The Arab revolution has reached the tiny Gulf state of Bahrain, where Sunni rulers control a majority Shiite population. Since the 1990s, the United States has used Bahrain as a base for the Fifth Fleet, a military force for the Gulf region that currently consists of 6,100 marines and civilian personnel. The fleet is the core of Washington’s Iran containment policy. Will Obama allow this nation, too, to fall and forfeit our fleet’s foothold in the Arabian Gulf to Iran?
Western nations are following the Bahrain protests with concern: If the unrest spreads to the Shiite minority in neighboring Saudi Arabia, it could affect the world’s most important oil-producing region.
According to Der Speigel, an International German online publication, when German state governors, former chancellors or cabinet ministers visit the emirates and kingdoms along the Persian Gulf, the ambassadors in the respective countries like to say: “We are living in the eye of the hurricane here.” The states are seen as an oasis of stability, surrounded by rogue regimes and failed states. Rather, they were. For last two weeks, even the Gulf nations are no longer as calm as they used to be. Following the revolutions in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt, as well as popular protests in, Jordan and Yemen, the sea change in the Arab world has now reached the sheikhs.
Tanks have been out on the streets of Manama, the capital of Bahrain. The city had been due to host two rounds of the GP2 Asia Series car race — one in February, and one as part of the Formula One Grand Prix weekend from Mar. 11-13 — but both have been cancelled.
During a visit in December, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton praised Bahrain for the tentative reforms it had made to date. Now she has expressed her “deep concern” about the situation in the country. United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also reacted surprisingly quickly to the violence in the tiny nation.
Why is it that ONLY nations close or allied with the United States, other then Iran, are undergoing revolt. Any why is it ONLY those countries the Obama administration is abandoning?
About 70 percent of Bahrainis are Shiites. The Al Khalifa ruling family, however, is Sunni and loses no opportunity to present itself as the last bulwark against the mullahs in Tehran, who are Shiite. But the clerics in Bahrain are quite liberal and want nothing to do with figures like Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Nevertheless, Bahrain’s Shiites feel systematically disadvantaged. Very few are accepted into the civil service, and certainly not as police or army officers. Voting districts are carved up in such a way that Shiites never outnumber Sunnis in the parliament. Their religious and political leaders are harassed and periodically arrested. Bahrain straddles the same religious fault line that became visible in the Lebanese civil war 35 years ago and in Iraq five years ago.
Following a demand from protest leaders that they would not enter into any talks until troops had been pulled back, the government withdrew the military from the streets of Manama on February 19, followed by the police. The move allowed thousands of protesters to return to the Pearl Square roundabout. They remained there through the night, with supplies of food and electricity allowed through.
On the following Monday, the authorities arranged a counter-protest, with thousands of pro-government demonstrators gathering outside the Al Fateh mosque in Manama to support the monarchy. It was also announced that the Formula One Grand Prix due to be held in Bahrain in March had been called off by the crown prince. And in a bid to appease the protesters — who were already preparing for another big demonstration on Tuesday — the king of Bahrain announced plans to free some of the country’s political prisoners.
A senior opposition figure was also set to return to Bahrain on February 22. Hassan Mushaima, leader of the Haq movement, revealed on his Facebook page that he wanted to test if the government was serious about its offer of talks or if he would be arrested upon his return from exile in London.
Bahrain is not Egypt. The island nation has a smaller population than Munich, and more than half of its inhabitants are foreigners. Why, then, should the world care about this small country and its problems?
It shouldn’t, except for the fact that the world is dependent on oil, and the fact that two regional powers, Iran and Saudi Arabia, are both seeking to exert influence in Bahrain. The country is a domino at the very front of a line. The geopolitical consequences of a collapse of the regime in Manama would extend well beyond the region.
Ironically, all of this is happening in a country whose slogan is “Business Friendly Bahrain,” a country that likes to cultivate an image of being moderate and cosmopolitan, and which is known for its relaxed customs and complete lack of corporate taxes.
“We were standing on the edge of an abyss,” says Foreign Minister Sheikh Khalid bin Ahmed, who, like the majority of the cabinet, is a member of the Al Khalifa royal family.
The ruling clan is known for its tenacity. Prime Minister Sheikh Khalifa Bin Salman Al Khalifa has already been in office longer than former Egyptian President Mubarak was. In fact, the sheikh has been Bahrain’s only prime minister since the country gained its independence from Britain in 1971.
The Obama administration cannot allow Bahrain to fall into Iran’s orbit of influence. On Tuesday, Saudi Arabia sent tanks into Bahrain to restore order. The Obama administration is still talking about Muammar al-Qaddafi and Libya and is ignoring Bahrain. Why, is it because he doesn’t want to do anything to offend Iran? Is he going to allow it to fall under the iron-fisted control of the Islamic fundamentalists the way Jimmy Carter did Iran?
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