''Why Internet freedom is sacred''

From Indian Punchline
By MK Bhadrakumar

''The innocuous-sounding press release Friday by the State Department in Washington on the ‘Sentencing of Nabeel Rajab’ came as a surprise. It seemed the US broke its stony silence, finally, to condemn the appalling human rights record of its close Persian Gulf ally — Bahrain. 

However, it cannot be that the US is piling pressure for ’regime change’ in Bahrain, which is where the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet is based. 

So, why this press release? Why Rajab when scores of Shias were brutally killed while agitating for reform in Bahrain and Washington simply looked away? 

The point is, it’s all about Twitter. Rajab’s “crime” was that he twitted about Bahrain’s all-powerful, Saudi-backed autocratic prime minister. And he was given a 3-year sentence even before his lawyers could represent him. Rajab had over 1.5 lakhs followers on Twitter. ''

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''Unrest raging on in Bahrain''

From Daily News Egypt

''Security forces clashed with mourners at a funeral of a 16 year old boy in Al-Muharaq in Bahrain on 21 August, arresting more men in an ongoing crackdown on dissenters for which the Gulf Kingdom has been criticised by numerous human rights organisations.

Hussam Haddad was killed on the night of 17 August and pictures of his body indicate that he was severely beaten and shot at close range with birdshot, according to the Bahraini Centre of Human Rights (BCHR). Based on this evidence, the BCHR concluded the killing was intentional.''

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'Bahrain boiling but US will never allow democracy'

From RT.com

''Britain and Bahrain: mutual interests and the politics of protection''

From New Left Project

"For over a year protesters in Bahrain have demonstrated for democratic reforms, in the face of often brutal repression by the regime. British arms transfers to Bahrain continued throughout that period. This should not surprise. For nearly two centuries, Britain has been the guarantor of Bahrain’s ruling Al-Khalifa dynasty, and for much of the past century its security backbone. Time and again, British support has enabled the Al-Khalifa regime to withstand local agitation for greater political freedoms and human rights. Britain’s protectorate relations with Bahrain may have formally ended on 15 August 1971, but they live on through informal channels and personal relationships in the royal, military, and commercial spheres.  These have facilitated the upholding of authoritarian misrule, and they expose the hypocrisy at the heart of British policy in the wake of the Arab Spring.''

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Pepe Escobar: "Why Bahrain is not Syria"

"How poignant that the first anniversary of a true Arab pro-democracy movement in the Persian Gulf - then ruthlessly crushed - falls on February 14, when Valentine's Day is celebrated in the West. Talk about a doomed love affair. 

And how does Washington honor this tragic love story? By resuming arms sales to the repressive Sunni al-Khalifa dynasty in power in Bahrain. 

So just to recap; United States President Barack Obama told Syria's President Bashar al-Assad to "step aside and allow a democratic transition to proceed immediately" while King Hamad al-Khalifa gets new toys to crack down on his subversively pro-democratic subjects." 


from asia times....

''Bahrain protests erupt as Gulf state awaits Pearl revolution report''

from the guardian....

"Protests have erupted in Bahrain as government and opposition await publication of a potentially explosive and much-anticipated report on Wednesday on the Gulf island state's Pearl revolution this year.

Reports from the capital, Manama, described mounting tension as riot police fired teargas to disperse protesters, with one man killed in unclear circumstances and a photojournalist briefly detained".....READ MORE