Funny how we don’t condemn Bahrain for torturing their citizens and running a brutal dictatorship. I wonder why.
This is the home of the headquarters for Commander, United States Naval Forces Central Command (COMUSNAVCENT) / United States Fifth Fleet (COMFIFTHFLT), and around 6,000 United States military personnel.
Inspired by the regional Arab Spring, Bahrain’s Shia majority started large protests against its Sunni rulers in early 2011. The government initially allowed protests following a pre-dawn raid on protesters camped in Pearl Roundabout. A month later it requested security assistance from Saudi Arabia and other GCC countries and declared a three-month state of emergency.
The government then launched a crackdown on the opposition that included conducting thousands of arrests and systematic torture. Almost daily clashes between protesters and security forces led to dozens of deaths. Protests, sometimes staged by opposition parties, are ongoing. More than 80 civilians and 13 policemen were killed as of March 2014. The lack of coverage by Arab media in the Persian Gulf as compared to other Arab Spring uprisings has sparked several controversies.
But, but, but they’re our friends, the Bahrainis! We can’t meddle in how they run their country! They are helping us keep the world free for democracy and human rights and religious freedom!!!!
Of course, the oil must flow. And we need a place to park our military, that too, preferably out of CONUS.
And we wonder why the US has such a low standing in the world.
Why are they flying the flag of Palestine?