Saudi troops enter Bahrain to help crush the protests

Depressing...

Iran objects to intervention

Bahrain's king has imposed a three-month state of emergency in the wake of a pro-democracy uprising that reportedly turned violent Tuesday.

The order, which was read on Bahrain state TV, also gives the country's military chief wide-ranging powers to battle the uprising.

Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations dispatched 1,000 police officers to Bahrain on Monday to help it contain an uprising from the Shia-majority population. The United Arab Emirates also sent 500 police officers.

The cross-border operation was perceived as a measure by Gulf Sunni dynasties to prop up Bahrain's monarchy, due to fears that arch-enemy Iran, a Shia-run power, could increase its influence over the region.

Iran has called the intervention of foreign troops "unacceptable."

 http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2011/03/15/bahrain-soldier.html

The House of Saud 'Liberates' Bahrain - by Pepe Escobar

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MC16Ak03.html

"This walks like an invasion, talks like an invasion, but it's not really an invasion, as White House spokesman Jay Carney confidentially reassured world opinion. While the whole world - plus the Arab League - was involved in the dead-end no fly zone debate concerning Libya, the Gulf neighbor ensured an all-drive zone through the causeway linking Saudi Arabia to Bahrain's capital Manama.

One thing is certain. These two paragons of equanimity - the House of Saud and the Sunni al-Khalifa dynasty - have just helped to reconfigure a peaceful mass movement towards a constitutional monarchy in Bahrain into a full-fledged revolution.."

'US Had Advance Knowledge of Invasion'

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170130.html

"The United States had advance knowledge about the plan to invade Bahrain, Bahraini opposition leader Saed al Shahabi says. 'I don't understand the difference between this invasion and the invasion of Kuwait by Saddam 20 years ago.."

Lawmaker on Bhahrainis' Plight

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170100.html

"Bahraini lawmaker Ali al-Aswad has described the situation in Monama as catastrophic, calling on the international community to help protesters in the country. He went on to say that the government forces are indiscriminately attacking anybody outside on the street; peaceful protesters as well as people trying to guard their cars, going home or shopping. Aswad expressed shock at the Persian Gulf Cooperation Council for dispatching military forces to Bahrain to confront peaceful demonstrators.."

Those ungrateful Bahrainis! Poor filthy rich King Khalifa and his western backers shouldn't have to suffer through this indignity.

Police shoot a protester in the street.

Sitra, Bahrain

Bahraini Ministers Quit Amid Crackdown

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170297.html

"Two Bahraini ministers have quit to protest the government's use of excessive force against protesters in the Kingdom. Saudi forces that rolled into Bahrain on Monday to assist Manama in the crackdown on nationwide protests also attacked the capital's main hospital, where the injured were being treated, and took all people inside the building including doctors and nurses, hostage. Some reports say Saudi Forces also shot people inside the hospital and threatened doctors..."

Complaints: Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

http://www.mofa.gov.sa/sites/mofaen/MainContactUs/Pages/Feedback.aspx

Bahrain Arrests Six Opposition Leaders

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170327.html

Bahrain has arrested six opposition leaders as the country plunges deeper into crisis following the arrival of foreign militaries to quell anti-regime protesters. Al Wefaq party leader Sheikh Ali Salman urged protesters to continue their peaceful uprising despite Manama's use of violence against them. He said the peaceful nature of the uprising will help defeat the 'dictatorship prevailing in the country.' "

ME Rallies Support Bahraini Protesters

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170326.html

"People in Lebanon, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia have strongly condemned the Saudi led invasion of Bahrain and the increased crackdown on anti-government protesters.."

here's what the Angry Arab says:

"There is no doubt that Saudi Arabia has engineered the Arab counter-revolution with full US support. Only Libya will be allowed to change but in favour of a Saudi controlled regime..."

DaveW wrote:

come on, The Bahraini royals were in full counter-revolution mode a month ago, all by themselves.

The 'all by themselves' counter-insurgency plans, aka the brutal everyday repression of the majority, doesn't appear to be panning out as anticipated, which is why they've resorted to calling in the regional cavalry.

a good analysis of why Khaddaffi eventually loses:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/17/opinion/17ahmida.html?hp

THE fight is not over. Whether or not Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi defeats the rebels in eastern Libya, any legitimacy he once had has been extinguished. He has weapons, tanks and planes, but he has lost the allegiance of even those elements of Libyan society that had once been willing to wait and hope for political reform. His base of support is now only diehard allies and foreign mercenaries. They might win on the battlefield, but they will lose in the end.

The uprisings in neighboring Tunisia and Egypt were precipitating events, but the resistance has drawn its core motivation from Libya's brutal experience of colonialism. What is most striking about the rhetoric of the rebellion is how the anticolonialist theme that Colonel Qaddafi once deployed has now been turned against him and is being used on Twitter and Facebook. Even as they are assaulted by Colonel Qaddafi's forces, the rebels have resisted calling for forceful Western intervention, though they support the imposition of a no-flight zone.

'Bahrain Not Foreigners War Zone'

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170208.html

'Riyadh Fears Bahrain's Uprising'

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170442.html

"I want everybody to imagine what would happen if the Saudis sent forces and arms to Gaddafi to kill even more of his own people. This is what they have done in Bahrain. Even the Arab media is operating in such a double-standard way.."

'Saudi Forces Reflect Badly on King'

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/170453.html

"Amid further bloodshed in Bahrain, the head of the kingdom's largest opposition party has called on Saudi Arabia's king to pull the Saudi forces out of Bahrain. A Saudi sniper has reportedly gunned down a Bahraini nurse on Thursday, targeting the medical staffer as she tried to reach a hospital in the capital.."

The Angry Arab talks about a Saudi-led Arab counter revolution. I predict that all the racists, bigots, Zionists and so on will discover how much they love the Saudi regime. Bet money on it.

Paul Dewar,NDP @tweetcommunes wrote:

"Gov's statement on Bahrain is too weak. Time for Canada to demand an end to the violent crackdown of the peaceful protesters."

I apologize for interrupting your rabid anti-4th party rhetoric as usual. It seems to be a theme in every second thread lately. You'd think there was an election in the air or something.

Maybe our corrupt stoogeaucracy in Ottawa will be able to put a grab on the much coveted phony-baloney majority this time around. You never know with our wonky electoral system.

Unionist wrote:

Paul Dewar doesn't give a damn about the people fighting in Bahrain. That's the worst part of it. Otherwise, he might at least suggest that we should stop selling arms to their murderers. Why hasn't he suggested that? Because he's a swine.

I didn't say that Dewar is calling for an end to US imperialism in Africa, the Middle East, or even Latin America.

All I did was quote him suggesting that our corrupt stooges in Ottawa should examine their lack of any federal policy whatsoever for being just a teensy bit more selective concerning which countries Canadian-made weapons are sold and shipped to,  like Saudi Arabia with the big military budgets and participating in hard line crackdowns on pro democracy demonstrations in Bahrain.

If you think Dewar is not being straightforward about our corrupt stooges in the phony minority Tory government in Ottawa and propped up by the Liberal Party of bananda since 2006, then just say so. There is really no need to beat around the bush.

wage zombie wrote:

Fidel wrote:

Paul Dewar,NDP @tweetcommunes wrote:

"Gov's statement on Bahrain is too weak. Time for Canada to demand an end to the violent crackdown of the peaceful protesters."

This sounds to me like calling for a military invasion.  Not really sure what it is about Dewar's statement that you're trying to promote Fidel.

Yes, it's not so obvious from what Dewar says. I think it's code for what he and his party are obviously planning to do - invade Bahrain themselves and orchestrate a violent crackdown against ungrateful Bahrainis shirking their duties as economic serfs in yet another US/Ottawa-backed free market paradise. And our corrupt stooges at the helm in Ottawa are likely behind this covert pro democracy maneuvering with the NDP playing a bit role we can be sure. It's a conspiracy no less. Good eye for what it is, wage zombie.

Ralph Schoenman wrote:

People in Bahrain feel they have been abandoned. No single government has spoken out against the brutal repression, the kidnapping and murder of medical personnel, the occupation of hospitals and medical facilities, the continuous reign of terror against an unarmed populace demonstrating peacefully for democratic rights.

With the important exception of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the voices of global organizations have been largely muted - notably that of the International Committee of the Red Cross - let alone those of the country-selling regimes that inhabit such bodies as the United Nations, the latter a continuing instrument of imperial conquest in the service of plunder.

Bahrainis take note that the government of Iran, invoked by the Saudis as a pretext for their occupation, is itself the prime target of the U.S Fifth Fleet based in Bahrain but has been relatively mute about the slaughter and repression of the population or of the pogrom visited upon the majority Shia inhabitants.

[url=http://greenhouse.economics.utah.edu/pipermail/marxism/2011-March/127975...

'50 Bahraini Activists Arrested Overnight'

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/172551.html

"Bahraini opposition groups say the Manama regime has arrested 50 activists overnight, just before the massive Friday anti-government protests in the country.."

Bahrain Kills Youth Removes Organs

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/173146.html

"Since the US invasion of Bahrain by Saudi forces, the bodies of protesters killed in the clashes are being returned to their families, albeit with various organs missing. In an interview with Press TV, Ralph Schoenman discusses the events taking place in Bahrain. He also touches on the planned Yemen revolution. The following is a transcript of the interview.."

[url=http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=24297]US-backed Bahrain Regime Tortures, Murders Critics[/url]

Video Exposes More Brutality in Bahrain (and vid)

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/177701.html

"...newly released video footage has shed more light on the extent of violence used during the Saudi-backed crackdown against the peaceful demonstraters in Bahrain. The video showed Bahraini police officers firing randomly at residential buildlings and attacking women with teargas.."

no complaint from the UN here..

Bahrain Denies Abuse of Schoolgirls (and vid)

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/05/20115112239574412.html

"...Officials deny Al Jazeera's report that police raided girls' schools and beat them.."