US Navy base in dictatorial Bahrain

This video says about itself:

PERVASIVE BRUTALITY ENGULFS BAHRAIN: The Ignored Bloodbath

Bahrain TV and Police caught ‘Red Handed’

Not for the atypical “Bread and Circus” crowd – Now not seen in a Sports Bar near you! Watch how the Bahrainian Reporter shuts off her mic as a screaming woman is attacked outside a hospital off camera by police, as one thug walks behind the reporter toward the woman, with the reporter pretending to lose audio to the studio.

By Robert Naiman in the USA:

“Convenient” Base Is Unexamined Excuse for U.S. Silence on Bahrain Crackdown

Posted: 10/13/11 08:27 PM ET

Pressure is building on the Obama administration to delay a proposed arms sale to Bahrain, which brutally suppressed its pro-democracy movement and continues to squash dissent, the Washington Post reports. The Pentagon wants to sell $53 million worth of armored Humvees and anti-tank missiles to Bahrain, a plan slammed by human rights groups, who want the U.S. to end its silence on the crackdown in Bahrain.

This week, five Senators — Sens. Casey, Durbin, Cardin, Menendez, and Wyden — weighed in against the arms sale in a letter to Secretary of State Clinton:

“Completing an arms sale to Bahrain under the current circumstances would weaken U.S. credibility at a critical time of democratic transition in the Middle East,” the senators wrote. “We urge you to send a strong signal that the United States does not condone the repression of peaceful demonstrators by delaying the possible arms sale until the Bahraini government releases its political prisoners, addresses the independent commission’s recommendations, and enters into meaningful dialogue with Bahraini civil society and opposition groups.”

In noting that the U.S. has been quiet on the crackdown in Bahrain, press reports usually mention the fact that the U.S. has a naval base there. In one sense, this is obviously a good thing: it’s a key piece of information, clearly, about possible U.S. motivations for silence. If this fact weren’t reported at all, one would have cause for legitimate complaint. But the way this fact is often cited gives the impression that it’s a foregone conclusion that the Administration can’t speak up about human rights in Bahrain because of the naval base.

Doesn’t this assumption deserve some interrogation? If we say boo, do we lose the base automatically? And even if we did lose the base, would that be so awful? And if losing the base were a big concern, might not it be short-sighted in the long run to tie ourselves so closely to the regime? If the Shia majority victimized by the regime perceive that the base is the reason for our silence, doesn’t this make it more likely that when democracy comes to Bahrain, a democratically-elected government will kick out the base? If the base were really so crucial, wouldn’t we consider that? Is the presence of the base a “get out of jail free card” for justifying current policy?

Shouldn’t these questions be considered before automatically assuming that “U.S. interests” demand our silence on the crackdown?

Meanwhile, the conspiracy theories about the not really believable “Iranian government-Mexican drug dealers Saudi ambassador murder plot” get nuttier and nuttier.

The New York Times reports:

Saudi Claims Alleged Iranian Plotter Also Orchestrated Bahrain Unrest

Washington and Iran: the reckless policy of provocation: here.

British Royal Navy officer hanged himself ‘by accident’ in Bahrain, inquest finds: here.