President Obama Is Wrong To Approve The Saudi Invasion of Bahrain: U.S. Wavers on "Regime Change"

[Better Believe It]

U.S. Wrong to Approve Saudi Invasion of Bahrain
By Amitabh Pal
Managing Editor of The Progressive
March 16, 2011

The Obama Administration is complicit in the Saudi invasion of a neighboring sovereign country.

The Saudi incursion into Bahrain was apparently requested by the ruling Bahraini monarchy—to protect itself against its own people. Imagine if East Germany’s Erich Honecker had successfully requested a Soviet invasion in 1989. Or, to take a more contemporary example, imagine if Muammar Qaddhafi got one of his very few friends to invade in order to defeat the armed rebellion. And then imagine the global outrage.

The Saudi venture happened after the day after Secretary of Defense Robert Gates supped with the Bahraini ruling family in a show of support, neglecting to meet with pro-democracy protesters who had been demonstrating since mid-February by the thousands.

The ruling family “probably bugged that they need to use force to suppress this,” Husain Abdulla, director of Americans for Democracy and Human Rights in Bahrain, told Democracy Now! “And next day, immediately after he left, the Saudi troops came to Bahrain. This is no coincidence. This is all planned.”

Please read the full article at:

http://www.progressive.org/ap031611.html


U.S. Defence Secretary Robert Gates is escorted by Bahrain's Minister of State for Defence Mohammad bin Abdullah Al-Khalifa, centre right, on arrival in Manama on Friday.




U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates, left, is greeted by Bahrain’s King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa at Sakhir Palace in Manama Saturday, March 12, 2011.


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U.S. Wavers on 'Regime Change'
By ADAM ENTOUS And JULIAN E. BARNES
March 5, 2011

After weeks of internal debate on how to respond to uprisings in the Arab world, the Obama administration is settling on a Middle East strategy: help keep longtime allies who are willing to reform in power, even if that means the full democratic demands of their newly emboldened citizens might have to wait.

Instead of pushing for immediate regime change—as it did to varying degrees in Egypt and now Libya—the U.S. is urging protesters from Bahrain to Morocco to work with existing rulers toward what some officials and diplomats are now calling "regime alteration."

The approach has emerged amid furious lobbying of the administration by Arab governments, who were alarmed that President Barack Obama had abandoned Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and worried that, if the U.S. did the same to the beleaguered king of Bahrain, a chain of revolts could sweep them from power, too, and further upend the region's stability.

Arab diplomats believe the push worked. Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton emerged as leading voices inside the administration urging greater U.S. support for the Bahraini king coupled with a reform agenda that Washington insisted would be have to be credible to street protesters. Instead of backing cries for the king's removal, Mr. Obama asked protesters to negotiate with the ruling family, which is promising major changes.

Please read the full article at:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703580004576180522653787198.html

[truebrit71]

1. Didn't the US also "approve" of Saddam's invasion of Kuwait?

By saying, "hey, it's a local issue"?

And if they'd have discovered tomato ketchup under those sands no-one would even care...

[Better Believe It]

4. Sadam thought the State Department approved his invasion plans or at

least did not object.

[robdogbucky]

2. Fucking goddamn lying murdering oil addicted hypocrites n/t

[Raksha]

6. NO!!! Goddammit, I am not buying the oil argument any more.

"It's all about the oil" like that explains something. But it only begs the question.

It is NOT about the oil; it's about DEMOCRACY. Where is written that the U.S. can only work out oil contracts with Arab dictatorships? The Bahrain opposition and the Libyan opposition, if they succeed in overthrowing their respective tyrants, are going to need to sell their oil JUST as much as the previous dictatorships. Is some reason the U.S. can't arrange new oil contracts with the new government?

I have lost whatever shred of belief I had left that the U.S. or any world power supports democracy anywhere. The ruling class in any country hates and fears democracy more than anything else on earth. Including communism. Including Islamic fundamentalism.

The big balancing act for the Obama administration is to create the perception of supporting democracy while in reality propping up dictatorships, if only by inaction (as in Libya).

They aren't just afraid of the domino effect in the Middle East if even ONE revolution actually succeeds. They are afraid of it worldwide, including here in the U.S. And with good reason too. Did anyone happen to notice that Mubarak resigned on February 11th, and the demonstrations in Madison began on February 12th? Coincidence? I think not.

Oh yes, they have every reason to be afraid.

[leftstreet]

7. The ruling classers have always felt secure with that talking point

Oil, pipelines, minerals, resources

They've long assumed they could foster, promote and project their own sense of entitlement and privilege onto the very citizens and taxpayers they extort to amass their profits.

But "we've" got to have access to those things!!!1111

:puke:

[Thunderstruck]

3. This is why we're dragging our feet in helping the Libyan rebels...

You can't help Saudi Arabia squash an uprising in Bahrain and turn around and help the rebelion in Libya.

[readmoreoften]

11. We have no intention of "helping" the rebellion in Libya. If we go the goal will be

to poise ourselves in between Egypt and Tunisia to quell their ongoing democratic revolutions. (Not to mention to control their oil.) Remember: we support the Kings of Saudi and Bahrain and we supported the dictator Mubarak. What makes you think we don't support Gaddafi now that he's a good go-along-to-get-along capitalist?

[raouldukelives]

5. Disgusting

[Better Believe It]

8. President Obama expresses "deep concern" over the violence against protesters in Bahrain

Obama to Bahrain, Saudi leaders: Show restraint
Associated Press
March 16, 2011

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has called King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain to express deep concern over the violence in Bahrain.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama stressed the need for "maximum restraint" while speaking to both of the leaders on Wednesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110316/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_bahrain

That's tellin em!

Rather bold!

And if the killings don't stop President Obama might give the Kings an extreme wagging of his index finger! BBI

[TheWraith]

9. So you'd rather we invade and establish a peacekeeping force?

Somehow I suspect you'd scream at Obama even louder for that.

[readmoreoften]

10. Oh stop. We're giving material support to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain against her own people.

You can't even spin this one. It's just atrocious.

[TheWraith]

13. Feel free to provide, you know, PROOF of that claim.

From an actual news source, not the Obama Hate Times. :eyes:

[Better Believe It]

14. No problem. Here's proof the U.S. has provided military assistance to the Bahrain dictatorship.

Last year, the US provided $20 million in military aid to Bahrain. What do you think the military assistance has been used for? Defending dissent and democratic rights or crushing those who are demonstrating for democratic rights?

I'm listening. BBI



The Arab Lobby
By Nick Turse
CBS News
March 16, 2011

The bullet that took Bu Hameed’s life may have been paid for by U.S. taxpayers and given to the Bahrain Defense Force by the U.S. military. The relationship represented by that bullet (or so many others like it) between Bahrain, a tiny country of mostly Shia Muslim citizens ruled by a Sunni king, and the Pentagon has recently proven more powerful than American democratic ideals, more powerful even than the president of the United States.

Just how American bullets make their way into Bahraini guns, into weapons used by troops suppressing pro-democracy protesters, opens a wider window into the shadowy relationships between the Pentagon and a number of autocratic states in the Arab world. Look closely and outlines emerge of the ways in which the Pentagon and those oil-rich nations have pressured the White House to help subvert the popular democratic will sweeping across the greater Middle East.

According to data from the Defense Security Cooperation Agency, the branch of the government that coordinates sales and transfers of military equipment to allies, the U.S. has sent Bahrain dozens of “excess” American tanks, armored personnel carriers, and helicopter gunships. The U.S. has also given the Bahrain Defense Force thousands of .38 caliber pistols and millions of rounds of ammunition, from large-caliber cannon shells to bullets for handguns. To take one example, the U.S. supplied Bahrain with enough .50 caliber rounds -- used in sniper rifles and machine guns -- to kill every Bahraini in the kingdom four times over. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency did not respond to repeated requests for information and clarification.

In addition to all these gifts of weaponry, ammunition, and fighting vehicles, the Pentagon in coordination with the State Department oversaw Bahrain’s purchase of more than $386 million in defense items and services from 2007 to 2009, the last three years on record. These deals included the purchase of a wide range of items from vehicles to weapons systems. Just this past summer, to cite one example, the Pentagon announced a multimillion-dollar contract with Sikorsky Aircraft to customize nine Black Hawk helicopters for Bahrain’s Defense Force.


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/03/16/opinion/main20044098.shtml

[TheWraith]

15. So, selling a country military surplus is now equal to supporting an invasion of that country?

Seriously, reread your headline and then try coming up with at least coherent propaganda.

[Better Believe It]

16. No. The US. provided the Bahrain dictatorship with the arms they use to crush the demonstrators.

Are you challenging that obvious fact?

If you can find any statement by any DU'er in this string that claims the United States has invaded Bahrain please post it.

Of course you can't.

So that was a pretty amateurish and lame attempt on your part to inject a "straw man" into this discussion.

[TheWraith]

17. Your own OP title claims that we are approving the invasion of Bahrain.

The only strawman is yours, trying to spin my calling you on that is the claim that the US is invading them.

The propaganda is getting weaker and weaker.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

12. They're worried the 5th Fleet will have to park it's boats somewhere else.

From the article:

The country is the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet, which patrols the Arabian Sea, Persian Gulf and Red Sea. Some at the Pentagon feared that Shiite-led Iran might try to hijack the protest movement in Bahrain and back installation of an anti-American government.

[Better Believe It]

18. Bahrain dictatorship demolishes Pearl Monument, site of protests

Bahrain demolishes Pearl Monument, site of protests
By the CNN Wire Staff
March 18, 2011

Security forces in Bahrain on Friday demolished the Pearl Monument, a landmark that had been the site of massive recent anti-government protests.

The government explained the demolition by saying it was done "out of the government's keenness to optimize services and improve the infrastructure" and that it would "boost flow of traffic in this vital area of the capital," according to the state-run Bahrain News Agency.

Meanwhile, the the streets of Manama -- filled with protesters earlier in the week -- were clear Friday just hours after a deadly government crackdown.

Amnesty International accused Bahrain on Thursday of using shotguns, tear gas and rubber bullets to subdue protesters, joining a growing chorus of concerns over the crackdown. Security forces have used "excessive force," leading to the killing of eight people in recent violence, Amnesty said in a report.




Pearl Monument Before Government Destruction


Pearl Monument After Government Destruction

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/03/18/bahrain.protests/index.html?hpt=T2#

[slipslidingaway]

19. kick n/t