Rising Hegemon
In the tiny island kingdom of Bahrain, home to the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, thousands of demonstrators marched to call for reforms to their hereditary monarchy and clashed with police, who fired tear gas and rubber bullets. In Yemen, a key U.S. counterterrorism ally, government supporters armed with sticks and knives attacked pro-democracy demonstrators calling for the ouster of the country's dictatorial president, in the fourth straight day of protests in that troubled Arab nation.
But these oppressive dictatorships are our "freedom friends"! Just like Egypt.
And in Bahrain the first middle eastern nation found to have oil...and the first to see it start to run out...these protests threaten something truly important. Ironic symbolism, the year's first F1 race.
So world's eyes now turn to you Daytona.
[cross-posted at Firedoglake]
2 comments:
I was in the Navy during the Iran-Iraq war and we were sent to the Persian Gulf. Bahrain was the only place to buy beer on the Navy base. You could go offbase for hookers if you were a rich Japanese business man.
closer to saudi arabia?
Post a Comment