via auzubillah
February 3rd, 2012, in Manama, Bahrain, people continued to demonstrate against the U.S.-backed monarchy. (Photo REUTERS/Caren Firouz)
The majority of people in Bahrain are Shi-ite Muslims and they are ruled by a brutally repressive Sunni Muslim monarchy supported by the United States. Bahrain provides a base for the U.S. Fifth Fleet. Bahrain is also adjacent to Saudi Arabia, the world’s leading oil producer, where the U.S.-backed monarchy is “fearful that a victorious Shia majority in Bahrain could embolden Saudi Arabia’s own Shiite minority,” according to Michael Birnbaum in the Washington Post (although that phrase was quickly removed from his article). The Obama administration is using a legal loophole to continue selling weapons to the Bahraini monarchy, in addition to demonstrating support and partnership
Update: Two U.S. citizens with a group called Witness Bahrain (Huwaida Arraf and Radhika Sainath) have been arrested and deported from Bahrain three days before the February 14th anniversary of last year’s protests. Witness Bahrain includes activists from Iowa, California, Illinois, Minnesota, Massachusetts, and Virginia.
