Bahrain: Shouting in the dark
Dear friends
We have seen extraordinary duplicity on the part of powerful Western interests throughout the events of the Arab Spring, from Washington's early defence of Mubarak to the continuing assault on oil-rich Libya by the US, British, French and Italian airforces.
Some may recall hearing or reading about the harassment and persecution experienced by Bahraini doctors who treated protesters at the Salamaniya hospital in the capital Manama earlier this year. The protests began, were brutally crushed by Bahraini security forces - with the support of Saudi troops - and have been virtually forgotten since.
Twenty of those doctors and their fellow nurses were sentenced by a Bahraini military court yesterday. Thirteen received sentences of 15 years for "crimes against the state." The remaining seven received sentences ranging from 5 to 10 years. Their crime was to speak critically about the brutality of the government attack on unarmed protesters that resulted in a flood of dying and severely injured civilians being brought to the hospital for treatment on March 16, 2011.
Yet again, the US has been conspicuously absent. It so happens that Bahrain houses the US Navy's Fifth Fleet with its 15 warships and aircraft carrier battle group. Over the past two years, hundreds of millions of dollars of deadly hardware have been sold to the Bahraini government by US armaments manufacturers. And another 53 million dollar deal is presently on the table.
This well produced, high quality 50 minute video documentary "Bahrain: Shouting in the Dark" was broadcast by Al Jazeera early last month. It shows much of what has been hidden from the rest of the world.
With best wishes