Video- The US, Gulf Kings and Brutal Repression in Bahrain

Martial law declared in Bahrain

Martial law declared in Bahrain

March 15th, 2011

poorrichard's blog

Following the deployment of armed mercenaries, confirmed use of nerve gas, and the compliance by al-Khalifa to allow Saudi and GCC troops and tanks to enter Bahrain in order to supposedly restore order, the Bahraini government has declared Martial law.

Press TV talks with Ralph Schoenman, author and political analyst, Berkeley who encapsulates events and al-Khalifa's war crime atrocities leading up to the Arab invasion of Bahrain and the most recent response to this by the people of Bahrain.

Press TV: Can you share with us your understanding of the most recent developments in Bahrain?

Ralph Shoenman: The peaceful demonstrators for democracy in Bahrain have continuously been assaulted by armed forces by live gunfire and in the mobilization in Refa the Royal court and in Manama where not only were they assaulted by over 100,000 mercenaries using posts, knives, clubs, swords and hatchets attacking people at random, but neurotoxins and nerve gas were confirmed and resulted in the paralysis and death of numerous people.

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EVIDENCE Nerve gas used on Bahrain protesters

'Brutal attacks' alleged in Bahrain

‘US to lose Fifth Fleet in a few weeks’

Press TV
March 15, 2011

The United States will lose its Fifth Fleet base in Bahrain in a few weeks following its support for the embattled monarchy in Manama, a political analyst in Middle East affairs says.

“The US will lose its Fifth Fleet in Bahrain in a matter of weeks because they have sided with the al-Khalifa Monarchy,” al-Ahmed said in an interview with Press TV on Monday.

“This issue is already done; the al-Khalifa [dynasty] is over. We are just waiting for a few days or a few weeks,” he added.

Ahmed pointed to the presence of the forces of Saudi Arabia and those of several [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council ([P]GCC) members in Bahrain, saying, “The United States gave the green light to these troops to go into Bahrain because the White House is carrying on the Saudi policy in Yemen and Bahrain.”

He warned that if top Bahraini cleric Ayatollah Sheikh Isa Qasim issues a Fatwa waging Jihad against foreign troops in Bahrain, “Bahrain will be burnt and the Saudis and the others will lose.”

Ahmed argued that under the international laws, the presence of [P]GCC troops in Bahrain is an act of “aggression” and “occupation” and the leaders of the invading countries are subject to prosecution by international courts.

Accordingly “the Bahraini people have the right to fight against them, to resist them and use violence against them,” he pointed out.

On Monday, Bahrain’s fellow members of the [Persian] Gulf Cooperation Council — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Oman and Qatar — dispatched their armed forces to the Persian Gulf island at Manama’s request to quell nationwide protests against the Sunni-led monarchy’s suppression of the Shia majority.
 
Inspired by the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions, tens of thousands of Bahrainis have poured into the streets of the capital Manama since mid-February, calling for an end to the Al-Khalifa dynasty, which has ruled the country for almost two centuries.

Demonstrators are keeping vigil in hundreds of tents in Manama’s Pearl Square, which has become the epicenter of anti-government protests.

At least 7 people have been killed so far during the government clampdown on the peaceful demonstrations in Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia ready to invade Bahrain after day of protests

Ben Quinn
The Guardian
March 14, 2011

Saudi forces are preparing to intervene in neighbouring Bahrain, after a day of clashes between police and protesters who mounted the most serious challenge to the island’s royal family since demonstrations began a month ago.

The Crown Prince of Bahrain is expected to formally invite security forces from Saudi Arabia into his country today, as part of a request for support from other members of the six-member Gulf Co-operation Council.

Thousands of demonstrators on Sunday cut off Bahrain’s financial centre and drove back police trying to eject them from the capital’s central square, while protesters also clashed with government supporters on the campus of the main university.

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Saudi's day of rage

Protester Shot Point Blank With Rubber Bullets!

Bahrain protesters hit by tear gas

RAW, Bahrain, state police being forced back by anti-government protesters 13.03,2011

Gates Visits Bahrain Amid Huge Protests

NY Times
March 11, 2011

MANAMA, Bahrain — As security forces and pro-government vigilantes beat back protesters here, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates arrived Friday on an unannounced visit to offer American support to the royal family and prod the king and the crown prince toward talks with protesters demanding more democracy.

His visit took place against a backdrop of large and continuing protests across numerous Arab capitals on Friday, with neither repression nor government concessions stemming the tide of anger and demands for change.

The region’s protests were for the most part peaceful, although there were scattered reports of injuries.

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US Contracting Tech Firms for Revolutions

US shamelessly admitting to funding Middle East revolutions

Tony Cartalucci
Infowars.com
Saturday, March 12, 2011

As previously reported, the US State Department manages a vast array of extra-legal networks of NGOs, propaganda outlets, and organizations like Movements.org that are literally recruiting and training foreign protesters and supporting their efforts as they return home to incite unrest and regime change. It was described how Secretary of State Hillary Clinton was literally sitting on the Broadcasting Board of Governors which oversees “news agencies” like Voice of America, Radio Free Europe, and Radio Free Asia.

Washington Post has now revealed that the US State Department, Department of Defense, and the Broadcasting Board of Governors are all funding technology companies and NGOs (amusingly referred to as “human rights groups”) who are providing protesters across the Middle East and North Africa with means to facilitate their online activities including circumventing cyber-security measures employed by target nations.

The US is apparently prepared to spend at least $30 million of taxpayers’ money to facilitate this overseas meddling. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, in a multi-tiered display of unbelievable hypocrisy stated, “I am sure there are certain folks in the governments of these places that would prefer we didn’t fund these technologies – just as they would prefer we don’t advocate for human rights in general – but it’s our long-standing policy to advocate for Internet freedom.”

The entire article needs to be read to be believed and can be found here.

Meanwhile, Senator Joe Lieberman took to the podium and decided to spend the people’s time to promote another extra-legal meddling in a foreign nation’s sovereign affairs, this time in Belarus. Belarus borders Russia and has recently rebuffed NATO’s overtures. As previously reported, regime change in Belarus and its joining of NATO is part of a greater agenda of encircling Russia and forcing from it concessions on behalf of the globalist oligarchy.

Senator Lieberman expertly misappropriating, time, space, legitimacy, and money

 

It should be noted that Belarus’ protesters were also the recipients of training from the US created and funded CANVAS of Serbia. In Foreign Policy’s article “Revolution U, it states that “Slobodan Djinovic, one of Otpor’s original organizers, began traveling to Belarus, meeting clandestinely with a student movement there. It was soon infiltrated, however, and eventually collapsed.”

It is more than likely the US is looking for ways around this, and judging from the contempt Lieberman speaks of the Belarus regime with, it must have long since taken its gloves off and fully recognizes the threat the US State Department has left on its doorstep.

Visit Tony Cartalucci’s blog at http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com

Cousin of Afghan President Is Killed in NATO Raid

ALISSA J. RUBIN and JAMES RISEN
The New York Times
March 11, 2011

KABUL, Afghanistan — A cousin of Afghanistan’s president was killed Wednesday during a night raid by NATO and Afghan forces in which they detained the man’s son as a suspected Taliban commander, as well as at least two of the family’s bodyguards.
 
The case brought the delicate issue of civilian casualties into the presidential palace and added to the already tense relationship between the Afghans and the Americans. It also raised questions about whether a member of the extended family of President Hamid Karzai might have Taliban ties, or whether bad intelligence led to a deadly raid on the home of an innocent family.

Either way, the raid raises the prospect of another intense flare-up between NATO and Afghan officials, coming after two other cases of civilian casualties in the past three weeks. Night raids on family compounds, in particular, have long been controversial for their intrusiveness and the civilian casualties associated with them. Startled Afghan men, who commonly keep weapons at home, often react by reaching for their guns and are then shot, often by Special Operations forces.

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Saudi Security Forces Flood Streets to Stop ‘Day of Rage’

Oliver Pickup
Mail Online
March 11, 2011

Saudi Arabian security forces have flooded the streets of the capital Riyadah, and other major cities, to pre-empt a ‘Day of Rage’ and the possibility of any copycat protests which have pockmarked the Middle East and North Africa, and led to two regimes being toppled.

As in Tunisia and Egypt – a country which neighbours Saudi Arabia – news of the planned uprising has spread quickly using social networking websites like Facebook and the microblogging site Twitter.

Having gained confidence from the successful recent uprisings, liberals, rights activists, moderate Sunni Islamists and Shi’ite Muslims have all joined forces to demand political change, and experts believe that they may call for an end to the monarchy.

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Saudi King Counters Protests With $36 Billion as Tension Mounts

Glen Carey
Bloomberg
March 11, 2011

As unrest escalated across the Middle East, activists in Saudi Arabia demanded a political voice as well. Rather than promises of democracy, they got a $36 billion handout and a slap down from Islamic clerics.

Saudi academics, writers and representatives of the minority Shiite Muslim population called on King Abdullah, the sixth monarch in the Arab world’s largest economy, to move the country toward a constitutional monarchy. Anti-government demonstrators are advocating a “Day of Rage” today, and police in anti-riot vehicles patrolled in central Riyadh, the capital, with checkpoints set up around the Al-Rajhi mosque.

“Demands for political reform will inevitably increase in the kingdom as democracy takes root in the region,” said Thomas Hegghammer, a senior research fellow at the Norwegian Defense Research Establishment in Oslo and author of “Jihad in Saudi Arabia.” “If the regime does nothing, tension will grow between conservative and progressive factions.”

More than two months of protests have rocked the Middle East and North Africa as citizens demand civil rights, higher living standards and the ouster of entrenched autocratic regimes. In Bahrain, a Saudi neighbor and home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet, mainly Shiite protesters are pressing their demands for free elections and a constitutional monarchy.

Full article here

Saudi police open fire on demonstrators

MSNBC.com
March 10, 2011

Saudi police opened fire Thursday to disperse a protest in the mainly Shiite, oil-producing east, leaving at least one man injured, as the government struggled to prevent a wave of unrest sweeping the Arab world from reaching the kingdom.

Word of the protest helped drive oil prices back up on international markets.
The rare violence raised concern about a crackdown ahead of more planned protests after Friday prayers in different cities throughout the oil-rich kingdom.

The pro-Western monarchy is concerned protests could open footholds for Shiite powerhouse Iran and has accused foreigners of stoking the protests, which are officially forbidden.

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Doctors Report Bahrain Using Nerve Gas On Demonstrators

Kurt Nimmo
Infowars.com
March 10, 2011

Back on February 13, Bahrain vowed to use tougher anti-protest methods to prevent the people of the tiny kingdom from demanding government reform.



All substances currently being used in Bahrain to disperse what the state deems rioters are internationally approved, military courts director Major Humood Saad told parliament at the time. “He said that they were natural substances and that banning police from using them during riots, would mean that they would have to use more potentially lethal and stronger methods, such as rubber bullets,” Bahraini TV reported.

MP Dr Aziz Abul said that Bahraini law bans the country from using chemical warfare against enemies, “but allows police to use it against the people.”

Doctors confirmed the Bahraini state is in fact using “potentially lethal and stronger methods” in order to put down calls for a more representative government.

“Doctors from the scene of violent anti-government protests in Yemen’s capital said that what was thought to be tear gas fired by government forces on demonstrators may have been nerve gas, which is forbidden under international law,” reports the Australian.

“The material in this gas makes people convulse for hours. It paralyses them. They couldn’t move at all. We tried to give them oxygen but it didn’t work,” said Amaar Nujaim, a field doctor who works for Islamic Relief.

Pathologist Mohammad Al-Sheikh said that some of the victims had lost muscular control and were forced to wear diapers.

Reports indicate victims of nerve gas apparently used by the monarchy on its citizens were not engaged in violence. “Military personnel opened fire on Tuesday night and used what was originally assumed to be tear gas to disperse a group of demonstrators who were trying to bring additional tents into the protest area outside Sanaa University,” the Australian continues.

Witnesses said soldiers fired warning shots into the air before shooting gas and live bullets at demonstrators, killing one and injuring at least 50.

The Shi’ite majority population has been protesting against al-Khalifa, the Sunni family that has ruled Bahrain for over 200 years.


Sectarian violence has erupted in the tiny kingdom between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.

While the protests have primarily focused on demands for political reform and for better access to jobs, housing and education, demonstrators have also rallied against a controversial policy to extend citizenship to Sunnis from Syria, Jordan and other countries.

Earlier this month, it was reported that the Saudi government had shipped dozens of tanks to Bahrain. Eyewitnesses reported seeing “15 tank carriers carrying two tanks each heading towards Bahrain” along the 25-km King Fahd causeway, which links the small island nation of Bahrain to Saudi Arabia, RIA Novosti reported on March 1.

It is not clear where Bahrain acquired nerve gas. Saudi Arabia, according to the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, does not have a chemical or biological weapons program. Bahrain is not tracked by the center.


Bahrain is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet and 370 offshore banking units and representative offices.

Red alert: Friday’s “Day of Rage” in Saudi Arabia could rock the world

Fabius Maximus
March 10, 2011

Summary:  Friday might be an important day, perhaps the most important day of the decade.  It’s the Day of Rage in Saudi Arabia.  The Princes have mobilized their vast security services to prevent or disperse the protests.  Will anybody dare to show up?  Will the Princes order the use of force?  Will the crowds resist?  The consequences could send oil prices skyrocketing, shaking the world. Many have guesses but nobody knows the outcome.

Tunesia, Egypt, Libya, Bahrain.  Now it’s Saudi Arabia’s turn.  Most of the usual sources (e.g., Stratfor) have said almost nothing about Friday. But there are hints, some of which appear below.

If the Princes fall it will be no Black Swan.  Experts have long said that unsustainable trends will lead to disaster for the Saudi Princes (unless they flee promptly).

• Elderly rulers, with the grandkids next in line, and no proven mechanism for the transfer of power.
• A young population (median age 2).  Poorly educated (Islamic studies are at the core of the curriculum).  Depression-like levels of unemployment — with many of the employed at overpaid make-work.  Idle, with few prospects.
• A surplus of males (9.6 million male, 7.5 female).  Many of the men cannot pay the Mahr (see Wikipedia), the bride price often necessary to marry.
• Saudi national finances totally depend on oil exports, but the government runs deficits as spending outpaces even rising oil prices.
• Rapidly increasing consumption of oil takes an increasing fraction of oil production, putting pressure on vital oil exports.

The terminal factor is the large and rapidly growing population.  The population from 4 million to about 26 million today, of which 6 million are foreigners.  That’s fast, even for this region.  Totally cracked for a nation most of which is desert.

Nation   1950    2010   rate/year
Afghan   08.1    29.1   2.1%
Egypt    21.2    80.5   2.2%
Iran     16.4    77.0   2.6%
Iraq     05.2    29.7   2.9%
Saudi A  03.9    25.7   3.2%

Source:  US Census International Data Base

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Faber: Oil will go up ‘ballistically’ if unrest shifts to Saudi Arabia

Business Intelligence Middle East
March 9, 2011

Marc Faber the Swiss fund manager and Gloom Boom & Doom editor sees oil prices extending their bull run despite the 15% run-up this year alone.

In an optimistic scenario demand for oil will rise as the global recovery takes hold, and in a pessimistic scenario prices still go up if the Middle East unrest spreads and crude production is curtailed. In both cases, he says, you should be long energy and energy related shares.

Speaking to CNBC today, Faber said: ” I think long term you should be exposed to energy in either scenario….if you are extra bearish and believe that War World III is going to start soon, as I believe, or in an optimistic scenario”.

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Oil Breakout Alert – Kuwait, World’s Fourth Largest Oil Exporter, Joins Demonstrations Demanding Regime Change

Tyler Durden
Zero Hedge
March 8, 2011

Crude dropped overnight, after the FT joined the BBC in the “False Rumor Spreading Korner”, after the Libyan Investment Authority held newspaper said some OPEC members are looking to raise oil output to avoid any supply shortfalls. Too bad that just like every other previous rumor-based attempt to drive oil lower, this one was refuted within minutes by the same OPEC members that were allegedly boosting their capacity (which does not exist in the first place). Perhaps if the FT had read the note sent out at midnight by Goldman’s David Greely, which noted that there is virtually no spare OPEC capacity left, they would have known why they should have come up with a more credible rumor: like Gaddafi committing suicide after watching the latest episode of Sheen’s Korner. So much for the rumor mill. Now on to facts, where instead we see a new development which threatens to send oil surging far higher. Reuters reports that formerly peaceful Kuwait has just joined the ranks of demonstrators, demanding the resignation of the prime minister in a peaceful protest early in the day, with a larger one expected later in the day:

“Kuwaitis demonstrating outside parliament for the prime minister’s ouster came up with a new symbol of Arab discontent on Tuesday by handing out watermelons. “This is for the parliament’s poor performance,” one of the small band of protesters shouted as he gave a watermelon to a lawmaker making his way into the parliament. The significance was not spelled out, but in local parlance, a person who has a lack of understanding or holds an unrealistic point of view sometimes is called a watermelon. A potentially larger rally was expected later, inspired by spreading Arab protests that toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt before sparking the insurrection in Libya and spreading to other Gulf countries including Bahrain, Oman and Saudi Arabia.” Kuwait, for those keeping track, is the 4th largest oil exporter in the world.

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