And one more thing. Please don't give the US this excuse:
"Fear that the lease of the U.S. naval base will be summarily revoked if Washington pushes Manama too hard probably plays a part in the Obama administration’s timid statements on the island’s crisis."
Bahrain will NEVER ask the US to leave because Al Khalifa knows that it cannot defend itself from Iran, and neither can Sauds (who couldn't even help Kuwait kick out Saddam). The only excuse the US has for not intervening more in Bahrain is Saudi oil (not even Bahraini oil).
Thank you for writing about Bahrain. It's true that thus far Iran has had no hand in the protests. My only critique of your article is that it makes it seem like the opposition was only among the Shia, when there were/are Sunnis involved in the opposition and democracy movement as well. Even Sunni leaders and activists (even one Salafi!) who are now arrested without charge, counsel or access to their families. The poor Salafi who was arrested only went to Pearl roundabout to give a speech about how Sunni and Shia are both Muslims, and should be friends. And for this he was arrested! Sectarianism is the strategy of rule of the regime, and only slowly over time is it becoming a social reality that could lead to civil war--but not yet. In this attempted revolution, Sunni and Shia were standing side by side calling for a constitutional monarchy.
But I noticed that you did not address Bahrain which is similar to Libya in the "uniqueness" of its humanitarian situation, as you say in paragraphs 16 and 18):
In Bahrain, you have a set of tank brigades willing to attack dissidents (and actually attacking them), responsible for as large a percentage of casualties in Bahrain as they are in Libya and with the prospect of more to come if the protestors do not stop (which they won't) and a political solution cannot be found once "national dialogue" begins (IF it begins, such a solution will most certainly not be found), where minimal (but not in this case, aerial) intervention by the world community could make a quick and effective difference, and where the dissidents have asked for UN protection and therefore international intervention. As for the Arab League, I'm not sure what principle of the Left would make it okay to support ANYTHING they Arab League asks for when it is run by dictatorial regimes (though I acknowledge that it was good for PR that it asked for Libyan intervention).
The elephant in the room for Bahrain is, of course, Saudi Arabia. But I'd like to see Saudi Arabia stand up to a UN Resolution by the Security Council that it has to stop supporting Bahrain's brutal repression of its own people--it would not happen. The Saudi regime is at its base a bunch of weak cowards who are only effective at crushing unarmed civilians. They couldn't even handle the invasion of Kuwait without crying out for big brother USA to help them. The West's hypocrisy on Bahrain is intolerable. And it will come back to haunt us.
Please don't forget about Bahrain, Prof. Cole. A greater percentage of the population has died in Bahrain than died in Egypt's revolution, and Bahrain's has only just begun. Please don't forget about Bahrain just because it is small. All people deserve the same humanity and attention.
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And one more thing. Please don't give the US this excuse:
"Fear that the lease of the U.S. naval base will be summarily revoked if Washington pushes Manama too hard probably plays a part in the Obama administration’s timid statements on the island’s crisis."
Bahrain will NEVER ask the US to leave because Al Khalifa knows that it cannot defend itself from Iran, and neither can Sauds (who couldn't even help Kuwait kick out Saddam). The only excuse the US has for not intervening more in Bahrain is Saudi oil (not even Bahraini oil).
Thank you for writing about Bahrain. It's true that thus far Iran has had no hand in the protests. My only critique of your article is that it makes it seem like the opposition was only among the Shia, when there were/are Sunnis involved in the opposition and democracy movement as well. Even Sunni leaders and activists (even one Salafi!) who are now arrested without charge, counsel or access to their families. The poor Salafi who was arrested only went to Pearl roundabout to give a speech about how Sunni and Shia are both Muslims, and should be friends. And for this he was arrested! Sectarianism is the strategy of rule of the regime, and only slowly over time is it becoming a social reality that could lead to civil war--but not yet. In this attempted revolution, Sunni and Shia were standing side by side calling for a constitutional monarchy.
Thank you for this. I agree.
But I noticed that you did not address Bahrain which is similar to Libya in the "uniqueness" of its humanitarian situation, as you say in paragraphs 16 and 18):
In Bahrain, you have a set of tank brigades willing to attack dissidents (and actually attacking them), responsible for as large a percentage of casualties in Bahrain as they are in Libya and with the prospect of more to come if the protestors do not stop (which they won't) and a political solution cannot be found once "national dialogue" begins (IF it begins, such a solution will most certainly not be found), where minimal (but not in this case, aerial) intervention by the world community could make a quick and effective difference, and where the dissidents have asked for UN protection and therefore international intervention. As for the Arab League, I'm not sure what principle of the Left would make it okay to support ANYTHING they Arab League asks for when it is run by dictatorial regimes (though I acknowledge that it was good for PR that it asked for Libyan intervention).
The elephant in the room for Bahrain is, of course, Saudi Arabia. But I'd like to see Saudi Arabia stand up to a UN Resolution by the Security Council that it has to stop supporting Bahrain's brutal repression of its own people--it would not happen. The Saudi regime is at its base a bunch of weak cowards who are only effective at crushing unarmed civilians. They couldn't even handle the invasion of Kuwait without crying out for big brother USA to help them. The West's hypocrisy on Bahrain is intolerable. And it will come back to haunt us.
Please don't forget about Bahrain, Prof. Cole. A greater percentage of the population has died in Bahrain than died in Egypt's revolution, and Bahrain's has only just begun. Please don't forget about Bahrain just because it is small. All people deserve the same humanity and attention.