The Obama administration "is in bed with one of the most repressive regimes on earth"

[Better Believe It]

Saudi-Backed Crackdown in Bahrain Exposes US Hypocrisy
by Michael Hughes
March 20, 2011

Although U.S. officials condemned Bahrain's use of deadly force against unarmed protestors on Wednesday, experts say the Obama administration is reticent to support the people because the Bahraini monarchy best serves U.S. regional interests. Critics accuse the U.S. of employing a double-standard - reluctant to oust the monarchy in Bahrain but more than willing to encourage Libyans to topple Moammar Gaddafi.

The U.S. is also hesitant to criticize Sunni ally Saudi Arabia, which invaded Bahrain on Tuesday at the request of Bahrain's Sunni royal family to quell Shiite protests.

John Kerry said about the Libyan crisis that, "The US and world community must show they will not stand by while this thug Gaddafi uses air power to murder fellow Libyans." But why are Kerry and the world community willing to stand by as Bahrain's al-Khalifa family and the Saudis do the same?

The Mideast tumult has elucidated the unholy alliance between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, illustrating that the globe's leading democracy is in bed with one of the most repressive regimes on earth -- a partnership fundamentally based on oil and containing Iran.

Please read the full article at:

http://www.sundaytimes.lk/110320/Timestwo/t2_08.html

[Name removed]

1. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[dipsydoodle]

2. Amazing how the truth hurts so much.

as is reflected in the unrec's here.

Rec'd for you.

[dixiegrrrrl]

14. I wil see your rec and raise you one.

[dipsydoodle]

17. lol

:hi:

[Catherina]

18. And I'll see yours and raise you one more n/t

[dixiegrrrrl]

21. Al riiight!

:hug:

[joshcryer]

51. I remember when the Libya daily threads would get 20+ recs every time they were posted.

I now know that they get dozens of unrecs and it takes hours just for them to hit 5.

[Poll_Blind]

52. SO true...

K&R

PB

[Autumn]

3. Isn't that the truth. K/R n/t

[Name removed]

4. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[ClarkUSA]

5. Psst! The Shia opposition has already agreed to talk with the Bahrain gov't.

Day late and a dollar short.

[DevonRex]

7. Facts don't matter. nt

[readmoreoften]

33. Not to "Defend Obama at All Costs" posters--no they don't.

You'll really make any excuse: pro-torture, pro-monarchy--whatever fucked up bullshit is on the plate for the day, y'all will defend it and then somehow assert that you're "nuanced." You're not. You're Bush policy advocates, largely.

[readmoreoften]

32. And that excuses the open firing into crowds how? Now beating people into submission is

somehow evidence of moral authority? That everyone is okay?

You're so full of shit.

[Davis_X_Machina]

6. I demand...

...a US policy of intervention only in countries without oil, like Bahrain.

Or ones that Bono has visited.

[SidDithers]

8. Unrec...

SSDD, with extra laughs for the Sri Lankan source.

Sid

[inna]

20. Rec...

And fuck imperialism, btw.

Inna

[readmoreoften]

34. Yes, what could Sri Lankan's possibly know?

And that's also not racist. Everyone knows only Fox, CNN, and AP produce accurate news.

[SidDithers]

40. But you gotta dig pretty deep to get to this paper as a source...

I can just picture the OP, sitting with his coffee and bagel, reading the Sri Lankan Sunday Times like he does every Sunday morning, when he just happened to come across this interesting article that he thought he should share with DU. :rofl:

Sid

[Duende azul]

48. No need to repeat yourself only with more words. We get It: Source from Sri Lanka not worthy.

And of course that doesn`t bear the faintest resemblance to something that someone might perceive as racist.

It would meliorate your posting habits considerably, if instead of taking on the source, then on the poster, you would decide to comment on the content. Just a suggestion.

[SidDithers]

49. ROFL...

Yer funny.

Sid

[QC]

46. Rec. n/t

[wildbilln864]

9. k&r for truth! nt

[leftstreet]

10. K&R The author makes a good point about US irrelevancy

Since Iraq, US 'moral capital' tanked even more and one of the greatest things during Obama's first year was watching global relief at welcoming the anti-Bush.

Such a short time later, with no actual foreign policy changes and "the Obama administration's Mideast policy is now suffering from acute paralysis."

[Better Believe It]

11. Obama administration is wrong to endorse suppression of democracy in Bahrain

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=689194&mesg_id=689194

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

12. Don't forget Uzbekistan that borders Afghanistan. They like to boil dissenters in water.....

[speltwon]

26. Yes, I saw that covered in

Borat. Damn uzbeckistanians!

[Jamastiene]

13. I knew this was no altruistic action.

But, of course. There had to be another reason behind it.

K&R

[RB TexLa]

15. Saudi Arabia provides stability in a volatile region, the chance of reform/rebellion seceding is

much lower in Saudi Arabia. Because of Saudi Arabia's political and economic power in the region there is not support for outside military action against them. It's not hypocricy, it's what can and can't be done politically.



"a partnership fundamentally based on oil and containing Iran."

Two very important things to the world

[Better Believe It]

16. The Obama administration should not support the dictatorship and oppose their invasion of Bahrain.

No one is suggesting the United States launch a war against Saudi Arabia.

[eridani]

37. "The world" cares about containing Iran?

They're probably much more concerned about containing the US empirs. Granted, the world really does care about oil.

[Raksha]

19. K & R

[somone]

22. Sad but true

Very true.

[Demeter]

23. Actually

The US is in bed with all the Oppressive Corporations, who are in bed with all the Oppressive Regimes, on the earth.

A menage a trois, to the nth power.

[Better Believe It]

24. Saudi King Abdullah presents President Obama with a nice shiny gold medal

King Abdullah presented President Obama with the King Abdulaziz Medal, the Kingdom’s highest award which is bestowed to heads of state and world leaders. Is it 24 K gold?



King Abdullah, President Obama hold talks
June 3, 2009

During remarks to the media, President Obama stressed the value of his relationship with the Saudi monarch. “I've been struck by his wisdom and his graciousness,” he said. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia “have a long history of friendship, we have a strategic relationship.”

President Obama said he purposely chose Saudi Arabia as the first stop on his Middle East tour because the Kingdom is a key ally and the cradle of Islam. “I take this trip and we'll be visiting Cairo tomorrow, I thought it was very important to come to the place where Islam began and to seek His Majesty's counsel and to discuss with him many of the issues that we confront here in the Middle East.” President Obama said he was confident that working together the U.S. and Saudi Arabia “can make progress on a whole host of issues and mutual interests.”

King Abdullah thanked President Obama for his kind word “and the sentiments expressed within them, which are not suprising, given the historic and strategic ties between our two countries, which go back to the time of the meeting between the late Franklin Delano Roosevelt and the late King Abdulaziz.” King Abdullah also express his wishes “to the friendly American people who are represented by a distinguished man who deserves to be in this position.”

http://www.saudiembassy.net/latest_news/news06030902.aspx

[chill_wind]

25. K & R. Who knew the rest of the world would notice these things..

The Mideast tumult has elucidated the unholy alliance between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia, new the illustrating that the globe's leading democracy is in bed with one of the most repressive regimes on earth -- a partnership fundamentally based on oil and containing Iran.

As a matter of fact, throughout the historic protests Saudi Arabia has acted as a safe haven for dictators. The House of Saud provided sanctuary to Tunisia's tyrant Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali, was more than willing to host Egypt's Mubarak and will likely extend a hand to Yemen's despot, Ali Abdullah Saleh, once his regime falls.

America's sudden moral outrage with Gaddafi is comical considering that Libya at 158 ranked higher than U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, which came in at 160, in the Economist's 2010 democracy index of 167 countries. Other U.S. allies didn't fare much better, with Egypt ranked 138, Tunisia 144, and Yemen 146.

Especially since the invasion of Iraq, America's "moral capital" has eroded over the years, exacerbated by duplicitous dealings with these repressive regimes, which is why the U.S. was practically irrelevant to the uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia; hence, the Obama administration's Mideast policy is now suffering from acute paralysis.

Libya will be used to prove just how much we refuse to be "irrelevant" in the region's affairs.
This wasn't supposed to happen:

"Young Leaders of Egypt's Revolt Snub Clinton in Cairo
March 15, 2011 1:17 PM

ABC News' Kirit Radia and Alex Marquardt report:

A coalition of six youth groups that emerged from Egypt’s revolution last month has refused to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who arrived in Cairo earlier today, in protest of the United States’ strong support for former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak who was ousted by the uprising."

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalpunch/2011/03/young-leaders-of-egypts-revolt-snub-clinton-in-cairo.html






Anti-government protestors spreaad their arms in front of military vehicles near Pearl Square in Bahraini capital Manama, on Wednesday. AFP

Saudi-Backed Crackdown in Bahrain Exposes US Hypocrisy
by Michael Hughes

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2011/03/20-0

[intaglio]

27. Err, So what's new?

Surely this headline could have been from any year in the past 100.

[pokerfan]

28. That's different. The Saudis are our BFF. (nt)

[Better Believe It]

29. OK. What does BFF mean?

[cyberpj]

30. Teen talk meaning Best Friends Forever. nt

[Better Believe It]

31. Thanks. Guess I'm not a teenager! Wish I was!

I'd have a lot more energy for activism.

[Bluebear]

36. :)

[cyberpj]

42. LOL. funny you should mention that. See the post I just this minute finished posting, here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=439&topic_id=704111&mesg_id=706771

[unkachuck]

35. "...tumult has elucidated the unholy alliance between the U.S. and Saudi Arabia..."

....and that's a good thing.

....Bahrain and Saudi Arabia should be warned and served notice that they too must respect the democratic aspirations of their people....

....there's a new generation in the ME with hopes and desires, a developing ME with potential democratic institutions and economic opportunities....Bahrain and Saudi Arabia needs to get on the right side of this historic awakening....

[lonestarnot]

38. Support out of both sides of one's ass are not new. How many 9/11 fuckwads were from Saudi?

[Jamastiene]

39. Kick

[SidDithers]

41. I thought China was "one of the most repressive regimes on Earth"...

How do you now feel about China, BBI? Do you still consider the Chinese in Tibet to be innocent victims of the "Da-Lie" Lama and his Tibetan terrorists?

You have an interesting history defending that most repressive regime. Physician, heal thyself.

Sid

[CommonSensePLZ]

43. It is.

I hope I get to see the communist party fall someday.

[truebrit71]

44. I still don't think they are our "friends"...

..neither is Russia..

But hey, what do I know...

[Snoutport]

45. Yes, it is all Obama's fault....

Oh, wait, doesn't he inherit the relationship with each country with the job? Or, in just a couple of years was he supposed to either charm them to become democratic, or blow them up?

[Truth2Tell]

47. It would be nice though

if he even tried to start changing US policy to support democracy. But, as the Wikileaks disclosures have shown us, nothing at all has changed. Obama doesn't BELIEVE in changing course, so we are not. Same Empire. Same lies. And yes, the buck stops at the top.

[PurityOfEssence]

50. Give him a break; the guy's an American

We do those things.