Skip to main content

a calm and sane atmosphere. Not.

Image
By
What the presence of those forces means is that dialogue can now take place in a calm and sane atmosphere.
 (final sentence of editorial in ArabNews)
Cognitive dissonance:  foreign troops arrive during demonstrations; own police kill unarmed demonstrators; and a calm and sane atmosphere?
Bahrain is now occupied by Saudi troops and UAE police.  Although they are not directly involved in killing Bahraini citizens, they are a clear sign of the weakness of Bahrain's Khalifa royal family compared to the Sa'uds.  The move was not even staged as an invitation -- rather, the troops simply moved, and Bahrain's foreign minister tweeted the move as a fact. 
BBC HardTalk presented a fairly illustrative talk today countering spokesmen for the Bahrain ruling council and the exiled opposition.  The pro-government politician/businessman simply repeated his talking-point: we don't want to kill people, we just want stability and security (to which any objective viewer responds -- that's easy for him to say, as he has all the guns and money).   The opposition politician finessed his earlier inflammatory rhetoric, and pointed out the peacefulness of the demonstrations and readily maintained the moral high ground.  
This correspondent notes a couple of points that seem to be much more pertinent than many U.S. onlookers realize: 1- in both Saudi and Sharia traditions, brutal physical force is an expected and legitimate part of life; and 2- the rulers and most people on this side of the Gulf are Very Afraid of Persia.  (After all, whose Gulf is it, anyway?)  They are inclined to see an Irani hand in every Shi'ite neighborhood, fomenting rebellion against the natural order of benevolent (Sunni) rulers.    Note that the Saudi foreign minister recently stated he would “cut any finger that crosses into the kingdom.”
ArabNews also notes approvingly that the US cited “..another example of Iran’s destabilizing activities in the region.” (ironically that supported Israel's claims of Iranian arms smuggling to Gaza -- maybe the enemy of my enemy is starting to be my friend?  No, Arab News is sure to include at least one negative article every day about Israel, thus maintaining its anti-Zionist bona fides.)

But back to Bahrain -- our weekend jaunts to drink a Guinness, watch a movie, eat a full breakfast?  They will return, but will be tinged with guilt over the price paid by hundreds, thousands of protestors squashed by intolerant and brutal regimes.   On the BBC interview, the Bahraini businessman referred several times to the need to protect expatriates and keep them from fleeing the country -- I fear that this brutal crackdown simply puts a lid on a pot of boiling aspirations.   We wonder what will happen next, and pray for calmer counsel to prevail.

A separate note, about a good new source of information: the Crossroads Arabia blog has insightful commentary from a US perspective.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My COVID journey, finally

By
11oct22 story of Covid: I flew to Des Moines for a mini-reunion of Thomas cousins; flew back on Monday the 3rd.  I did not wear a mask.  Evidently I should have worn a mask, as I later came down with Covid.  The infection could come from anywhere, typically airborne virus shed by someone in the communicable phase of the disease.   Throughout my airport and flight experience was quite calm and uneventful, so my guess is the most likely vector for the virus was the deplaning time – people are really eager to get out,  they are talking, pressing close together, straining to grab bags from the overhead compartment and coordinate with their partners, thus breathing heavily.  Very few people wore a mask.  I do not remember anyone coughing or sniffling or breathing heavily around me, but that deplaning process is always rather hectic.  I did not press to go quickly, but I did not want to delay my windowside seatmate, so I joined the crowd.  As it was, when I arrived at baggage claim, my suit
Post a Comment
Read more

Montpellier

By
  [23mar22] Another walking day: to the A rc de Triomphe , passing through quaint quiet attractive old neighborhoods, particularly the P lace de Marché des Fleurs.  Arc de Triomphe is spectacular, next to an equally impressive Palais de Justice , and the Promenade de Peyrou that has a great view of the surrounding hills and the aqueduct built by Peyrou to supply the city's fountains.  The Jardin des Plantes – oldest botanical garden in Europe – opens at noon, so we walk around to the Cathedral St.Etienne, with its obscure side entrance, but huge interior space, really huge and rather stark, in keeping with its 13 th century origin – though of course several later kings and bishops added chapels, stained-glass, and organ.  While there, the organ started up, providing appropriate sonic accompaniment to the surroundings (ref. My video).   We return to the garden to await its opening, chatting with some Chicago tourists (go Bears!).  The garden is very nice place for sauntering, and
Post a Comment
Read more

Riding the Bus often

By
From 201010 Saudi scenes It is ironic that this land of cheap gasoline has so much group transport -- buses. From 201010 Saudi scenes Our housing compound has a Toyota-Coaster bus that takes some to/from school (we usually go earlier and return later, on a similar bus that the school provides). Driver Yahya takes residents on the 90-minute trip down to the Big City shopping every Thursday morning. The above picture shows our group one Thursday, usually going to Ikea or the new Lulu's Hypermarket , or the Dhahran Mall. Coleman rides a different bus every day to and from school -- usually 100 minutes there, 80 minutes back.  His bus is evidently an old tourist bus, usually comfortable but a bit dusty.  The air-conditioning usually works too well.  I've ridden it with him several times, to attend business meetings at the district office. From 201010 Saudi scenes There he is, at 5:45am every morning, at the start of the bus run. Fortunately only about 20 students
2 comments
Read more