstration was set for 3:00pm GMT, the same time as a “Save Benghazi” march organized by militia opponents was due to head for the square.

Demonstrations were also planned among both Sunni and Shia Muslims in Lebanon, and among Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.

On Monday, in a rare public appearance, the leader of Lebanon’s powerful resistance movement Hezbollah, Hassan Nasrallah, told a massive gathering the film was the “worst attack ever on Islam.”

“O Prophet, we die for you, my soul and my blood are for you,” he shouted to tens of thousands of delirious supporters, urging them to repeat the words for the whole world to hear.

The Tunisian interior ministry said it was invoking emergency law powers to impose the nationwide demonstration ban following tip-offs of preparations for violence by hardliners.

“The interior ministry, using its powers under the state of emergency and in order to maintain public order, announces that it is outlawing any form of demonstration anywhere in Tunisian territory on Friday,” it said.

“The ministry notes that it has received information suggesting the protests would be exploited for the purpose of committing acts of violence and causing unrest.”

Calls for Friday protests were circulating on social networks following the publication by French weekly Charlie Hebdo on Wednesday of cartoons featuring obscene images of the founder of Islam.

The interior ministry called on “all Tunisians and civil society to demonstrate understanding” and “urge (people) not to follow the call” to protest. …more

No military intervention in Syria, says top NATO general
21 September, 2012 – Agence France Presse

BRUSSELS: NATO does not believe that military intervention in Syria would bring any improvement in the security situation there, a senior alliance official said Friday.

Germany’s Manfred Lange, Chief of Staff of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), said the military was telling leaders that there was no good case for military action and the political process had to be pursued.

“The military advice is (that) there are not sufficient visible signs at the moment that a military intervention could lead to an improvement of the security situation,” Lange said.

“The political process has to be pushed forward, sanctions need to take effect. At the moment, this situation cannot be solved by the military in a responsible way,” he told a briefing.

He added that with little prospect of action at the United Nations “it is clear that the Alliance doesn’t have any military plans on Syria.”

NATO concluded a seven-month air campaign in Libya last year which helped rebels oust veteran leader Moamer Gadhafi and there has been speculation such an operation could be repeated in Syria if U.N. approval was obtained.

Permanent U.N. Security Council members Russia and China oppose any such intervention even as the death toll mounts steadily in Syria where rebels are trying to topple President Bashar Assad.
…more

It is no accident US directed War Games in the Gulf coincide with the frenzy of Western Media badgering of Muslims. A new ‘uprising’ has become a ‘full on’ assault against the icons of a belligerent America conducting its clandestine operations of torture, domination and control through it Spooks who line the halls of so called ‘diplomatic missions’ and secret black-ops ‘rendition centers’ across MENA.

In the depraved mind of Secretary Clinton and she imagines the US to be the rescuer of those Nations it has bombed or imploded in its schemes to secure a few more decades of oil, weapons sales and billions of dollars in opportunities for mercenaries, construction, public relations firms, media moguls and financial institutions. Imperialism respects no God but that of power and obscene wealth as it extracts even the marrow of those who would retain an equitable portion of their birthright in their bid for self-determination and liberty.

The throwback policy to US doctrine of ‘Manifest Destiny’ is simply code for the misery it brings as ‘Manifest Hopelessness’ to those it attempts to subjugate. Slave master as self-described liberator, tyranny as reform and prescribed choice as democracy. Where hopelessness is the tool, hope abounds. When hope abounds, by its nature it subverts the systems used to oppress it. Phlipn – hopeful.

Massive minesweeping exercise begins off Bahrain
By Chis Lawrence – CNN – 21 September, 2012

Reporting from the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea (CNN) — More than three dozen nations have converged on the seas around Bahrain for a massive military minesweeping excercise.

The at-sea maneuvers will involve a series of techniques and involve surface ships, aircraft, and underwater “explosive ordnance disposal” diving teams during the nearly two weeks of International Mine Countermeasure Exercise.

Remote piloted submersibles, known as unmanned underwater vehicles, or UUVs, will get their most sustained test yet in combination with regular forces.

The U.S. military says these exercises are strictly “defensive,” but the show of force in light of Iran’s threats to mine the Strait of Hormuz is hard to ignore.

In a typical week, officials say more than 500 ships will sail through the Strait, carrying everything from oil to natural gas.

The United States has been promoting the fact that more than 30 nations are participating in the exercises.

But CNN has learned that so far, two thirds of those nations do not want to have their participation made public. And only half a dozen or so will send actual ships to the exercise.

The situation suggests that in any real minesweeping scenario, or conflict with Iran, the U.S. military would bear the brunt of the fight.

The United States has a lot of naval power in the region. But the American military is careful not to unnecessarily provoke Iran, especially with tensions so high after toughened economic sanctions and much talk in the U.S. and Israel about whether Iran’s progress in developing nuclear capabilities will warrant military action to stop it.

“Any action can instantly trigger a disproportionate reaction, and we have to be aware of that,” Vice Adm. Ted Carter told CNN. The U.S. military is trying to strike a balance between protecting the free transit of the waterway, while avoiding an inadvertent conflict with Iran.

In an indication of how sensitive the waterway has become, some U.S. Navy ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz are equipping their guns with cameras.

The gargantuan aircraft carrier USS Enterprise, on its last cruise, has made eight trips through the Strait on its current deployment. Crew members showed CNN where they strap small cameras to each gun when nearing certain ports or passing by certain areas in the Strait. …more

Teen Arrested in Chicago Car-Bomb Plot, Authorities Say
By SUSAN CAREY – 16 September, 2012 – WSJ

An 18-year old Muslim-American from a Chicago suburb was arrested Friday night after attempting to detonate what he believed to be a car bomb outside a crowded bar in downtown Chicago, federal authorities said.

The bomb was a dud supplied by an undercover Federal Bureau of Investigation agent who had the alleged perpetrator under surveillance since earlier this summer, and no one was injured.

Adel Daoud, a U.S. citizen allegedly bent on a jihad mission to kill “hundreds” of people, was formally charged Saturday with two federal criminal counts: attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to destroy a building with an explosive, according to an FBI affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago.

An FBI spokesman on Sunday said Mr. Daoud is being held without bond in the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago, a federal facility. He is scheduled to appear again in federal court on Monday afternoon, at which time he could seek to be released on bond and likely will be represented by a court-appointed attorney or his own lawyer, the FBI spokesman said.

A woman who answered the phone Sunday of a Daoud family in Hillside, Ill., where the defendant lives, said she had no comment. The defendant couldn’t be reached for comment.

According to the FBI affidavit, Mr. Daoud allegedly began using an email account to obtain and distribute information about jihad and the killing of Americans in the fall of 2011. In May of 2012, two undercover FBI agents contacted him online and engaged in electronic conversation about his plans to carry out terrorist attacks.

Another FBI undercover agent entered the scene in July and met with Mr. Daoud a total of six times as the young man planned the attack and looked for locations in Chicago. The choices included shopping malls, concert venues, tourist attractions, movie theaters and bars, the FBI affidavit said. The undercover agent on Sept. 13 showed Mr. Daoud a purported explosive device housed in a green Jeep Cherokee parked in a storage unit. The device, constructed by an FBI bomb technician, was inert.

The defendant allegedly asked the undercover agent to tell the agent’s mosque leader to announce that the attack had been on behalf of al Qaeda. On Friday evening, the two met in the suburbs, drove to downtown Chicago and picked up the Jeep. They then drove to the targeted bar, the location of which the FBI won’t disclose. Mr. Daoud allegedly got out of the jeep, walked about a block away and attempted to denote the car bomb. He was immediately arrested.

“I wanted something that’s… massive,” Mr. Daoud allegedly told the undercover agent, according to the affidavit. “I want something that’s gonna make it in the news like tonight.” …source

Hasan Mushaima is an opposition leader in Bahrain and the secretary-general of the Haq Movement, an important opposition party in Bahrain. He is campaigning for more democratic rights in Bahrain. Before forming Haq, he was a founding member of Al Wefaq and a leading figure in the 1994 uprising in Bahrain.

The Bahraini government has placed Mushaima under arrest several times, twice arresting him during the 1994 uprising. He was later jailed from March 1995 to September 1995 and again from January 1996 till February 2001. Mushaima was re-arrested in February 2007 and jailed for one day, and then was arrested and imprisoned again from January 2009 to April 2009.

In 2010 Mushaima traveled to Great Britain to be treated for lung cancer.

Mushaima announced plans to return to Bahrain during the protests in February 2011, but authorities detained him in Lebanon while en route, possibly at the request of the Bahraini government. Mushaima finally did return to Bahrain on Saturday, February 26, 2011. On that day, he was described by the Associated Press as being “welcomed like a rock star,” by protestors in Pearl Square. On 7th March, 2011, Mushaima alongside with Abdulwahab Hussain, the leader of Wafa movement and Saeed Alshehabi the leader of the Bahrain Freedom Movement, formed the ” Alliance for the Republic “, because of their belief that the Bahraini regime lost legitimacy after the harsh crackdown on protesters using heavy weapons.

One month after protests, the Gulf Cooperation Council sent 1,500+ PSF troops (1,000 Saudi, some Qatari troops and 500 Emirati policemen) to crush the popular uprising there and also sent the Kuwaiti Navy to stop any aid to the protesters by sea. After the protesters were kicked from the Pearl Roundabout, many known rights activists operating in Bahrain were arrested, including Mushaima.

The Testimony of Hassan Mushaima, A Bahraini Prisoner Sentenced For Life of Imprisonment In Bahraini Court
19 September, 2012 – European-Bahraini Organization for Human Rights [exceprt]

The last arrest came after the events that took place since February 14 2011, to make it the worst arrest that I ever encountered throughout my entire life. On the early morning of Thursday, 17 March 2011, and at around 2 o’clock am, the time the security forces choose to make their arrests in order to inflict more harm and terror to those asleep and terrorize and scare the children, and to leave the children and family with an eternal recollection of those horrific scenes and blatant violations.

I was asleep but my sons and daughters were awake, they heard loud and continuous ringing of the door bell, so they came to wake me up and tell me that the riot police are surrounding the house and that they are here to arrest me. I went to them and asked them the usual question if they had had a court order for my arrest or from the Public Prosecutor but they remained silent and entered my bedroom and searched it and took my laptop and my mobile phone, they then handcuffed me and took me, accompanied by a large number of riot police to “Safra” area. There and after the formal and quick examination they handcuffed me again and blindfolded me and put me in a vehicle I did not see for my welcome party to start, unlike all of my previous arrests, with beating, humiliation, insults and verbal abuse, for there was no law upheld or respected and no rights for the detainee, only bursts of hatred, revenge and vengeance. The first of those words were: “Mushaima – to hell with you and your sect”. This degrading treatment continued all the way until we reached “Al-Qareen” Prison, whose name I found out later, and in there I received another reception party of beating and punching all over my body and especially on my head and ears. They spat on me and pushed me until I fell and got injured. I was about to vomit from the intensity of the cold but they continued to curse, humiliate and insult me along with the beating until they took me to the solitary cell. There and to increase the humiliation I was given an old torn sponge bed to sleep on and dirty old blanket and a very old smelly pillow. As soon as I lay on the bed I was surprised by someone (a masked man) bringing cold water in the cold weather while the AC was on and started spilling it over me from head to toe and on the bed and blanket. I stayed shaking from the cold and unable to sleep although I was very exhausted.

Next night, and after the lights were turned off, another series of intimidation and harassment began. They hit the metal grid of the cell with hard objects that cause loud and disturbing sounds. In the middle of the night, other groups of masked men would come to threaten, humiliate, mock and beat. This degrading treatment continued, and the series of intimidation and torture continued on a daily basis, and especially at mid night. I stayed awake feeling restless, expecting them to come any moment at midnight, where the groups of masked men would continue with their foul methods of abuse, insult, beating and humiliation in various ways, such as standing for hours by the wall often raising my hand. I remember staying for 10 days with the same clothes without showering, until I was disgusted by my odor, so I once asked the masked policeman to allow me to shower but he did not respond. After an hour or so, another masked person wearing his civilian clothes walked into my cell and said shouting at the top of his lungs, “Get up… face the wall, didn’t you try showering in London on the street?” He then started pouring cold water over my entire body while I stood facing the wall, and then said, “Do not move”. I stayed like this for around 5 hours then another masked man came to say, “We forgot about you”. …more

US urges Bahrain to speed reforms
19 September, 2012 – Al Akhbar

The United States urged Bahrain on Wednesday to speed democratic reforms and hold meaningful talks with opposition groups to ensure stability in a strategic Gulf ally at a sensitive time.

Bahrain must halt the excessive use of force by police and prosecute security forces for alleged crimes linked to mass protests, including torture and deaths of detainees in custody, a senior US official said.

“A stable, democratic healthy Bahrain, one where human rights issues are dealt with appropriately, is a country that’s going to be a strong ally and we need that,” Michael Posner, US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, told reporters in Geneva.

Washington values the “strong security relationship” it has had for 60 years with Bahrain, home of the US Fifth Fleet, “particularly in light of things going on in the Gulf now”.

Posner did not elaborate.

Posner was to hold talks later in the day with Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa who defended the kingdom’s record at the UN Human Rights Council.

“We welcome peaceful expressions of disagreement, but not incitements to hatred and violence which damage the social fabric of a nation,” Al Khalifa told the Geneva forum, pledging that his government would pursue “unprecedented reforms”.

But Posner said progress had slowed and there had been no successful prosecutions of anyone involved in cases of torture and deaths in custody. “The fact is that a number of people, police and others who committed violations last February and March have not been held accountable,” he said. …more

Nasrallah reminded the world that the problem with America is not confined to a specific security, political or current issue, but the battle extends to wherever the Americans are engaged in dirty deeds.

Re-focusing the Conflict with Washington
By: Ibrahim al-Amin – 19 September, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Amid all the reactions to the wretched American-Israeli film, what stood out for many was the behavior of Hezbollah and its secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah.

This is not because of the rallies. These have become customary in Lebanon, whether Nasrallah calls for them directly or the marchers themselves have an occasion to mark. There was nothing new about the calls for rallies. Even those who thought it was a show of force know that. The idea, rather, was to turn out these crowds within just a few hours. The party’s followers and the supporters of the resistance treated the demonstration as being about more than just the film.

Nobody, of course, expected Nasrallah to appear in person, nor to address the crowd directly, if briefly, rather than from behind a TV screen. But those who know Nasrallah appreciate that there would have been no meaning to his call to “sacrifice ourselves for the prophet” had he remained behind the screen to evade the assassination attempt against him which Israel, along with a host of Arab and Western intelligence agencies, have been readying for years. In so doing he said nothing new to his supporters, but reaffirmed his personal position to his many enemies, who know him, yet hope his behavior will change with time.

The other point concerns the substance of what Nasrallah had to say the day before the march, when he explained the political and religious background and the behavior that prompted his stand, not toward the film itself, but toward the real sponsors of such material (though anyone seeing the dubbed portion of the film might be more outraged by the offense it causes to the intelligence and senses than the insult intended by its producers). A number of points are worthy of consideration here.

First, Nasrallah called on all Muslims – and what he clearly meant was Sunnis and Shias – to stand as they should against those who incessantly insult them and target everything they have: their sanctities, their countries, their freedom, their rights and their dignity. Here he could succeed where other Islamists failed. For Nasrallah has no favors traded with the Americans that oblige him to appease them, unlike the worldwide Muslim Brotherhood and the governments of various states that claim to rule in the name of Islam. That is why the protests that took place in several countries were not organized, resulting in acts of violence, for which there was no consensus, though some believe that Americans, citizens and officials, should be made to feel directly responsible for the evils inflicted on our world today. The “official” Islamists who rose to power on the backs of the Arab uprisings clearly showed that they are not interested in taking on the Americans or their followers. Hezbollah’s move thus flustered them, prompting some of their leaders to accuse Nasrallah of trying to commandeer the ship.

Secondly, Nasrallah reminded the world that the problem with America is not confined to a specific security, political or current issue, but the battle extends to wherever the Americans are engaged in dirty deeds. He had things to say on this in his speech on Sunday, including what he defined as higher and lower ceilings of demands. He then accompanied those demands, on Monday, with a warning signal that there would be serious consequences if the US takes its contempt for Arabs and Muslims further.

On the first point, there are no signs that the Arab and Islamist camp that colludes with the US and its Western allies is about to change its political plans. It will therefore continue using confessional and sectarian prejudices in its battle against the resistance axis (and who knows, perhaps the row with the Russians and Chinese will bring forth religious denunciations of Orthodox Christians and Buddhists too). This means, ultimately, that Hezbollah’s move will create a dissonance, which it hopes will have an effect on the general public.

On the second point, there is a new equation based on the principle of “re-focusing the conflict” with the US administration. The conflict itself is not new to anyone. But it has been renewed in light of the US’ greater involvement in denying Arab and Islamic peoples their freedom and rights, and its attempt to either contain the Arab uprisings to prevent real change as in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen and Libya, or assume control of them as in Syria, with the aim of turning the civil war of attrition into an open-ended conflict with no horizon for a political solution. It is therefore naive to think the US will be spared from paying a price for its actions.

In this regard, it seems abundantly clear, based on abundant evidence, that the US has decided to up the pace of activities aimed at isolating the countries and forces of the axis of resistance. It is spending tens of millions of dollars on programs aimed at turning collusion with itself, or even with Israel, into a normal activity, the mere exercise of a different point of view. That will never be the case, however much those who think otherwise lie and however low they stoop. Those who collaborate with the enemy, or have no problem with such collaboration, would do well to get the message before it is too late. …source

Bahrain: It is a duty on concerned institutions pressing UNESCO to protect mosques
19 September, 2012 – Bahrain Freedom Movement

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – In a meeting with representatives of religious institutions of the United Nations, and in the presence of an elite group of jurists as well as Bahraini activists, Dr Maytham al-Salman talked about certain characteristics of Bahrain notably kindness of its people and their openness to accept other thoughts.

He regarded Manama as an exemplary model with regards to religious tolerance where followers of great religions live by side for more than a century in an atmosphere saturated by respect and appreciation.

Dr al-Salman ruled out presence of a Shia-Sunni conflict in Bahrain. Instead, he argued that what is happening on the ground relates to democratic aspirations being met by an authoritarian rule.

Dr. al-Salman stressed that the people of Bahrain would reject and not remain silent in case of assault on a single church. Yet, the authorities in Bahrain had surprised the world by demolishing some 38 mosques and vandalizing other places of worship, in one of the worst sectarian crimes in modern era. He reminded the attendees of the crime of demolishing the historical (Berbaghi) mosque, which dates back to 1549.

Dr. al-Salman reiterated that it was a duty of concerned institutions to press UNESCO to offer protection to mosques and ancient buildings subjected to threats in Bahrain in order to ensure that these structures would no longer face official demolition and sabotage. He highlighted the threat when the Minister of Justice considered the demolished mosques as only 10% among the total unpermitted buildings that should be face the same. He, also, reminded the gathering that 9 of such buildings meet UNESCO’s requirements to be registered as historical structures.

Dr. al-Salman concluded his remarks by placing on emphasis on dialogue, civil equality, coexistence and democracy whilst rejecting violence, discrimination, extremism and dictatorship. …source

Bahraini regime forces attack houses of opposition leaders
19 September, 2012 – Bahrain Freedom Movement

(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) – Saudi-backed Bahraini forces have stormed the houses of two leading opposition leaders as Al Khalifa regime continues its heavy-handed handling of critics in the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom.

Bahraini troops broke into houses of Shula and Bazzaz on Tuesday and searched both residences very thoroughly.

The incidents came as an international rights group says the Bahraini regime has failed to make good on a promise to implement political reforms in the country.

“Despite the King’s promises, the reforms remain widely insufficient,” the Paris-based International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) said on Tuesday.

The report is based on more than a year of investigations into Bahraini regime’s behaviors and policies in the aftermath of the mass demonstrations that rocked the Persian Gulf state in February 2011.

FIDH urged Bahraini authorities to release all political prisoners and “to support the establishment of an international monitoring mechanism … to monitor the implementation of the recommendations” of the independent commission of inquiry.

Prominent Human rights figure, Abdulhadi al-Khawaja, and opposition leader, Hassan Mushaimaa, are among those sentenced to life in prison.

The Bahraini revolution began in mid-February 2011, when the people, inspired by the popular revolutions that toppled the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt, started holding massive demonstrations.

The Bahraini government promptly launched a brutal crackdown on the peaceful protests and called in Saudi-led Arab forces from neighboring Persian Gulf states.

Dozens of people have been killed in the crackdown, and the security forces have arrested hundreds, including doctors and nurses accused of treating injured revolutionaries.

A report published by the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry in November 2011 found that the Al Khalifa regime had used excessive force in the crackdown and accused Manama of torturing political activists, politicians, and protesters.

The protesters say they will continue holding anti-regime demonstrations until their demand for the establishment of a democratically elected government is met.

CNN and the business of state-sponsored TV news
Glenn Greenwald – 4 September, 2012 – The Guardian

CNNi’s pursuit of and reliance on revenue from Middle East regimes increased significantly after the 2008 financial crisis, which caused the network to suffer significant losses in corporate sponsorships. It thus pursued all-new, journalistically dubious ways to earn revenue from governments around the world. Bahrain has been one of the most aggressive government exploiters of the opportunities presented by CNNi.

These arrangements extend far beyond standard sponsorship agreements for advertising of the type most major media outlets feature. CNNi produces those programs in an arrangement it describes as “in association with” the government of a country, and offers regimes the ability to pay for specific programs about their country. These programs are then featured as part of CNNi’s so-called “Eye on” series (“Eye on Georgia”, “Eye on the Phillipines”, “Eye on Poland”), or “Marketplace Middle East”, all of which is designed to tout the positive economic, social and political features of that country.

The disclosure for such arrangements is often barely visible. This year, for instance, CNNi produced an “Eye on Lebanon” series, which that nation’s tourist minister boasted was intended “to market Lebanon as a tourism destination”. He said “his ministry was planning a large promotional campaign dubbed ‘Eye on Lebanon’ to feature on CNN network.”

Yet one strains to find the faded, small disclosure print on this “Eye on Lebanon” page, even if one is specifically searching for it. To the average viewer unaware of these government sponsorships, it appears to be standard “reporting” from the network. …source

@CarlosLatuff

Regime forces use toxic gas, kill man in Bahrain
19 September, 2012 – PressTV

A 59-year-old Bahraini man has been killed due to the inhalation of toxic gas fired by Saudi-backed regime forces in Bahrain, Press TV reports.

Haj Hassan Abdullah Ali died on Tuesday when Bahraini security forces fired tear gas at his home in the northeastern island of Sitra.

Abdullah is the latest victim of regime brutality against the peaceful anti-regime protesters in Bahrain.

Meanwhile, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has stated that the Manama regime has failed to make good on a promise to implement political reforms in the country.

“Despite the king’s promises, the reforms remain widely insufficient,” the Paris-based rights group said on September 18.

Bahrain’s revolution began in mid-February 2011, when the people, inspired by the popular revolutions that toppled the dictators of Tunisia and Egypt, started holding massive demonstrations.

The Bahraini government promptly launched a brutal crackdown on the peaceful protests and called in Saudi-led Arab forces from neighboring Persian Gulf states to help crack down on the demonstrations.

The protesters say they will continue holding anti-regime demonstrations until their demand for the establishment of a democratically elected government is met. …source

Bahrain reforms insufficient: rights groups
19 September, 2012 – Bahrain Freedom Movement

Manama: Bahrain has failed to fulfil promises of reform since last year’s unrest in the kingdom, denying even the basic rights to most of its people, the International Federation for Human Rights has said.

“Despite the King’s promises, the reforms remain widely insufficient,” the Paris-based FIDH, a group of human rights organisations, said in its latest report

The report is based on more than a year of investigations into government behaviours and policies in the aftermath of the mass demonstrations.

King Hamad Bin Eisa Al Khalifa promised change in line with the recommendations of an independent commission of inquiry into the unrest, but has been repeatedly accused by international rights groups of failing to fulfil the most significant reforms.

“While certain efforts have been made by Bahraini authorities to address many of the [ commission’s] recommendations, the report concludes that the government continues to deny a majority of Bahraini’s fundamental rights on a daily basis,” said FIDH President Souhayr Belhassen.

She further accused authorities of using “governmental structures to attack or control the population rather than protect it, creating an atmosphere of mistrust and fear among the population”.

FIDH further called on the Bahraini authorities to release all current rights prisoners and “to support the establishment of an international monitoring mechanism to be set-up… to monitor the implementation of the recommendations” of the independent commission of inquiry. …more

Bahrain pledges improved human rights situation
19 September, 2012 – UN Radio

The Kingdom of Bahrain is to compensate families of protesters killed during last years anti-government protests.

Bahrain Minister for Foreign Affairs Shaikh Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohamed Al Khalifa says 17 of the victims have already been compensated to the tune of 2.6 million dollars.

Addressing the UN Human Rights Council, the minister said legal reforms were already under way in the justice system to ensure fairness, prevent torture, and protect the rights of women, children and minority groups.

He said Bahrain had agreed to implement 158 out of the 176 recommendations made by the Human Rights Council during the country’s second Universal Periodic Review.

“There is no limit in our effort to bring about positive, lasting change in the human rights situation in Bahrain. We have heard criticism that we are dragging our feet. It is true that significant challenges remain. Reforming government structures and restoring the culture of tolerance and understanding in all aspects of civic life take time. It is difficult. Challenges also reside outside government. Some unfortunately believe that continued unrest on the street afford them a political advantage. They fuel the flames of extremism and violence. They reject dialogue. They should not be encouraged.” …source

U.S. urges its ally Bahrain to act on rights reforms
Stephanie Nebehay – Reuters – 19 September, 2012

GENEVA (Reuters) – Western countries led by the United States called on Bahrain on Wednesday to investigate alleged crimes committed by security forces during mass protests and to allow freedom of expression.

Bahraini Foreign Minister Khalid Bin Ahmed Bin Mohammed Al Khalifa defended his government’s record at the U.N. Human Rights Council and said it would pursue “unprecedented reforms”.

“We welcome peaceful expressions of disagreement, but not incitements to hatred and violence which damage the social fabric of a nation,” Al Khalifa told the Geneva forum.

But the United States urged Bahrain, where the U.S. Fifth Fleet is based, to reform its police and security forces, allow free trade unions and dismiss criminal charges against all who have taken part in peaceful political expression.

“While official media have reported some initial progress on accountability, including charges brought against police officers announced earlier this week, much more needs to be done,” Michael Posner, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, said in a speech.

“Today Bahrain is at a crossroads,” he declared. Bahrain had shown “great courage” last year in setting up and accepting the recommendations of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry led by Egyptian-American jurist Cherif Bassiouni.

“LOSING MOMENTUM”

“Ten months after the release of the report, however, we remain concerned that the government is losing momentum on implementation,” Posner said.

Pursuing reforms would help create an environment where “meaningful dialogue” can take place.

The small Gulf kingdom has been in political turmoil since a protest movement dominated by majority Shi’ite Muslims erupted in February 2011 during a wave of revolts against authoritarian governments across the Arab world.

The Sunni Muslim ruling Al Khalifa family put down the uprising with martial law, troops from Saudi Arabia and police from the United Arab Emirates, but unrest has resumed, with almost daily clashes between Shi’ites and police.

On September 4, a Bahraini civilian court upheld jail sentences of between five and 25 years against leaders of last year’s pro-democracy uprising, a decision that could further ignite unrest.

“Activists are not criminals,” Nada Dhaif, who was originally sentenced to 15 years for helping organize a medical tent for protesters, said in a speech to the U.N. session on Wednesday. She urged the release of all political prisoners.

Maryam Al Khawaja, acting president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, said violations remained widespread.

“Use of excessive force is still a tool for suppressing daily protests, with unprecedented use of tear gas during protests and inside residential areas,” she said, adding that arbitrary arrests and beating of detainees continued.

Britain and Austria demanded further reforms during the debate, part of the regular review of all U.N. member states.

“Accountability for those who committed crimes, including security forces is vital,” said Britain’s ambassador, Karen Pierce. “We share concerns on sentencing and we emphasize the right to freedom of expression and peaceful protests.”

Britain also expected progress on the “political track”.

Saudi Arabia’s delegation said Bahrain’s government was trying to strengthen its human rights bodies and implement recommendations by the independent commission.

Al Khalifa said scores of police personnel had been investigated and 23 prosecutions initiated, resulting in three convictions and sentences so far. Some $2.6 million compensation had been paid to the families of 17 deceased victims.

“Let us follow the path of dialogue, not propaganda,” he said, before abruptly cancelling a planned news conference.

…more

Panetta called the demonstrations “convulsions” related to the political tumult in a region that had cast off dictators for democracy. The protests, Panetta argued, were as unreflective of popular Middle Eastern opinion as “a Ku Klux Klan demonstration” in the United States.

‘A Whole New Era’
17 September, 2012 – Foreign Policy

FP Interview with Leon Paneta

In his Pentagon office last Friday evening, a smiling but tired-looking Leon Panetta drank a Sprite on ice and sat for an extensive interview with Foreign Policy, in which the defense secretary spoke publicly for the first time about last week’s remarkable, unexpected protests across the Middle East. Even as wall-to-wall media coverage showed angry young men scaling U.S. embassy walls, setting cars and buildings aflame, and hoisting al Qaeda’s black flag, Panetta called the demonstrations “convulsions” related to the political tumult in a region that had cast off dictators for democracy. The protests, Panetta argued, were as unreflective of popular Middle Eastern opinion as “a Ku Klux Klan demonstration” in the United States.

But the prospects for more unrest are widespread, Panetta acknowledged, saying the military was positioning forces to respond to as many as 18 sites of concern — far more than the two embassies in Libya and Yemen that 100 Marines have so far been hurriedly deployed to protect. Just a year ago, Panetta hailed the impending “strategic defeat” of al Qaeda; in the interview, he clarified to say he was talking about “the al Qaeda that attacked the United States of America on 9/11,” while its affiliate groups are in fact now growing in Yemen, Somalia, and across North Africa.

In a normal week, the top national security news would have been the public row between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Obama administration officials over whether to set “red lines” that would trigger military strikes to halt Iran’s nuclear program. But Panetta dismissed Netanyahu’s heated rhetoric, repeated on this weekend’s U.S. talk shows, about the need for such “red lines” in the effort to pressure Iran: “The fact is, look, presidents of the United States, prime ministers of Israel or any other country — leaders of these countries don’t have, you know, a bunch of little red lines that determine their decisions.”

On Afghanistan, where another deadly insider attack struck Helmand’s Camp Bastion on Friday, Panetta acknowledged that some of the toughest fighting is yet to come in the East, before security in the final sections of the country is handed over to Afghans by the end of 2014. As for whether the White House will leave a robust enough post-surge force for two more years of fighting, Panetta said, “My view is that the president of the United States will rely a great deal on the recommendations of General Allen as to what he needs to accomplish the mission.”

The next day, Panetta departed for Japan and China, where he said he expected to present himself as a mediator in the dispute that has once again heated up over islands that both nations claim. Interestingly, Panetta said that he had had a good intelligence relationship with China when he was CIA director, which gives him hope that he can continue to thaw relations between the Pentagon and the People’s Liberation Army. When asked if that meant that China was not America’s top geopolitical foe, Panetta coyly replied, “I’m not going to get into the Romney game.” …more THE INTERVIEW

Bahrain denies people “basic rights”: rights groups
18 September, 2012 – Al Akhbar

Bahrain has failed to fulfill promises of reform since last year’s brutal crackdown on the kingdom’s pro-democracy protests, denying even the basic rights to most of its people, the International Federation for Human Rights said Tuesday.

“Despite the King’s promises, the reforms remain widely insufficient,” the Paris-based FIDH, a group of human rights organizations, said in its latest report, “Silencing Dissent: A Policy of Systematic Repression.”

The report is based on more than a year of investigations into government behaviors and policies in the aftermath of the mass demonstrations that rocked the kingdom’s capital Manama in February 2011 which were later crushed by security forces.

King Hamad promised change in line with the recommendations of an independent commission of inquiry into his government’s bloody crackdown, but has been repeatedly accused by international rights groups of failing to fulfill the most significant reforms.

“While certain efforts have been made by Bahraini authorities to address many of the (the commission’s) recommendations, the report concludes that the government continues to deny a majority of Bahraini’s fundamental rights on a daily basis,” said FIDH President Souhayr Belhassen.

She further accused authorities of using “governmental structures to attack or control the population rather than protect it, creating an atmosphere of mistrust and fear among the population.”

The report said that about 80 people have been killed since the protests first broke out on February 14, 2011. At least 34 of them have died since the commission of inquiry released its findings last November.

To date, dozens of Bahraini rights activists and medics who treated injured protester remain in prison, some facing life sentences for their participation in protests against the hard line monarchy.

FIDH further called on the Bahraini authorities to release all current rights prisoners and “to support the establishment of an international monitoring mechanism to be set-up… to monitor the implementation of the recommendations” of the independent commission of inquiry.

Other international human rights organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have also condemned the kingdom for its brutal crackdown and ruthless imprisonment of dissidents. …more

New BCHR Report: No Progress, No Peace
18 September, 2012 – Bahrina Center for Human Rights

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights is committed to documenting the ongoing human rights violations, and to provide a clear record of the violent and repressive conditions that characterize life for many of the people in Bahrain. This report is the third published by the BCHR in the wake of the initial BICI report, and covers the period from June 18th to September 16th, 2012.

The findings of this report are a clear indication that the authorities in Bahrain due to the lack of international consequences have no incentive to stop the human rights violations. Broader and more decisive international influence must be leverged against the regime if meaningful change is to be realized for the people of Bahrain. …source

See full BCHR Report HERE

No to War with Iran
By Adil E. Shamoo – 18 September, 2012 – FPIF

Israel and the United States have waged a campaign of cyberwarfare and covert operations against Iran for the past several years. If Iran had taken similar actions toward Israel or the United States, we would have considered it a declaration of open war.

Iran is working hard to develop nuclear capability—if not an actual weapon—despite its repeated denials. After all, Iran is surrounded by the U.S. military might, and its primary regional rival—Israel—has possessed a sizable nuclear arsenal for decades. Nuclear proliferation is never desirable, but for Iran it could fit with a perfectly rational strategic calculus.

Recent U.S. and Israeli wars in the region drive this point home emphatically. In fact, these conflicts—variously pitting the strongest military in the world and the strongest in the Middle East against a host of weaker rivals—cannot rightly be called wars. They are massacres. The kill ratio of the powerful versus the weak fluctuates from 10 to 1 to over one 100 to 1. Take the most glaring example, the 2008-2009 Israeli invasion of Gaza. Gazans suffered 1,500 deaths and 5,000 wounded compared to just 12 Israeli deaths.

Elsewhere, Americans were coerced into war with Iraq by the myth of a mushroom cloud and the farcical notion of eliminating terrorists in Afghanistan. These manufactured reasons for war increased anti-American hatred and strengthened the terrorists’ reach.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has changed the conversation in the past year or so from U.N. sanctions against Iran to war with Iran. He wants a deadline for Iran’s noncompliance in stopping any uranium enrichment for any purpose—a violation of Iran’s rights under the Non-Proliferation Treaty, which permits peaceful enrichment. If the election-season statements of both Barack Obama and Mitt Romney are any indication, Netanyahu has succeeded in changing the U.S. conversation on Iran as well to put military action on the front burner.

Netanyahu is still not satisfied and wants military action now, not eventually. Netanyahu surrogate Danny Danon, Deputy Speaker of the Israeli Knesset, is using the recent senseless killing of the U.S. ambassador in Libya and the demonstrations in Cairo against a film insulting the prophet Muhammad as another reason why we should attack Iran. This is what my Jewish friends call chutzpah.

Given the threats to regional peace posed by U.S.-Israeli dominance in the Middle East, some scholars have even suggested that a stronger Iran could preserve stability in the region by counterbalancing the aggressive Washington-Tel Aviv axis. …more

Bahrain, UAE probe suspicious shipments headed to Iran
18 Septemebr, 2012 – By Louis Charbonneau – Reuters

UNITED NATIONS: Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates have confiscated a number of items Iran may have sought for its nuclear program, a development that diplomats said showed how enforcement of U.N . sanctions against Tehran is steadily improving.

One of the items heading to Iran but confiscated by Bahrain was carbon fiber, the diplomats told Reuters, a dual-use material U.N. experts have said would be crucial if Iran was to develop more advanced nuclear enrichment centrifuge technology.

Bahrain’s and UAE’s confidential reports to the U.N. Security Council’s Iran sanctions committee are politically significant, envoys said on condition of anonymity, since they highlight how more and more states are enforcing the sanctions and making it increasingly difficult for Tehran to flout them.

“The fact that these two countries are now taking steps to enforce the sanctions and reporting those steps to the U.N. is remarkable by itself,” a senior Security Council diplomat told Reuters. “It shows that the U.N. sanctions regime can work. UAE has been one of Iran’s enablers. Iran’s becoming more isolated.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Sunday that Tehran was close to being able to build a nuclear bomb, and U.S. President Barack Obama is under pressure ahead of November’s election from political opponents who argue that sanctions are not doing enough to stop Iran building a bomb.

The emirate Dubai has long been one of Iran’s main transit hubs because of its busy port and position as a key financial center. Th e Carnegie Endowment for International Peace think-tank wrote in July 2011 th at Dubai was “a top source of Iranian imports and a key transshipment point for goods – legal and illegal – destined for the Islamic Republic.”

But pressure from the United States and other Western powers to crack down on Iranian sanctions violations has borne some fruit in the form of redoubled efforts to enforce the sanctions and report to the sanctions committee, Western envoys say.

The Security Council imposed four rounds of U.N. sanctions on Tehran between 2006 and 2010 to punish it for defying Security Council demands that it suspend uranium enrichment and other sensitive nuclear activities.

Tehran rejects charges it is developing the capability to produce atomic weapons. Iran says its nuclear program is intended solely for the peaceful production of electricity.

UAE officials insist that the country’s policy has always been to fully abide by U.N. regulations and cooperate with the sanctions committee. A UAE official who declined to be identified played down the reports to the Iran committee.

“All incidents were reported at the time when they happened, and there has been no incident in more than a year,” the official told Reuters. He did not comment further.

Bahrain’s mission to the United Nations in New York did not reply to a request for comment, and officials in Bahrain were not immediately available to comment.

CARBON FIBER

Bahrain has become increasingly annoyed with what it says are attempts by Iran to undermine its government. The Sunni-led island, along with fellow Gulf Arab countries, have accused Shi ‘ite-led Iran of being behind the unrest in the region. Tehran denies fomenting problems in Bahrain.

U.N. diplomats say that some countries could also do more to enforce the sanctions. They say it is important for China, Russia, India, Turkey and others to counter Iranian attempts to use their territory to circumvent international sanctions.

The UAE reported to the council’s Iran sanctions committee that it had made some 15 interceptions of suspicious items bound for Iran over the last three years, diplomats said.

“Some of those items have been cleared as OK but some remain under investigation,” a U.N. diplomatic source told Reuters.

Diplomats said that reports from the UAE, Bahrain and other countries would likely be mentioned in a briefing later this week for the 15-nation council by Colombia’s U.N. envoy Nestor Osorio, who chairs the Iran sanctions committee.

Osorio’s report was expected to leave out the names of the countries that submitted reports to the committee in keeping with council tradition on such delicate matters, envoys said.

In some cases, the UAE returned seized items to the original shipping countries, diplomats said. Among the firms involved in the procurement efforts the UAE uncovered was Kalaye Electric Co. in Tehran, the former center of Iran’s enrichment centrifuge research and development program, envoys said.

…more

Libyan brigade warns of “inferno” if U.S. intervenes
18 September, 2012 – By Suleiman al-Khalidi – Reuters

BENGHAZI, Libya: A Libyan Salafi group which has denied it was involved in a deadly assault on the American consulate in Benghazi said on Tuesday Libya would turn into “an inferno for U.S. troops” if the U.S. military retaliated.

Yousef Jehani, a senior member of Ansar al-Sharia, told Reuters that the armed group, which espouses an austere form of Islam, wanted to avoid confrontation but was ready for a showdown if Washington acted “foolishly”.

Any U.S. military intervention could push Libyans to wage a holy war, or “jihad”, to defend their nation, said Jehani, whose group is a powerful force in Benghazi, a stronghold for Islamists and cradle of the revolution which toppled Muammar Gaddafi last year.

“If one U.S. soldier arrives, not for the purpose of defending the embassy, but to repeat what happened in Iraq or Afghanistan, be sure that all battalions in Libya and all Libyans will put aside all their differences and rally behind one goal of hitting America and Americans,” Jehani said.

The consulate attack was part of wider anti-American protests that erupted across the Middle East over an obscure, amateurish U.S.-made video that insulted the Prophet Mohammad.

Libya closed its air space over Benghazi airport temporarily due to heavy anti-aircraft fire by Islamists aiming at U.S. reconnaissance drones flying over the city, days after the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans died in the attack.

The closure of the airport prompted speculation that the United States was deploying special forces in preparation for an attack against the assailants of the consulate. Two U.S. warships headed for the coast off Libya.

DRONES OVER BENGHAZI

A Libyan official said the spy planes flew over the embassy compound and the city, where Ansar al-Sharia controls a major security compound and a hospital, taking photos and inspecting locations of radical militant groups suspected of planning and staging the attack on the U.S. consulate.

Jehani said senior commanders within pro-government paramilitary units had exonerated Ansar al-Sharia and none of its members was among 50 people the Libyan authorities had identified as having been involved in the attack.

“We are against the killing of the ambassador as he has not committed a crime to be killed for but if America uses this as an excuse, Libya will be an inferno for U.S. troops,” Jehani said, adding that his group was “highly” prepared.

Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, some Libyan officials and foreign analysts have pointed the finger at the Salafi group.

Ansar al-Sharia is part of a wider Salafi movement whose members try to model their lives on the early followers of the Prophet Mohammad. Not all Salafis, however, embrace the violent militancy of groups such as al Qaeda that have a similar purist vision of Islam.

Ansar al-Sharia, which incurred persecution for opposing Gaddafi’s rule, has been accused by pro-government paramilitary units of involvement in several violent incidents in Libya’s second city in recent months. The eastern city harbours deep grievances over western Libya’s control of oil pumped from the east.

A year after the end of Gaddafi’s four decades of one-man rule, when many state institutions withered, armed militias spawned by the revolution still provide what passes for official security – when they are not threatening it.

Libya’s new leaders, backed by their Western allies, have been gambling they can forge a political consensus which will seize power back from the heavily-armed revolutionaries in the streets before rivalries spin irretrievably out of control.
…more

The “Secret” Revolution That Could Set the Middle East Aflame
by Nick Turse – 18 September, 2012 – TomDispatch

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was unequivocal in her condemnation. “We have confronted the Russians about stopping their continued arms shipments to Syria,” she said in remarks earlier this year. “They have, from time to time, said that we shouldn’t worry; everything they’re shipping is unrelated to their actions internally. That’s patently untrue.”

Earlier this year, armored vehicles patrolled the streets after Bahrain’s security forces battled protesters on the first anniversary of the 2011 uprising. Next year, thanks to the Obama administration, they may have brand new American Humvees on hand for the crackdown. Nick Turse

Terror and Teargas on the Streets of Bahrain
The Revolution Will Not Be Televised (in the U.S. at Least)
by Jen Marlowe – 18 September, 2012 – TomDispatch

Jihan Kazerooni and I drove past scores of armed riot police on Budaiya highway as her iPhone buzzed non-stop: phone calls, Skype calls and, incessantly, Twitter. I had wondered what the phrase “Twitter revolution” really meant when I heard it used in connection with Iran in 2009 and Egypt in 2011. Here, in the small Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain, I was beginning to grasp the concept.

I was in that country for three weeks as a part of the Witness Bahrain initiative, a group of internationals seeking to document and expose human rights abuses perpetrated by the regime against protesters and activists. Aside from brief spurts of coverage, the crisis in Bahrain had largely been ignored by the U.S. media.

Perhaps the lack of coverage of the predominantly Shi’a uprising against an increasingly repressive Sunni monarchy can be explained, in part, by this: Washington considers that monarchy its close ally; Bahrain is the home of the Navy’s 5th Fleet, and the beneficiary of U.S. arms sales. Perhaps it has to do with the U.S.-Saudi friendship, and the increasing tension between the U.S. and Iran. Bahrain has been portrayed as a battleground for influence between neighboring Saudi Arabia (a supporter of the monarchy) and nearby majority Shi’a Iran.

Ignoring the revolution underway there and its demands for freedom and democracy is, however, perilous. If activists move from largely peaceful demonstrations toward the use of violence, Bahrain could prove the powder keg that might set the Persian Gulf aflame. Peaceful activists like Jihan currently hold sway, but given the brutality I witnessed, it’s unclear how long the Bahraini revolution will remain nonviolent.

Jihan took me under her wing, introducing me to dozens of Bahrainis who had been directly affected by the regime’s crackdown on the pro-democracy uprising. They were not difficult to find. There was someone in nearly every Shi’a family, Jihan’s included, who had been fired from his or her job, arrested, injured, or killed. Sunni opposition activists (though much fewer in number) had been harshly targeted as well.

Hitting the Road

Jihan, her hair tucked underneath a brown silk scarf and wearing fashionable sunglasses, opened an app on her phone as we tried to reach the march that had been called by a coalition of opposition parties.

“I’ll tweet that I am here in Budaiya Road, and there are no checkpoints in the area, but there are lots of riot police.” A new tweet came through before Jihan could finish composing hers. She scanned it quickly as she skillfully guided her car around a traffic circle. “Okay. The attack started,” she said. “It’s just at the next roundabout. We might be able to see it from the car.” Jihan rolled down the window. “Can you smell the tear gas?” she asked, began coughing, and immediately rolled her window up again.

As we continued our drive, grey clouds of tear gas billowed up from village after village, Jihan constantly checking her Twitter feed and rattling off the names of areas currently under assault: “A protest in Dair has been attacked and in Tashan as well. A’ali, also the same. Now they are attacking the women in the north of Bilad.”

New tweets buzzed. “Lots of injuries, actually, a woman has been injured, I’ll show you the picture…” She turned her phone my way, allowing me to glimpse a photograph of a bloody limb. “It’s her arm,” Jihan said, telling me that she suspected the injury was from “a sound bomb or a tear gas canister.”

The Evolution of an Activist

Jihan had not started out as an activist. She had been an investment banker, shopping in Bahrain’s high-end malls and socializing with friends. Demonstrations erupted at the Pearl Roundabout — with its imposing 300-foot monument of six arches holding a pearl aloft — in the capital city, Manama, on February 14, 2011, and only grew larger by the day as casualties and fatalities mounted. Still, she did not participate.

She had been largely ignorant of the protesters’ complaints: the same prime minister had governed for 42 years; the majority Shi’a community faced discrimination from the ruling Sunnis, evidenced most clearly by the fact that they couldn’t join the country’s military or its police. Instead, the government was importing foreigners from Pakistan, Yemen, Jordan, and Syria, among other countries, to fill the ranks of the security services, often offering them Bahraini citizenship (which also threatened to alter Sunni-Shi’a demographics). The royal family had taken large swathes of public land for private benefit.

Jihan instead believed the version of the uprising being offered on state-controlled television. In that narrative, the protesters were not peaceful, but armed and dangerous. They had, the government claimed, stolen blood-bags from the hospital and were pouring that blood on themselves to feign injuries for the media. Force was being applied by the regime rarely and only when it was absolutely necessary to disperse those demonstrating. Government spokespeople claimed Shi’a doctors at Salmaniya Hospital were taking patients and co-workers hostage.

On the morning of March 13th, Jihan received a few text messages on her way to her office, appealing for people’s presence at the Pearl Roundabout because government forces were attacking. She decided to go and see for herself what was taking place.

What she saw shook her to the core: unarmed protesters — women and children among them — chanting for democracy, freedom, and equality as riot police fired bullets, birdshot, and tear gas canisters directly into the crowd. Jihan stood to the side, crying, as women around her wailed and read aloud from Qur’an. …more

Washington’s Double Standard
Ted Galen Carpenter – 18 September, 2012 – National Interest

Washington’s reaction to the surge of antiregime movements in North Africa and the Middle East has varied markedly. U.S. leaders did not hesitate to back so-called prodemocracy movements in countries that are adversaries of the United States. Both the Obama administration and Congress issued blistering condemnations of the dictatorial regimes in Iran, Libya and Syria for thwarting the democratic aspirations of their people and brutally suppressing peaceful (and many not-so-peaceful) demonstrations. In the case of Libya, the United States and its NATO allies went beyond verbal support for the insurgents to launch air strikes and provide other crucial assistance to help overthrow Muammar el-Qaddafi. A similar course is increasingly likely with respect to Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria.

The U.S. response to movements that targeted dictatorships friendly to the United States has been quite different. Washington dithered about whether to withdraw its support from clients in such places as Tunisia, Yemen and Egypt. Similar reluctance is evident with respect to the simmering conflict in Bahrain. Charges of U.S. hypocrisy are mounting as the Sunni ruling family intensifies its repression of mostly Shia political opponents. The Bahraini government is fast becoming a major embarrassment and potential geopolitical headache for the United States. That is not a minor consideration, since Bahrain is the home port of the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

Bahrain is perfectly situated to be a pawn in the Sunni-Shia struggle for dominance in the Middle East. The Sunni monarchy of the small island nation in the Persian Gulf rules a population that is nearly 70 percent Shiites, and stark discrimination against the latter is evident in nearly every aspect of life. Tehran openly backs Shia factions in Bahrain, while Saudi Arabia is Bahraini king Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa’s primary patron.

When massive antiregime demonstrations erupted in Bahrain’s capital, Manama, in early 2011, government security forces responded with volleys of live ammunition, killing several dozen demonstrators. Despite that crackdown, insurgents might well have toppled the monarchy if Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies had not intervened with two thousand troops in March 2011.

The Obama administration’s tepid response was in marked contrast to the vitriolic condemnation of similar crackdowns in Iran, Syria and Libya. The number of dead during the initial demonstrations in Bahrain and throughout the following months was relatively modest; estimates range from sixty to one hundred. But Bahrain’s population is very small—some 1,235,000 people. On a per capita basis, the fatalities were comparable to or greater than those in other Mideast countries. Moreover, the number of dead is not the only measure of the monarchy’s brutality. Bahrain’s security forces have jailed hundreds of regime opponents—including both domestic and foreign journalists who dared produce accounts critical of the government. Amnesty International and other human-rights organizations also have documented numerous instances of torture.

Yet Washington’s response to the crackdown and even the Saudi-led intervention has been extremely mild. The administration’s official statement did not even specifically criticize Saudi Arabia for sending troops. Instead, the State Department criticized intervention by the kingdom’s “neighbors” (apparently meaning both Iran and Saudi Arabia) as “alarming” and cautioned all players in the region to keep “their own agendas” out of the struggle between the monarchy and its opponents. Such U.S. evenhandedness also applied to the domestic struggle itself. While cautioning the Bahraini monarchy that a security crackdown was not an answer to demands for political and economic reform, the State Department also admonished the opposition “you cannot use violence. You should return to the negotiating table.”

Such a posture of moral equivalence was strikingly different from the U.S. stance toward the turmoil in Iran, Syria and Libya. That double standard became even more apparent in May 2012, when despite continuing credible reports of arbitrary imprisonment and torture of regime opponents, Washington announced the resumption of arms sales to the Bahraini government. Michael Hayworth, a spokesman for Amnesty International, stated that “the suggestion by the U.S. that attempts at reform are happening is insulting to Bahraini activists who continue to call and bleed for human rights.”…more