And then there were two: Libya and Bahrain. Tunisia and Egypt kick-started the Middle East revolution frenzy, and with success. Now Libya and Bahrain are at the forefront, but definitely in much more violent fashion. Success for any change is looking increasingly unlikely in both of this countries.
My last post relating to current events (no, not the "The Next Three Days") attempted to discuss the situation in Libya, where Qadaffi's forces are making in-roads against opposition forces (for those of you who maybe live in caves, or listen to Glenn Beck, that is not what we want) and I argued that a NATO-imposed (not just the US) no-fly zone should be put in place to aid the rebels. If we move across the Middle East the the Persian Gulf, we come to the tiny island nation of Bahrain, also experiencing high profile anti-government demonstrations. In Bahrain, the protesters seek reform of the current monarchical government. The King of Bahrain, who we will refer to as Hamad, as his name is just too damn long, showed what he thought of these calls for reform: He called on Saudi Arabia and the UAE to send troops into his country to help put down protests. That's right, he had to have his neighbors, both absolute monarchies as well, come and attack his own countrymen. I could make a corny joke here about good neighbors and State Farm Insurance, but this is bullshit. Dictatorial governments sending troops to help prop up other dictatorial governments is not what we want to be seeing, least not in the Middle East.
My understanding is that the reason Saudi Arabia, despite potentially facing unrest within its own borders (The Saud family will probably just throw money at the problem) was so willing to come to King Hamad's aid is because Bahrain is a Shi'ite majority nation, and apparently Shi'ites make up the bulk of the opposition. Shi'ites in actuality are in the minority in the Muslim world, and Saudi Arabia, the custodian of Islam's holiest places, is predominantly Sunni. Guess who is also majority Shi'ite though? If you guessed Iran, then you would be right. Word is that the Saudi's and the other Gulf states are worried that the protesters in Bahrain are acting as puppets for the long-bearded, creepy old men, and I guess the short-bearded mental patient (Ahmadinejad), in Tehran. This seems rather odd, according to Reuters the protesters are calling for equal rights and a constitutional monarchy. Those don't sound like the things that Iran would be craving. My suspicion is that the governments in the Arabian peninsula would hate to see the domino affect that North Africa saw. Tunisia begot Egypt and Egypt begot Libya. What would a successful revolution in Bahrain beget? I'm sure the Sheiks and Emirates would rather not wait and find out, so were more than happy to help Bahrain's King put down is own people.
I said in the last post what a shame it would be for things to turn back around in Libya, and the same is true for Bahrain, though it hasn't quite reached the scale of violence of Libya. The Middle East, and by default a large portion of the World's oil supply, has been under the control of dictators for far too long. Perhaps the developments in Bahrain are signs that the monarchs and dictators are getting nervous, and are beginning to close rank. We will have to wait and see what happens.
Quickly, I have been to Japan and must say it ranks as one of my favorites places (out of my not-inconsiderable experience-shout out to whoever guesses what movie that line is from), it is a beautiful country with friendly, good-willed, and hard-working people. Here is hoping to a quick recovery for the island nation. We here at the Four Corners are pulling for you, Japan.
My last post relating to current events (no, not the "The Next Three Days") attempted to discuss the situation in Libya, where Qadaffi's forces are making in-roads against opposition forces (for those of you who maybe live in caves, or listen to Glenn Beck, that is not what we want) and I argued that a NATO-imposed (not just the US) no-fly zone should be put in place to aid the rebels. If we move across the Middle East the the Persian Gulf, we come to the tiny island nation of Bahrain, also experiencing high profile anti-government demonstrations. In Bahrain, the protesters seek reform of the current monarchical government. The King of Bahrain, who we will refer to as Hamad, as his name is just too damn long, showed what he thought of these calls for reform: He called on Saudi Arabia and the UAE to send troops into his country to help put down protests. That's right, he had to have his neighbors, both absolute monarchies as well, come and attack his own countrymen. I could make a corny joke here about good neighbors and State Farm Insurance, but this is bullshit. Dictatorial governments sending troops to help prop up other dictatorial governments is not what we want to be seeing, least not in the Middle East.
My understanding is that the reason Saudi Arabia, despite potentially facing unrest within its own borders (The Saud family will probably just throw money at the problem) was so willing to come to King Hamad's aid is because Bahrain is a Shi'ite majority nation, and apparently Shi'ites make up the bulk of the opposition. Shi'ites in actuality are in the minority in the Muslim world, and Saudi Arabia, the custodian of Islam's holiest places, is predominantly Sunni. Guess who is also majority Shi'ite though? If you guessed Iran, then you would be right. Word is that the Saudi's and the other Gulf states are worried that the protesters in Bahrain are acting as puppets for the long-bearded, creepy old men, and I guess the short-bearded mental patient (Ahmadinejad), in Tehran. This seems rather odd, according to Reuters the protesters are calling for equal rights and a constitutional monarchy. Those don't sound like the things that Iran would be craving. My suspicion is that the governments in the Arabian peninsula would hate to see the domino affect that North Africa saw. Tunisia begot Egypt and Egypt begot Libya. What would a successful revolution in Bahrain beget? I'm sure the Sheiks and Emirates would rather not wait and find out, so were more than happy to help Bahrain's King put down is own people.
I said in the last post what a shame it would be for things to turn back around in Libya, and the same is true for Bahrain, though it hasn't quite reached the scale of violence of Libya. The Middle East, and by default a large portion of the World's oil supply, has been under the control of dictators for far too long. Perhaps the developments in Bahrain are signs that the monarchs and dictators are getting nervous, and are beginning to close rank. We will have to wait and see what happens.
Quickly, I have been to Japan and must say it ranks as one of my favorites places (out of my not-inconsiderable experience-shout out to whoever guesses what movie that line is from), it is a beautiful country with friendly, good-willed, and hard-working people. Here is hoping to a quick recovery for the island nation. We here at the Four Corners are pulling for you, Japan.
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