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The following content has been identified by the YouTube community as being potentially offensive or inappropriate. Viewer discretion is advised.
As I’ve noted before, the same has been done for even videos of completely peaceful marches in Saudi Arabia. You really have to wonder just who is able to mark such reports as “potentially offensive”?
What you see is the beating of three young, unarmed men by “security” forces – likely Bahraini though some reports say that the ones wearing masks may also be Saudi.
This treatment has become all too common in the streets of Bahrain as the government – with American nods and winks – continues it’s brutal crackdown.
This second video provides a particularly good overview of what conditions are like right now and the reporter, Yaara Bou Melhem of Australia’s Dateline, interviews some of the people whose stories we’ve been recounting over the past weeks.As we’ve mentioned, the Obama administration has been complicit in this crackdown – with major figures like Mullen and Gates meeting with the King on very friendly terms, Clinton whispering Iran fears, and Obama merely issuing a weak tea statement of “concern,” never once expressing even slight worry about the brutality of what we are seeing each day.
Two weeks ago, former ambassador Craig Murray noted:
A senior diplomat in a western mission to the UN in New York, who I have known over ten years and trust, has told me for sure that Hillary Clinton agreed to the cross-border use of troops to crush democracy in the Gulf, as a quid pro quo for the Arab League calling for Western intervention in Libya.
The hideous King of Bahrain has called in troops from Saudi Arabia, UAE and Kuwait to attack pro-democracy protestors in Bahrain.
Can you imagine the outrage if Gadaffi now called in the armies of Chad. Mali and Burkina Faso to attack the rebels in Ben Ghazi?
Today, Pepe Escobar has more in his latest for the Asia Times:
You invade Bahrain. We take out Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. This, in short, is the essence of a deal struck between the Barack Obama administration and the House of Saud. Two diplomatic sources at the United Nations independently confirmed that Washington, via Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, gave the go-ahead for Saudi Arabia to invade Bahrain and crush the pro-democracy movement in their neighbor in exchange for a “yes”
Escobar goes on:
As he notes, the US media, apparently like YouTube with it’s “warnings,” is avoiding coverage of the violence of our allies in Bahrain. Katty Kay of the BBC made it all very clear on the Chris Mathews show – video here –when she said we should be paying attention to Bahrain but that the White House:The al-Khalifa dynasty in Bahrain is essentially a bunch of Sunni settlers who took over 230 years ago. For a great deal of the 20th century they were obliging slaves of the British empire. Modern Bahrain does not live under the specter of a push from Iran; that’s an al-Khalifa (and House of Saud) myth. Bahrainis, historically, have always rejected being part of a sort of Shi’ite nation led by Iran. The protests come a long way, and are part of a true national movement – way beyond sectarianism. No wonder the slogan in the iconic Pearl roundabout – smashed by the fearful al-Khalifa police state – was “neither Sunni nor Shi’ite; Bahraini”.
What the protesters wanted was essentially a constitutional monarchy; a legitimate parliament; free and fair elections; and no more corruption. What they got instead was “bullet-friendly Bahrain” replacing “business-friendly Bahrain”, and an invasion sponsored by the House of Saud.
And the repression goes on – invisible to US corporate media. Tweeters scream that everybody and his neighbor are being arrested. According to Nabeel Rajab, president of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, over 400 people are either missing or in custody, some of them “arrested at checkpoints controlled by thugs brought in from other Arab and Asian countries – they wear black masks in the streets.” Even blogger Mahmood Al Yousif was arrested at 3 am, leading to fears that the same will happen to any Bahraini who has blogged, tweeted, or posted Facebook messages in favor of reform.
“would like that one to go away because there’s no real upside for them in supporting the rebellion by the Shi’ites.”
PS: One good note from Bahrain, blogger Mahmood Al Yousif, whose arrest we wrote about here, has been released.
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Possibly because YouTube is feeling the same heat as Facebook for hosting anything detrimental to the Motu’s and/or PTB’s status quo…?
Aloha and mahalo, Siun, it was an awesome Book Salon today…! *g*
Hey CT – it was a good discussion wasn’t it?
US/UK can’t make it’s case for the spread of democracy, when dictators turn weapons they got from us, on democracy demonstrations…
– Balkingpoints / www
That’s essentially what he’s been doing:
YouTube is really easily rolled this way. Videos of IDF attacks in Gaza get warning labels, too — sometimes they’re pulled outright — because of complaints from a certain quarter.
PW – you might want to check the source of that story a bit more carefully. Having dealt with right wing Hudson Institute in the past, I’m a bit surprised to see them quoted as an authority here … and given their support of folks like Dershowitz, I suspect you might also think twice.
I really hope folks watch each of the videos .. the first is upsetting but is what the protesters (and even just citizens trying to cross check points) deal with. The second is a very good roundup and it shows so much of what we’ve been describing.
I’ll add that my personal run-in with the Hudson Institute involved their attempt to force a business news service I managed to run news stories they provided claiming that “Mad Cow” disease was a plot by the Organic farmers … I kid you not.
It would have been funny but as part of their campaign, they tried to hurt the employment of a volunteer we worked with. It was nasty and agressive in ways I will never forgive.
“We have met the enemy and he is us.”
Walt Kelly
Our government – our “state” – is evil beyond measure.
Wowsers, that is truly sickening…! 8-(
I would add that much of that cite is historically accurate, the Lockerbie rhetoric is definitely wrong…! Ghaddafi, in his 40 yrs, has fomented rebellion within his neighbors borders… Sometimes he sided with the ‘winners’ and sometimes not…!
PW, we do agree to disagree on this Libyan fiasco, right…? *g*
Apparently, briefly US influence was able to reverse the repression an permit protests in Pearl Roundabout. Then, we needed something other than the presence of a naval base. And the US apparently dealt away Bahrain for Arab cover in Libya. The repression in Bahrain is pretty much like that in Syria. And unlike Libya we can still talk to the Khalifas as “friends”; and we still have a naval base that could be moved. Because of these, public statements mean less diplomatically, unless you really want to risk shutting down the ability to advocate change. Those are the dynamics of the situation. So if there is any movement, it will not be seen except as what happens on the ground–just like the brief relief from repression earlier. It just happened. When the US makes strong statements, it indicates that there is no longer potential openness to change. The unanswered question in all this is what have Clinton and Obama and Gates and Mullen done behind the scenes besides the quid pro quo of the Arab League vote. In short, regardless of whether something is being pursued aggressively or the US is sitting on its hands, what you will get for “friends” is weak tea statements. Remember that Mubarak finally got his “Buddy, you crossed the line statement” and complained about it in his final speech.
Another way of saying that with “friends” unless you are a fly on the wall you know only what actually happens. With less than “friends” you hear the public diplomacy, which still seems less than is merited. Only international pariahs merit full-throated condemnation. When Hillary Clinton says some leader must go, you can be pretty sure that the US is not the only nation with that position.
YouTube is owned by Google, and they want to ensure that they still have a presence in countries. They will shade things a little bit to please a government, but they will not do what China wanted done. It’s a lot like the subtle shifts in coverage by AJE when there is an AJ reporter or photographer in custody. Folks who are really interested in this information will not be deterred.
I think at this point, the White House would like the whole Arab Awakening to quickly sort itself out or go away. It’s distracting from the budget capitulation.
And like CT, I thought the Book Salon was excellent today.
Why does police state love me?
Thanks Tarheel – it was amazing that Bev arranged the Salon for today, eh?
… warning label ;)
As I’d remarked to Suz, last nite, the Salons do have the most fortuitous timing…! ;-)
I could post video after hideous grizzly video, with the warnings being necessary of Bahraini protests; because they’re that bad.
They also happen to happen within miles of the HQ of the US 5th fleet.
I eagerly await a Cruise Missile Liberal to explain to me exactly why, within a 10 minute drive of the US based command there in Manama, that the R2P doesn’t apply.
Amazing eh?
The State Doth Protest too Much
Not just Bahrain… The House of Saud is brutallizing their very own subjects, alongside the massive bribery, while still f*cking with the Yemenis too…! 8-(
I haven’t heard one good argument yet for “neglecting” Bahrain.
I’ve heard only very weak ones for Ivory Coast inactivity on the part of NATO, nothing about Yemen, and terrible ones for intervention in Libya.
Our interests clearly have nothing to do with the interests of the citizens of those countries …
oh, sure, leave humor out of it.
Here’s a more balanced consideration of the mercenary issue:
Has Gaddafi unleashed a mercenary force on Libya
The answer is yes but no one knows how large a force, nor how they are incorporated into the military. But in the Libyan context, they are just another occupation for which the Gaddafi regime sourced foreign workers in order to cement diplomatic ties. “I’ll deal with your job and income problem if you deal with my labor shortage problem” And Bahrain does the same thing. But in Bahrain the foreign workers in the military and security forces come from Sunni countries like Pakistan and are quickly given citizenship and preferred housing separate from the population.
But the reports also are subject to exaggeration. Any non-Libyan black is suspected of being a mercenary but most are foreign workers in other occupations. And in the push to state Libyan unity, the rebels will insist that few Libyans would treat their own people the way that Gaddafi forces treated the protesters. That is a partially ideological statement of national unity.
Thanks.
We’ve known from the beginning that Gadaffi has been using some mercs.
And as you say, Bahrain grants their mercs citizenship as part of their attempt to diminish the Shia majority, amongst other things.
But Bahrain also invited (or agreed to) an invading force of Saudi troops … which I see as slightly different.
People dying is not funny.
since when
tw3k – time to stop
People are dying, being beaten and jailed for just standing up, unarmed, to ask for basic rights. They deserve some respect.
This is a serious question, not a snarky one.
What would you have the folks at the Fifth Fleet HQ do in order to implement the “responsibility to protect” principle? And what other nations would you suggest we involve? And how exactly should we override the presumption of sovereignty in the international system. In the case of Libya, the UN Security Council made a determination that the responsibility to protect overrode the sovereignty claimed by the Gaddafi regime. Do you think, given the politics of the UN, that it would be effective for the US to itself bring a draft resolution about Bahrain to the UN Security Council? Should the resolution include the referral for investigation by the ICC of the regime for its attack on a hospital? Denial of medical care? The UN Security Council itself would have to make this referral (most likely based on a referral from the UN Human Rights Council) because Bahrain is not a signatory to the ICC.
Short of this time-consuming process (the response in Libya was fast-three weeks), what could US military at Fifth Fleet HQ actually do?
About Cote d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast): There are over 9000 UN troops plus additional French troops in Cote d’Ivoire. NATO’s mandate does not extend there unless the French invoke it (highly unlikely). NATO is in Afghanistan based on the fact that the US was attacked on 9/11, the US invoked a mandate, and NATO agreed that the attack had a source in Afghanistan. NATO is in Libya because so many NATO nations have interest in the stability of Libya (the refugee issue is huge for France, Italy, and the Netherlands, for domestic political reasons). And because after 3 days of wrangling the NATO Council decided to pick up the responsibility for coordinating the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1973.
Hear, hear.
Short answer: Nothing.
I don’t think we should do anything, anywhere, anymore. We have proven we don’t do intervention, nor nation building, well at all.
Nor does the US/NATO have sort of duty, or right, to be globocop.
In all honesty, the Fifth fleet will robustly defend the perimeters of the post, but, will not, nor should they, take part in quelling the protests…!
My answer is really no longer practical for the current situation but I would have the United States leave the middle east to the middle easterners. If we weren’t propping up despots, then whether the people would be demonstrating or not anyway at least wouldn’t be our responsibility. We’re complicit. Maybe some would argue that being complicit, we have a responsibility to the people trying to gain their freedom and that’s valid but history shows that this tyrant will be replaced by another tyrant. Where does it end? The Cold War is over. Why do we need a base in Bahrain except to protect the oil? Let the oil companies protect it. They’re the ones making money. Meanwhile we can spend a significant fraction of the defense budget developing alternatives. It’s my contention that the answer to slaughter is almost never more slaughter.
*heh* Xe does have a ‘navy’ that Big Oil could hire to protect their tankers…! ;-)
Exactly! They already get tax subsidies, most of them don’t even pay taxes and now the United States military is their own personal defense force? That’s fascism.
On Bahrain, well you should be perfectly satisfied with US policy there.
On NATO, it does not have the duty or right to be globocop. It is limited to the European theater in its concern; the excursion into Afghanistan was from Bush invoking the “we wuz attacked” mandate. And the Mediterranean is in its legitimate area of operations.
On the US, we sort of inherited it from the British during World War II, did not really know what to do and decided to go whole hog during the Cold War, which was framed as a non-fighting world war. (Nonfighting only if you were in the right parts of the world). And old habits are hard to break after being ingrained for 44 years. We are in need of a major rethinking of US national security institutions, which fundamentally haven’t changed in 64 years. Especially as we no longer have the resources to be globocop, even if assigned to be.
A system to prevent any one nation being globocop will most likely look like a series of interlocking mutual security agreements. Currently there is NATO, the African Union, the Commonwealth of Independent States, the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, ANZUS, the Organization of American States. NATO and the African Union have experience in interventions. By “interlocking”, I mean that one or more nations are members of more than one group, allowing them to mediate issues between groups. For example, Russia is an observer at NATO, a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States, and a member of the Shanghai Cooperation Group. The US is a member of NATO, the OAS, and ANZUS. These mutual security agreements tend to be regional; the Shanghai Cooperation Organization no doubt because of its membership has been discussing regional stability of Afghanistan once the US leaves.
And then there is the UN Security Council.
Finally, someone has to be globocop of international waters and airspace. The first require bluewater navies; the second long-range aircraft. The US has been doing a good bit of this (suppressing piracy for example) for years. It is a function that must be picked up if the US is going to back off of it. Will we see a Blue Helmet force for this?
It ain’t easy being in a declining empire. And the rest of the world is not ready to swap US empire for Chinese empire or any other empire. So does the global security structure look like chaos, empire, regional mutual security pacts, or UN institutional control. And how many nations will sign on to which structures.
Idle question: How about protecting protesters from repression?
*heh* And upset the applecart…? Are ya kidding…? ;-)
Leaving the Middle East as you say would require a huge transformation of the US military away from oil–essentially killing the oil-military ouroborus. But a declining empire (we really don’t have the funds for an empire any longer) has to withdraw deliberately. The “Arab Awakening” presents us that opportunity so long as we don’t taint a regime with our imprimatur. Finding the global security structure that comes next will be a huge diplomatic problem over the next couple of decades. All of these regional international bodies will be a big part of that. Responsibility for security in the Middle East should devolve to the Arab League, for example. That is going to require a more active Arab League than before.
I think it is a long-term mistake to permit corporations to build armies and navies. Nations through UN institutions are going to have to get a grip on transnational corporations pretty soon. It’s gonna be one whale of a fight but the implications of corporate imperialism without nations makes corporate imperialism with nations look stable. Imagine a war between Exxon and BP, driven by competing security firms.
Ding. Ding. Ding.
You simultaneously make, and miss my point.
For any cop to be legitimate, the good guys must always be protected, the bad guys always prosecuted.
Once inconsistency of prosecution/protection is introduced, so is the legitimacy of the cop.
Anyone looking at this through lens of the paternalism of US exceptionalism doesn’t get this. But the naked eye does.
Extending the cop metaphor – you seem to be forgetting about jurisdiction.
No I’m not; I’ve been specifically claiming the US has no business in Libya or elsewhere.
Just to add to your comment and it is just an observation. Libya reportedly uses mercs while the U.S. has Blackwater and their ilk.
After many years dealing with and doing business with those living in the “mid-east – – to include Pakistan”, I have given up trying to apply logic to what happens in the mid-east.
But I was curious as to why little was said about http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/reconsidering-the-goldstone-report-on-israel-and-war-crimes/2011/04/01/AFg111JC_story.html where Goldstone noted that Hamas refused to allow/initiate/co-operate with investigation of reported war crimes by members of Hamas or by those under its political control.
Indeed little was said about Hamas declaring itself against freedom for Arabs if they made the choice to be born in Syria //s
Instead we discuss a report – whose principal now dis-owns it because he finds the facts reported were not facts – and we have a book whose author takes those now “not facts” and tells us the implication of each “non-fact” – as in Israel is evil (something that may or may not be true – but which is not decided by a report of what is best called allegations for which there is either no proof or where there is “contradictory proof”).
Siun – if you have any insight in the reasoning behind the Hamas decision to toss the protesters in Syria in the garbage can as they back the government of Syria, I appreciate hearing it. Conversations with those in the area over the years regarding Hamas sure did not prepare me for that decision.
I agree.
siun says-
“…you really have to wonder just who is able to mark such reports as …”
why, siun, the same sort of folks as the monitors working the “fdl” portion of the firedoglake website.
monitor/ordinary hard-working volunteer folks who have marked my comments as spam and withdrawn my ability to login to any part of fdl,
monitor/ordinary hard-working volunteer folks who have deleted entire comments i have made without an explanation.
unless and until youtube or firedoglake train their monitors not to be vigilantes,
and not to play favorites with insider posters when they are criticised strongly by
outsider commenters,
and not to play favorites when outsider commenters comment in a vein contrary to the prevailing wisdom,
then inappropriate, information- restricing, opinion-restricting “rules” will carry the day against wide-open discussions of contentious issues – at youtube or at fdl.
You might as well ask why the king doesn’t sleep in his own dungeon; the dungeon is for the serfs.
As i read through all your comments, talking about me and my people and my village as it was shown in the report remembering last night as my mothers need some necessary items from the shops and i have risked the mecenaries bullets shooting everything that moves at the dark, as i left my mother house see the front doors and the living room doors been destroyed by masked armed security taking one of my family away to hold the whole family hostege so no one will speak or out in the street as our beloved will be killed, as i am passing through those smashed doors, moved in dark got the items to my mother as she was awaiting crying knowing the risk that i am taking to have those essential items delivered to her, as i left this morning she was checking me together with my brothers sisters that those masked security animals they did not kill any of us last night. I was crying as i am leaving home, hoping that this will the last day we live through such fears.
few months back i was carrying out as one of the team designing the bridge for Bahrain 5th NSA base in Juffair, trying my best to employee my engineering skills to have the bridge designed going through all the quality checks to have the bridge for my friends the american in Juffair NSA Base sounds and safe for their use and considering human lives and their safety is the top important issue in my work. As i walk in teh Base in Juffair feel happy to see people from the united state working with me as i leave back to my village telling my family the nice thing about the great American people.
As everybody else in Bahrain specially the village of Juffair about 100 m;s away from the base yesterday the Saudi regime thugs came to destroy their village as they done 5 days ago to my village ” this all documented videos, pictures taking not by the people some of the pictures were taking by the Army themselves showing their wahabies media in saudi how they have free hand and absolute freedom to kill destroy and steal belongings and rape and humiliate The people of Bahrain”.
I have been around the world and graduated from University of London, lived my life as a liberal always keep my pricipal and beleives that the international human rights noble values of justice, equality, freedom and right to Elect an accountable government to look after our daily lives and to defined the human rights noble values of every individual, i share and care about human around the world, so as my peace loving nation.
Yes it is very good that you or some of you have the opportunity to live amongst us, and work with and us in Bahrain, in Juffair, Mina salman and Bahrain International Airport, and as tenant amongst our communities, we have never heard about one problem, the American and the bahrainies have always and will always will live together and welcome each others, and care for each others.
Our stand and our fight today is for Justice, Equality, Freedom and democracy, values that the American will be prouds off, if they help a nation to acheive, unlike any where else “Libiya” in bahrain the American has all the means, but what is needed to save the human being lives of the peacefull Bahraini, is telephone call from American president will save people lives.
Ahmedradhi,
Thank you so much for telling us of your experiences and your fight for Justice, Equality, Freedom and Democracy.
You are so right that a telephone call is all that the president would need to do and it is shameful that he has not done precisely that.
I have been very moved by the strength and honor of the Bahraini people in this fight and hope some day soon to visit a truly free Bahrain!
Please feel free to contact me directly at media dot firedoglake at gmail dot com with any news or to discuss further.
Thanks yes i will
But your support in your reply just now said it all
thanks i will be telling my mother that how Great people of the world are.
Right now the holicapter just roaming in the top, to start todays round of fear.
Stay safe insha’allah!
And please let me know how you and your mother are.
Oh, I do get your point. My point is that the pressure needs to be put on the shape of the global security structure in the near future, and not to get fixated on the fact that it is so effed up now. Points of law exist only if the law has indeed matured to accept that point. International law really in its infancy as an institution, and its largest failing has been the question of who enforces it. And it is still the case that that gap is filled by the strongest empire. Which at the moment is the US, but in twenty years could be China, or some other country. Unless international law matures very quickly. It is very imperfect now because the US and Russia and China in particular seek exceptions for themselves. Now I guess the UK and France will also be seeking exceptions for themselves.