Bahrain's Agony Continues 2 Years Later
Juan Cole | Informed Comment »
…The US government has been relatively low-key in condemning Bahrain human rights violations. The government leases the US a naval base at Manama as the HQ of the Fifth Fleet, which provides security to Gulf oil exports (some 20% of the world’s total). Also, Washington worries about expansion of Iranian influence, and the Sunni monarchy’s claims that the Shiite protesters have Iran links may give the Obama administration pause. Finally, the Saudi government is a hawk on the Bahrain crackdown, and is influential with the US.
The regime’s heavy-handed tactics may have pushed some Bahrain Shiites toward radicalism. Last week, the Bahrain government announced that Kuwait had helped it crack a budding terrorist cell, with links to Lebanon’s Hizbullah and to Iraq and Iran. Most Bahrain Shiites are peaceful and the majority belongs to the Akhbari school of jurisprudence that rejects the authority of ayatollahs, so the regime’s attempt to tag all Shiites (some 60% of the population) with the radicalism of a few is pure propaganda. >continue<
![While Bahrain Destroys Shia Mosques, U.S. Remains Quiet
In the ancient Bahraini village of Aali, where some graves date to 2000 B.C., the Amir Mohammed Braighi mosque had stood for more than 400 years — one of the handsomest Shiite Muslim mosques in this small island nation in the Persian Gulf.
Today, only bulldozer tracks remain.
[…] Authorities have held secret trials where protesters have been sentenced to death, arrested prominent mainstream opposition politicians, jailed nurses and doctors who treated injured protesters, seized the health care system that had been run primarily by Shiites, fired 1,000 Shiite professionals and canceled their pensions, detained students and teachers who took part in the protests, beat and arrested journalists, and forced the closure of the only opposition newspaper.
Nothing, however, has struck harder at the fabric of this nation, where Shiites outnumber Sunnis nearly 4 to 1, than the destruction of Shiite worship centers.
See also: Bahrain charges medics for aiding protesters](http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lkxibbTE701qebfjho1_500.jpg)
![Iran’s Blue-Collar Revolution
[the working class] have historically made up a significant portion of Ahmadinejad’s base. Their loyalty cemented with generous government largesse, they mostly stayed on the side of the president after the contested June 2009 election, when thousands of protesters took to the streets to denounce the results. Those discontents called themselves the Green Movement, drawn primarily from the ranks of the middle class, intelligentsia, and students. The underclass, still loyal to the regime and Ahmadinejad, became known as the Blues
… As its leaders understand, the Green Movement’s future hinges crucially on its ability to make common cause with the Blues. The continued deterioration of the economy creates that opportunity >read more<
Though the “The Blues are going Green” argument may be cause for hope, perhaps causing existential angst among the Basij “enforcers”, there may also be reason for dread. The crisis in Bahrain - featuring Saudi aid in the brutal marginalization of the 70% Shia majority - could provide a useful pretext for Iranian brinkmanship in the Gulf. It wouldn’t be the first time domestic political woes enticed leaders into working national aspirations toward an external focus.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lj9owhvXOV1qebfjho1_500.jpg)
