Corruption and cruelty is the mainstay of all these dictatorships, along with little or NO regard for the lives of Women, Children/Babies or the Elderly.
One might (I say MIGHT) be able to accept loss of life in conflict between Pro-government and Pro-democracy protesters. If indeed the so called pro-government protesters were not either released prisoners, promised a pardon by the state in return for their loyalty/ barbarianism against civilians or as was obvious in Egypt, persons paid by the state to go out to hurt/kill civilians on the promise of high financial reward and further reward from the state after the protesters have been defeated.
BAHRAIN:
Currently in Bahrain the monarch and self proclaimed King: Hamad Bin Isa Al-Khalifa has given the direct order to the Military to put an end to the Pro-democracy protests immediately.
The capital city Manama has seen terrible violence over the past 24 hours, during the night last night Wednesday, the Police under direct orders attacked sleeping protesters with rubber bullets, tear gas and batons.
Amongst the injured were Medics, Doctors and Nurses, one Doctor in hospital with severe injuries told ALJAZEERA that he was beaten whilst trying to give medical assistance to those injured by the security forces, when asked if he made the Police aware that he was a doctor, he replied: Yes I did and I was in uniform, they took me outside beat me with batons and then tied me up and beat me with a rifle butt.
In the main hospital in Manama where several of the dead were taken there was a young man on a trolley with part of his skull literally caved in, the accusation was that he had his head repeatedly beaten by police rifles. One female doctor could be seen clearly traumatised and crying with both fear and rage, she asked is this the government alleged use of proportionate force.
It has emerged that the scheduled Grand Prix (GP2)Bahrain GP has been cancelled due to the ongoing conflict and concerns about security. However, the Bahrain government has assured the GP association of Formula 1, that the first event of the Formula 1 season, the Bahrain GP WILL go ahead as planned on the 23rd of March.
The F1 President Bernie Ecclestone has admitted his concerns and also admitted that the cars and equipment for the upcoming event are already in Bahrain.
The current Foreign Minister of Bahrain has denied any undue use of force against the protesters at Pearl roundabout, stating that his government forces and the Police used only minimal force to remove the protesters. The latest reports are that there is up to 40 armoured vehicles plus personnel at or around Pearl roundabout.
YEMEN:
In Yemen there have been very similar scenes to those reported in Bahrain. Yemen is now into its 9th day of protests (Friday).
The President Ali Abdullah Saleh has accused the pro-democracy protesters of being ONLY Anarchists with the intention of causing mayhem, destruction and mindless violence.
Along with the government forces/Police an estimated hundreds of pro-government loyalists attacked the protesters with knives, sticks and other weapons, Police claim to have made over 50 arrests.
Thus far it is alleged that at least 2 people have been killed and up to 40 have been injured, 12 amongst the injured considered being very serious.
President Ali Abdullah Saleh, who has been in power since 1990, recently gave concessions to the people, such as declaring that he would not stand again as a candidate for election as President and neither would his Son.
However it is widely recognised that the previous election was rigged in favour of the President and therefore any concession on further elections would not be considered a serious gesture.
Fresh protests have been called for today Friday the 18th of February in what is being called: the Friday of Fury.
In another development, religious leaders have in unison called for the formation of a national unity government with the inclusion of religious leaders and opposition politicians, and a further demand for free and fair elections within six months.
During the latest protests an ALJAZEERA reporter/ Cameraman was attacked, hurt and his camera equipment taken from him by so called government loyalists during their attacks on Pro-Democracy demonstrators.
LIBYA:
Gaddafi has ruled Libya with an Iron fist for almost 42 years with very little signs of demonstration or anger from the people as a result of the possible severity of punishment.
Protesters in Benghazi claimed that the people shot with live rounds by Police, where NOT given any warning prior to the shootings.
TV has only showed footage of Pro-Gaddafi protesters in the streets, estimated to be between 3,000 and 5,000 strong with huge photos of the Libyan leader, calling on the leader to continue leading the country for the betterment of the people.
However there were no photos or footage of the Pro-Democracy demonstrators at all.
The same tactics used by Mubarak in the latter days of the Egyptian revolution, are being equally used in Libya. The government will not allow footage of the pro-democracy demonstrations to be shown on state TV thus creating the illusion to the outside world and Libyans in rural areas that the only protests are pro-government.
Reports from the demonstration activists claim that the pro-democracy protesters are made up of young adults between15 and 30 years old, Male and Female, along with Men and Women of all ages from 35 to 50 years, older men and women aged up to, in one case 79 years young.
Ironically, should the pro-democracy movement succeed in removing Gaddafi and his government from power; they will have achieved what even the great American military could not.
During the 1980’s, under the instruction of the US President, a bombing campaign was launched on the presidential palace to rid Libya of Gaddafi, which narrowly missed the Libyan leader, however two of his Sons were injured and one Daughter was killed.
United States Reaction:
In a similar way to the overthrow of Egypt’s Mubarak, the US is strangely guarded in their reaction to the reports coming from Bahrain, Yemen and Libya.
On the subject of Bahrain:
Hillary Clinton has reaffirmed the friendship that exists between the United States and the Bahrain Monarchy / Government, calling Bahrain a “Friend and ally” with a very friendly footnote, suggesting that all peoples have a right to expect democracy.
It must not be forgotten that the US sends approximately 19 million of aid to Bahrain and of course Bahrain is strategically important to the US in the Middle East as they have a number of military bases there.
On answering a question from a reporter as to why the US is immediately ready to make comments on Iran but not on Bahrain, Libya and Yemen, Tunisia or more recently Egypt.
President Obama denied that this was the case and said he and his office commented on Iran because of the brutal way the state security forces treat their citizens, pointing out that the Iranian government had killed several protesters...
Very little else has been added in official comment about Bahrain, Libya or Yemen by either President Obama or Hillary Clinton.
It appears the US intends to play the waiting game again like they did with Egypt.
Photos:
1. Bahrain King - Asia News
2. Pearl Roundabout - C4
3. Pearl Roundabout - AFP
4. Yemen President - The Guardian
5. Yemen Protest - World Bulletin
6. Gaddafi - ALJAZEERA
7. Libya Protest - Al Arabiya News
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