Wednesday, March 23, 2011

What About Bahrain?

Why aren't we bombing them to protect the people when we are doing it to Libya? 

War-promoting AmeriKan media will tell you why:

"Protesters march in Bahrain, Jordan, Yemen, and Egypt" by Ben Hubbard and Karin Laub, Associated Press / February 26, 2011

CAIRO — Hundreds of thousands left mosques and staged protests across the Arab world yesterday, some trying to shake off autocratic rulers and others pressuring embattled leaders to carry out sweeping reforms.

Huge crowds turned out in Egypt, Bahrain, Yemen, and Jordan, but with very different goals.

In Bahrain, the first Persian Gulf state to be thrown into turmoil by the Arab world’s wave of change, tens of thousands rallying in the central square demanded sweeping political concessions from the ruling monarch.

Security forces made no attempt to halt the marchers, an apparent sign that Bahrain’s rulers do not want more bloodshed denunciations from their Western allies. In the early stage of the two-week-old rallies, troops had used lethal force.  

See: Blood Runs in Bahrain Streets

The unrest is highly significant for Washington. Bahrain is home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which is the Pentagon’s main counterweight against Iran’s widening military ambitions.  

Oh yeah?  

Who have they invaded lately?

Bahrain’s Sunni monarchy, meanwhile, is under pressure from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf rulers not to yield to the Shi’ite-led protesters, fearing it could open footholds for Shi’ite powerhouse Iran.

Now they are a POWERHOUSE!

--more--"   

Related: Globe Editorial No free pass for Bahrain

U.S. government gave 'em more than one.

"Egyptian panel seeks more open elections, term limits" by Sarah El Deeb, Associated Press / February 27, 2011

CAIRO —Bahrain’s king ousted four Cabinet members yesterday as a prominent opposition leader returned from exile and urged the country’s rulers to back up reform promises with action. Thousands of demonstrators marched on government buildings in the capital calling on the prime minister to step down.

Two members of the royal family were among the replaced Cabinet members, a possible nod to protesters’ complaints that the ruling house of Al Khalifa holds too much control over state levers of power.

Bahrain’s prime minister — the king’s uncle, whose more than four decades in power have made him a focus of protesters’ calls for change — remains in his post.

Meanwhile, the return from self-imposed exile of Hassan Mushaima, a senior Shi’ite figure, could mark a new phase for an antigovernment movement in the tiny Persian Gulf nation that is a strategically important American ally....

Therefore all transgressions by the government shall be overlooked.

--more--"

"Thousands of protesters streamed through Bahrain’s diplomatic area and other sites, chanting against the country’s king and rejecting his appeals for talks to end the two-week crisis. At least three marches paralyzed parts of the capital, Manama, reflecting a growing defiance of calls by Bahrain’s rulers to hold talks to ease the showdown."

"Antigovernment protesters blockaded Bahrain’s Parliament and massed outside the state broadcaster in efforts to raise pressure on the nation’s embattled monarchy after two weeks of nonstop marches and deadly clashes.

The demonstrations appeared to be part of a strategy to hold rallies at sensitive locations in the capital, Manama, while maintaining a round-the-clock protest base in a landmark square of the tiny gulf kingdom.

--more--"

"The Shi’ite opposition groups in Bahrain seeking to loosen the Sunni monarchy’s grip on power said yesterday that they are ready to negotiate with the gulf nation’s rulers about political change after weeks of protests.  

Hey, maybe this could turn out okay.

The two-week standoff, in which seven protesters were killed, has rattled one of the wealthiest corners of the Middle East, where it was long assumed that oil riches would stave off the kind of unrest that has roiled Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen, and Libya.

Experts wrong again, huh?

Bahrain’s sectarian division, however, left it vulnerable.
 
I'm sick an tired of that canard.

The kingdom has a Shi’ite majority that has been ruled for 200 years by a Sunni dynasty that it accuses of discriminatory policies and political persecution (AP)."
 

Oh, I'm sure the government has been repressive. They all are.

"In Bahrain, opposition leader talks of compromise" by Michael Birnbaum, Washington Post / March 6, 2011

MANAMA, Bahrain — A day after protesters chanting antigovernment slogans packed downtown Manama, a key hard-line opposition leader said yesterday that he would be willing to make peace with the royal family— but only if it makes major concessions toward democracy.

Otherwise, protesters will look for new leaders, Hassan Mushaima, a leader of the antigovernment Haq society, said in an interview.

When he returned to Bahrain from self-imposed exile in Britain a week ago, some feared that Mushaima would take an uncompromising stand against the government, fragmenting the opposition.

But in the interview, he appeared to leave the door open to an eventual settlement with the Khalifa royal family.

Protesters “are looking for another regime . . . which can give them freedom,’’ Mushaima said. “If the people agreed with finishing our relationship with the family of the monarchy . . . I am going with the people.’’

But, he said, “If most of the people agreed for a constitutional monarchy, I’ll go with them.’’

He said that for him to go along with a plan to keep the royal family in place, he would want the current government to resign and for the royals to accept a new democratic constitution that would allow for Parliament to appoint the prime minister.

Protesters have turned Pearl Square in central Manama into a bustling miniature city of tents, some luxuriously appointed.  

Then it TRULY is a PEOPLE'S REVOLT!!! 

When Mushaima speaks at the square, he is greeted with adulation by many in the crowd.

Yesterday afternoon, shortly before thousands of protesters formed a human chain between Pearl Square and the country’s main Sunni mosque, the Ministry of the Interior announced that it planned to oversee the creation of 20,000 jobs.

--more--"  

I'm envious of the Arabs, dear readers. They really know how to protest!

"Thousands of Shi’ite opposition supporters blocked the entrance to the Bahraini prime minister’s office but failed to disrupt a government meeting yesterday as the campaign for reform in the strategic Gulf nation entered its third week.

The Shi’ite majority has long complained of discrimination and political persecution in the island nation, which is ruled by a Sunni dynasty.

The protesters demanded the prime minister step down because of corruption and a deadly crackdown on the opposition in which seven people were killed.

Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa, the prime minister and the king’s uncle, has been in power for 40 years.

Khalifa, who was presiding over a weekly meeting of government ministers, told the state-run Bahrain News Agency that changes are under way and the kingdom’s “reform march will continue.’’  

What a twisting use of words by the state s***ter!

The Shi’ite opposition groups have called for a constitutional monarchy, but some of the protesters camped out in the capital’s Pearl Square are demanding that the Sunni monarchy step aside altogether (AP)."  

That is what you have to do.

"Hundreds of members of Bahrain’s Shi’ite Muslim majority protested outside the US Embassy yesterday to appeal for Washington to back their campaign for greater political freedom.  

If I were a citizen of the world I wouldn't want our kind of help. 

Oh, look, a cruise missile on your doorstep!

The embassy said staff met with the protesters and reiterated the Obama administration’s commitment to the “partnership with the government and the people of Bahrain.’’ The statement also urged the parties to begin talks but said they will only be successful if they “lead to concrete actions and reforms.’’  

A resounding endorsement indeed!

The opposition supporters claimed that Washington is showing less support for the revolt in Bahrain than it did for the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt....  

And it didn't exactly embrace those.

--more--"

"A senior opposition leader said yesterday that he would support demands to oust Bahrain’s monarchy if that becomes the overwhelming sentiment of protesters whose chants have increasingly targeted the 200-year-old dynasty.  

If protesters are targeting the dynasty why are they the ones showing up dead?

The statement by Hassan Mushaima appeared to open the door for a more hard-line approach by key opposition factions that have not unified their stance on how deeply to press for reforms.

It also could further complicate appeals by Bahrain’s rulers to hold negotiations to ease the three-week-old unrest, which has left seven people dead and protesters staging daily marches in the strategic island kingdom.

--more--"

"Bahrain’s depleted Parliament warned yesterday against continued protests near government ministries, calling Shi’ite rallies for a leadership overhaul in the Persian Gulf kingdom illegal.

Bahrain has been gripped by three weeks of unprecedented political unrest inspired by the uprisings that toppled leaders in Tunisia and Egypt.

The country’s majority Shi’ites are trying to loosen the Sunni monarchy’s grip on power, staging daily demonstrations and marching on state and financial institutions they say symbolize political oppression and economic inequality.

Several remaining members of Bahrain’s 40-seat Parliament yesterday noted an increasing number of unauthorized gatherings in the capital of Manama. They demanded protesters comply with laws that require permission from the state’s security agency to hold public rallies.

--more--"

Looks like the government has finally run out of patience:

"Security forces reinforced by progovernment mobs fired rubber bullets and tear gas yesterday to scatter protesters near Bahrain’s royal palace, as a conflict deepened between Sunni Muslims backing the ruling system and Shi’ites demanding it give up its monopoly on power.  

Are you SURE it was JUST TEAR GAS?  

Isn't that a war crime? 

The clashes broke out after an hours-long standoff between tens of thousands of demonstrators facing down lines of riot police and Sunni vigilantes carrying swords, clubs, metals pipes, and stones.

--more--"

"Tens of thousands of Bahraini protesters encircled a royal palace yesterday and shouted calls for political freedom and the king’s ouster a day after a similar march triggered a violent response from security forces.

There was no repeat of the violent scenes a day earlier when police backed by pro-government mobs drove crowds back from a different palace by firing rubber bullets and tear gas in a melee that injured dozens, according to witness accounts.  

The gas must be obscuring the truthfulness of the AmeriKan media.

In contrast, yesterday’s demonstration — which coincided with a visit by Defense Secretary Robert Gates — was allowed to ring the palace without any police even in sight.

Gates said Bahrain and other Arab governments facing popular uprisings must move quickly toward democratic reforms or risk giving regional rival Iran a chance to exploit the instability.

They are not actually doing anything, but you know....

--more--"

"Thousands of antigovernment demonstrators cut off Bahrain’s financial center and drove back police trying to push them from the capital’s central square, shaking the island kingdom with the most disruptive protests since calls for more freedom erupted a month ago.

Demonstrators also clashed with security forces and government supporters on the campus of the country’s main university. The clashes fueled fears that Bahrain’s political crisis could be stumbling toward open sectarian conflict between the ruling minority Sunnis and Shi’ites, who account for 70 percent of the nation’s 525,000 people.  

I am TIRED of the DIVISIVE ZIONIST PRESS of AmeriKa turning DAMN NEAR ANY ISSUE into a CONFLICT when there is NO NEED! 

This is about GOVERNMENT REPRESSION of PEOPLE, not religious divides.

--more--"  

And Gates was in the region to coordinate this, wasn't he?

"Foreign troops enter Bahrain to assist rulers; Force includes Saudi soldiers" by Michael Birnbaum, Washington Post / March 15, 2011

DAMMAM, Saudi Arabia — A military force from Saudi Arabia and other Persian Gulf states entered Bahrain yesterday in an attempt to restore order as antigovernment demonstrations escalate....

Bahrain’s main opposition groups denounced the outside intervention and said it would push the kingdom closer to war.

I oppose all outside intervention wherever it is found.  

Doesn't democracy mean PEOPLE DECIDING for THEMSELVES?

“It’s like a declaration of war on the people who are engaged in a peaceful protest demanding basic rights,’’ said Jassim Hussain, a spokesman for Al-Wefaq, the main political opposition party. “They are viewed as occupation forces.’’  

He sure got all that right!!

He said that the presence of “foreign troops’’ made it more difficult for opposition groups to engage in negotiations with the government.

Isn't that why they went in?

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, who is making a 24-hour stop in Paris while on her way to the Middle East, did not comment on the Bahrain unrest. Asked about the possibility of a no-fly zone in Libya, she said only that she looked forward to a “comprehensive discussion’’ with world leaders over the coming days....

Protesters who have been calling for democratic reforms have successfully shut down large swaths of Manama, the capital city, and Bahraini security forces have been fighting back with tear gas and rubber bullets.  

The obfuscation continues. Gas cloud hasn't cleared yet.

Progovernment civilians have in some cases attacked protesters with sticks, knives, and swords; the protesters have responded with rocks and other objects, witnesses have said....

The Obama administration repeated its call for restraint in Bahrain.  

What, no cruise missiles to protect the people like in Libya?

“The United States is deeply concerned about yesterday’s violence in Manama and particularly troubled by reports that some demonstrators instigated violence, causing serious injuries. We are also aware of reports that Saudi Arabia has sent security forces support to Bahrain and that other GCC countries are considering doing so as well,’’ said Tommy Vietor, a National Security Council spokesman.  

But NOT UPSET that the ALLY used CHEMICAL WEAPONS on its OWN PEOPLE! 

Yeah, it was the PROTESTERS FAULT! 

The AmeriKan government is enough to make you as sick as the nerve gas!

“We urge our GCC partners to show restraint and respect the rights of the people of Bahrain, and to act in a way that supports dialogue instead of undermining it,’’ Vietor said.

Is anyone taking anything the U.S. says seriously anymore, because I'm not. 

Un-flippin-real!!

Frederick Martin, a spokesman for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, which is stationed in Manama, said in an e-mail, “We have a longstanding relationship with the Government of Bahrain, and they are a valued member of the Combined Maritime Forces. We continue to monitor the situation.’’

Authorities in Saudi Arabia, which is connected to Bahrain by a causeway, have looked at its smaller neighbor with growing anxiety, fearful that a victorious Shi’ite majority in Bahrain could embolden Saudi Arabia’s own Shi’ite minority in its nearby oil-rich Eastern Province.

They are also worried about Iran exploiting the situation off the Saudi coast, although American officials have said that they do not believe Iran has been involved in the Bahrain protests.

Yeah, good thing the neo-con globe-kickers from Usrael and their mouthpiece media don't exploit situations to lie us into wars or anything, huh?
 
Yup, IRAN has NOTHING to DO WITH IT, but they are CONSTANTLY RAISED as a THREAT!  

Man, am I EVER SICK of the Zionist War Press of Amerika!!!

On Sunday, a progovernment political society in Bahrain called for martial law to be imposed, the state news agency reported, while the White House issued a statement condemning the use of force....
 
Wait a day on the martial law.  

And the greatest purveyor of violence on the planet condemned the use of force? 

What are they doing in Libya?

--more--"  

I told you to wait a day:

"Bahrain’s king declares 3-month state of emergency; Two protesters killed by security forces, doctors say" by Ethan Bronner,  New York Times / March 16, 2011

MANAMA, Bahrain — The battle for control of this strategic island kingdom intensified yesterday as the king declared a three-month state of emergency to quell a Shi’ite uprising that spread throughout the capital and surrounding villages. Two men were killed by security forces, hospital doctors said.

A senior US diplomat arrived on an unplanned visit and sought ways to calm the chaos while pressing the government to exercise restraint.  

What, no cruise missiles to convince them? 

Long-simmering popular anger at the autocratic government and Sunni Muslim domination over a Shi’ite majority has been fueled by recent revolts across the Arab world.

“We are not an exact copy of what happened in Egypt, but we have been inspired by it,’’ said Redha Hayat, a petroleum technician at a protester checkpoint in the village of Sanabis.

Excuse me, but if PROTESTERS are OIL COMPANY EMPLOYEES then this is a PEOPLE'S REVOLT!!  

And yes, I think we all find Egypt to be an inspiration.

Also yesterday, Iran denounced the dispatch of 2,000 troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to protect Bahrain’s ruling class.

Since Sunday, much of Manama, the capital, and many surrounding villages have taken on the quality of a war zone, with overturned trash bins and piles of rubble blocking empty streets lined with shuttered malls.

Protesters and the police have set up competing checkpoints, schools are closed, gasoline stations have no fuel, cash machines are empty, and there are daily standoffs between tear gas-lobbing police officers and demonstrators.  

The cover-up continues.

Doctors at Salmaniya Hospital in Manama estimated that 200 people had been injured yesterday and said two had been killed in the village of Sitra in clashes with the riot police. One man, Ahmed Farhan, 24, had dozens of shotgun pellet wounds in his back and a gaping head injury. The second man, a foreign worker from Bangladesh, had tire marks from having been run over by security forces, the doctors said.

“The signs are that this is a coordinated attack,’’ said Dr. Ali al-Aradi, a hospital administrator. “These were not skirmishes. This was an attack on the protesters. These are the kinds of wounds we are seeing — shotgun and head injuries.’’

The government, meanwhile, accused the protesters of running over and killing a member of the security forces and directing automatic weapons fire at others.
 
The lies have become so outrageous it is really sickeningly beyond belief. 

 Those allegations were not verified but there was little doubt that the mood on the streets had hardened in the month since peaceful protests began in Pearl Square, the capital’s center. The demonstrators still chant “peaceful, peaceful’’ but some now also carry sticks of wood and steel.  

It's called DEFENDING YOURSELVES, a**hole!!!!

While the 2,000 troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were shown on television arriving on Monday across the causeway linking this island to Saudi Arabia, they were nowhere in evidence yesterday and seemed to have remained garrisoned in military barracks near the royal palace.  

So we are told.

Iran, the center of Shi’ite Islam that has sometimes called Bahrain one of its own provinces, objected angrily to the troops’ arrival.  

You know, like Iraq called Kuwait its 19th province. 

This war propaganda is really becoming difficult to subject myself to, readers. 

I can only apologize for presenting it to you. This is what New England's flagship paper is telling its citizens.

The state media called it an invasion and the Foreign Ministry spokesman told a news conference in Tehran that the presence of foreign troops in Bahrain was unacceptable.

There is little evidence the Shi’ite-led protests here have an Iranian sponsor or flavor. But the risk of Iranian interference is clearly on the minds of the Saudis and the Americans. 

I'm gagging on the war-promoting garbage, folks.

--more--"

"Bahrain moves to choke protest; Yemen crackdown injures hundreds of demonstrators" by Barbara Surk and Reem Khalifa, Associated Press / March 17, 2011

MANAMA, Bahrain — Backed by helicopters and tanks, soldiers and riot police overran the main camp of government protesters yesterday as part of a multipronged effort to choke off the movement nationwide.

Witnesses described helicopters firing on homes in surrounding villages in a hunt for Shi’ites and attacking doctors treating the wounded, while the government called the demonstrators “outlaws’’ for demanding an end to the 200-year-old Sunni monarchy.
 
I expect hearty U.S. criticism any moment.

The nation that once led the Middle East in entrepreneurial openness went into lockdown, its government propped up by troops from Sunni neighbors fearful for their own rule.

The unrest that began last month increasingly looks like a sectarian showdown....  

Keep that in mind for later.

Hamid Zuher, a 32-year-old protester who slept at the square, said riot police first moved in on foot. “They fired tear gas and then opened fire,’’ Zuher said....

The government said security forces came under attack from about 250 “saboteurs’’ hurling gasoline bombs and responded with tear gas. It denied live ammunition was used.  

We can instantly dismiss anything they say now.  

Un-flipping-real!!

Witnesses said at least two protesters were killed when the square was stormed. Officials at Ibn Nafees Hospital said a third protester died later. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity because of fear of reprisals.

A government statement said the only deaths during the raid were two policemen who were “repeatedly run over by three vehicles containing protesters.’’

The government did not say whether the offensive included soldiers from other gulf nations — a Saudi-led force that has grown to nearly 1,000.  

Not 2,000 as was reported earlier?

Hospital officials said they had taken in 107 injured from yesterday’s violence. Nine were in critical condition, officials in the hospital said on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters.

Their facility was later taken over by security forces, blocking physicians from either leaving or treating the wounded on site, the officials said.

“There are many people injured, but we can’t bring them to the hospital because of the travel restrictions, and doctors can’t come to us,’’ said Ali Marsouk, a resident of the Shi’ite village of Sitra, who said helicopters fired on homes in a three-hour attack.

Rania Ali, another resident, said police were charging after Shi’ites as they sought shelter.

“I saw them chasing Shi’ites like they were hunting,’’ said Ali, a Sunni whose husband is Shi’ite.

I'm sorry, what was that LAST BIT AGAIN? 

Yes, dear readers, it is THAT KIND of THING that makes me COMPLETELY DOUBT the "SECTARIAN" S*** the lying, Muslim-hating, Zionist War Media spews. 

The king’s announcement of a three-month emergency rule and the crackdown on Pearl Square sent a message that authorities will strike back in the strategic island nation, which hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet, a strategic force in the Persian Gulf.

Message received!

President Obama called King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa of Bahrain to express deep concern over the violence. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama stressed the need for “maximum restraint.’’  

Pfffffffffffffffttttt!!!!

The violence in Bahrain was among the worst in the Middle East yesterday....  

So let's bomb Libya.

--more--"

"Bahrain crackdown intensifies; Six opposition leaders arrested; UN help sought March 18, 2011

MANAMA, Bahrain — Bahrain arrested six opposition leaders yesterday, kept the main hospital surrounded by troops and tanks, and imposed a nighttime curfew on the center of its capital as it moved to the next stage of its crackdown on reform-seeking protesters, sending the political opposition into crisis.  

Obviously this is being done with AmeriKan approval then. 

And isn't surrounding the hospital a WAR CRIME?

A day after troops drove demonstrators from the main square and destroyed a month-old tent city there, popular unrest had been reduced to a few minor skirmishes in villages known as opposition strongholds. There was much defiant talk of keeping the struggle going, but also deep distress.

“We feel cornered and are trying to find our way out,’’ said Jalal Fairooz, a leader of the Wefaq opposition party in an interview at party headquarters. A group of Bahraini human rights groups appealed to the United Nations for help.

That is NOT the kind of help you want!   

Speaking of which, why no Security Council resolution?

The two most important opposition leaders arrested were Hassan Mushaima, who had returned from exile in London last month and promised to lead a Shi’ite Islamist party, and Ebrahim Sharif, a Sunni and leader of a secular party seeking a liberal democracy. Four other leaders were also detained.

Oh, so it REALLY isn't a SECTARIAN ISSUE at all, is it?

Yes, the LIES NEVER STOP when reading the AmeriKan press!!!

The government issued a statement saying those arrested had “called for the downfall of the regime and had intelligence contacts with foreign countries.’’  

That is always possible. The guy from London sure is suspect.

It said that during the recent unrest, those detained had “incited for the killing of citizens and the destruction of public and private property.’’  

Of course, when the government does that it is okay.

King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, who invited Saudi troops in to help and declared three months of martial law, made a surprise visit to the financial district of downtown Manama, the capital, to praise troops and press to restore a sense of normality. The stock market reopened but the vast majority of stores were shuttered, rubble still littered the streets and traffic was light. Most people stayed home.

The Obama administration continued to express distress at the Bahraini crackdown, but the widespread feeling here was that Washington’s objections were too soft.
 
Pffffffffffffftttttt!

“The American language should have been much tougher,’’ said Yousif Almuhafda, a spokesman for the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, said.

Bahrain is a key US ally. The Navy’s Fifth Fleet is based here and the Khalifa royal family has warm relations with Washington.    

And thus you can smash your own people without a problem.

--more--"

"In Bahrain, security forces tore down the 300-foot monument at the heart of a square purged of Shi’ite protesters this week, erasing a symbol of an uprising that’s inflaming sectarian tensions across the region.  

What a F***ING LIE, huh? 

Nothing like GOOD ZIONIST HYPERBOLE to really warm you up in the morning.

The monument — six white curved beams topped with a huge cement pearl — was built in Pearl Square as a tribute to the Sunni-ruled kingdom’s history as a pearl-diving center. It became the backdrop to the Shi’ite majority’s uprising after protesters set up a monthlong camp at Pearl Square in the capital, Manama.

--more--" 

"A convoy of Kuwaiti doctors and medical equipment was en route yesterday to Bahrain as Gulf neighbors pour more troops and aid into the violence-torn island kingdom that has become an arena for regional tensions. Protesters in Iraq jeered Saudi Arabia’s king as a slave of America and Israel for sending troops into Bahrain."
 
The IRAQIS SURE GOT THAT RIGHT!!!

"Bahrain’s opposition asked for UN and American intervention in the government crackdown on the Shi’ite protests trying to loosen the monarchy’s grip, in a brief protest yesterday in the capital that disbanded before police could arrive to break it up....

--more--"

"Bahrain’s king blamed a foreign plot for his nation’s weeks-long unrest, using veiled language yesterday to accuse Iran of fomenting an uprising by the Shi’ite majority in the Sunni-ruled island kingdom.  

Readers, I truly do not know how much longer I can read this s***.

The Bahrain opposition’s main demand is for a constitutional monarchy that would keep the royal family in power but would let people elect a government. Inspired by mass protests in Tunisia and Egypt that toppled the two countries’ presidents, it rejects accusations of influence by the Shi’ite powerhouse across the Persian Gulf.  

(Blog editor heaves a deep and heavy sigh)

“We don’t want Iranians to come. We don’t want a big problem in this small country,’’ senior opposition leader Ali Salman said Sunday, adding that the solution to the country’s crisis has to come from its people.

The king declared a three-month emergency rule and invited armies from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other Sunni-ruled Gulf states to help quell unrest in Bahrain, the home of US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

Iran has condemned the presence of the Gulf force in Bahrain and Shi’ites across the Middle East have been outraged by the deadly crackdown of protest that has killed at least 13 people.

--more--"