The Nation (Pakistan)
Former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger emphasized that a democratic change in Bahrain did not serve the interests of his country, highlighting once again the western double standard towards the Arab revolt, the daily Die Welt reported Monday.
Speaking at a round-table discussion on global affairs in Berlin, Kissinger said it’s ‘not in our interests’ for Shiites to take over power in Bahrain since this could lead to ‘the breakup of Saudi Arabia.’
He conceded the upheaval in Bahrain and other Arab Persian Gulf countries was a ‘strategic and at the same time moral problem’ for America.
The silence of the world, and particularly the US, in the face of the murderous Al-Kalifa repression is galling to ordinary Bahrainis who oppose the crackdown, who atch the world condemn rulers in Libya and Yemen without a mention of Bahrain which is also home to the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
While Washington initially urged Bahrain’s government to negotiate with the opposition, it has issued no strong condemnation of Bahrain’s use of violence and intimidation since the middle of March, when Saudi Arabia sent more than 1,000 troops into Bahrain to help the despotic Al-Khalifa regime quell the protest movement that started in February asking for democratic reforms.
The US refusal to condemn massive human rights abuses committed by the Bahraini security forces while condemning such abuses in Libya and Yemen has undermined any credibility it had with Bahrainis.
Human right groups have complained that the White House has been publicly mum amid reports that Bahrain’s Sunni-led government is waging a violent and bloody crackdown — destroying Shiite mosques, illegally detaining and torturing dissidents, attacking medical personnel to prevent them from treating wounded protestors, abusing women and girls, and expelling journalists from the tiny island kingdom.
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