Coming days critical for future of Bahrain

cb Editor Note: There have been a “rash of stories” like the one below from the western media in the days that have lead up to the so called National Dialogue. It appears they are complicit reclaiming a narrative that puts King Hamad in the drivers seat. There has been little to no reporting in the western media about the thousands who have protested against the so called “national dialogue” and were attending the funeral of the latest to be slain in Hamad’s bloody reign. To be clear the “national dialogue” is solely at the design, control and construct of King Hamad, the Shura Council under Hamad’s control has veto power over anything the “dialogue” yields. The “national dialogue” has emerged as a propaganda tool with a hand picked “opposition” at the table as benefactors to the new power structure to be brokered by Hamad.

Much of the opposition remain in Hamad’s prisons with disposition of their appeals and trials postponed until the fall. Hamad seeks to use the detained as hostages to help protect his “national dialogue” sanctioned by the West. Hamad will lead the families of the detained on under the pretense that if all goes well for Hamad’s Bahrain in the coming months perhaps the arbitrary and brutal sentences and charge will be thrown out or reduced. As the opposition, those who reject Hamad’s table of delusion and illusion rise up this summer, Hamad and the West will find renewed justification for the more brutality and more reasons to back away from democracy. This same style of retreat from democracy will occur through out the Arab world for nascent democracies that would prove problematic for Military strategies against Iran or that otherwise threaten US hegemonic aims in the Middle East and North Africa.

The process and the end game are anything but decided and it will prove a long hot and difficult summer for the opposition and the West, which it seems has been grossly under estimated the opposition probably though incompetence and reliance on the inept bureaucracies used to effect manage and interpret change in a volatile world. While the Western spin might make the brutality more palatable for the poll numbers and reelection bids it will do little to change a growing catastrophe in Bahrain or the region. …disturbingly 1979 Iran keeps ringing in my ears? …could it be this is truly the aim of the West, a proxy country to help justify and launch a war against Iran – a sort of sick vindication for 1979 Iran, old warriors and structural demons redeeming regrets with echoes of, could of, should of, would of, scenario against Khomeini’s successful revolution in 1979? what a tidy but delusional package of victories the West could have – scary stuff, very disturbing.

Coming days critical for future of Bahrain
Published: July 4, 2011 at 12:30 PM

MANAMA, Bahrain, July 4 (UPI) — The next few days and months are crucial in helping Bahrain find a solution to solving its problems, the head of National Dialogue says.

National Dialogue begins Tuesday and Issa Abdul Rahman, who heads the organization, said some 300 people from all walks of life will take part to suggest solutions to the country’s problems, Gulf News reported.

“Since February we have had many unfortunate incidents so now we have reached a stage where we need to move forward and focus on the future,” Rahman said. “We have to find a solution for the future of Bahrain.”

Political dissent earlier this year left at least 30 people dead and hundreds injured when government troops opened fire on unarmed civilians. Curfews and other strict security measures were lifted last month.

“I think the mistakes that were made will be identified by the international independent committee that was formed recently,” Rahman said. “The experts that are on the committee have a high profile in international organizations. They will be able to identity who made mistakes and prevent them from happening again.”

Rahman said it is important that issues be correctly identified and addressed.

“We didn’t want to have a National Dialogue and then discover in a few months that not all the areas of concern were not addressed,” Rahman said. …more