Bahrain foreign minister on D.C. charm offensive
By Josh Rogin – October 26, 2011 – 6:38 PM Share

Bahrain’s government is under pressure — not just from protesters in Manama, but also from parts of the Washington foreign policy community, who want to delay U.S. arms sales to the country. Bahraini Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed al-Khalifa has been in town for over a week meeting with officials and lawmakers to assuage U.S. concerns over the kingdom’s domestic crackdown, and sat down for a lengthy interview with The Cable.

Khalifa’s message was clear: The Bahraini government is sensitive to international concerns about its treatment of protesters, pledges to follow the recommendations of an upcoming commission report on its actions, and wants to reinforce that the international community should not lose sight of the broader security situation in the region, characterized by the Iranian threat.

“I’m here to see our friends in the administration and Congress to try to explain what’s happening in Bahrain,” he said. “We are just before the issuance of the commission of inquiry’s report. I’m here to show our commitment to that, how we will accept it and do all that is necessary to implement it.”

That report, being written by Bahraini Independent Commission of Inquiry (BICI), was established by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa and is chaired by human rights advocate and professor M. Cherif Bassiouni. It is expected to be released on Nov. 23. Bassiouni has faced some criticism for making statements that appear to be to conciliatory to the regime, but he recently promised his report will give the Bahraini government “some bitter pills to swallow.”

After five U.S. senators wrote to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier this month to protest the pending $53 million sale of armored Humvees and missiles to Bahrain, the State Department wrote a letter to Congress last week linking the arms sale directly to the BICI report.

Khalifa said his government has been alarmed by congressional opposition to the arms sale, but said that he trusts the Obama administration to judge the outcome of the commission’s report fairly. He also argued that a delay in completing the arms sale would not be in the interest of regional security.

“What worries us is that we don’t need to delay any requirement for the necessary architecture to protect the region. Bahrain is a cornerstone of that,” he said. “That’s what I’m talking about here and I’m finding very listening ears.”

Of course, one component of that emerging regional security architecture is the Peninsula Shield Force, made up of dozens of tanks and approximately 40,000 troops that came to Bahrain via Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE during the height of the unrest in March. Those forces are still there but are “purely to deter external threats,” Khalifa maintains.

Opposition groups claim that 30 protesters have been killed by the government during its domestic crackdown, and more than 1,000 have been arrested. Independent organizations such as Human Rights Watch have reported that the government has employed brutal tactics, including using masked thugs to sweep up lawyers and other activists in nighttime raids.

The Obama administration has several interests in Bahrain, the fact that the U.S. Fifth Fleet is stationed there being chief among them. Bahrain is also a client state of Saudi Arabia and policymakers have voiced fears that a victory by the protest movement would strengthen Iranian influence in the country.

Khalifa didn’t meet with any of the senators who signed the letter, but he did meet with Sens. John McCain (R-AZ), John Kerry (D-MA), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Mark Kirk (R-IL), Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Rep. Steve Chabot (R-OH). …more

The U.S. State Department announced Oct. 14 that it was putting the Bahrain sale on hold until a government commission set up by King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa in June to investigate Manama’s harsh crackdown on protesters demanding the end of the Sunni monarchy. It’s more than likely the report will exonerate the Bahraini government, which would clear the way for the Pentagon to complete the $53 million sale. quagmire

Arms sales to Mideast under the gun
Oct. 24, 2011 – UPI

MANAMA, Bahrain, Oct. 24 (UPI) — Amid growing calls for halting arms sales to repressive Arab regimes, the U.S. administration has delayed a planned $53 million deal with Bahrain. But it’s a token gesture at best and is expected to go through eventually.

Not surprising since U.S. officials disclosed in September that the United States had secretly extended a defense agreement with the tiny Persian Gulf kingdom, a key regional financial hub, in 2002 that will run until 2016. The Pentagon declared the agreement, reached in 1991, is classified and declined comment on the extension. Because it’s not a full-blown defense treaty, the agreement didn’t require approval from Congress. The pact allows the United States access to bases in the island state, strategically located in the middle of the Persian Gulf opposite Iran, and the headquarters of the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet. That’s a powerful U.S. military force in the volatile region and its importance grows as the U.S. military withdrawal from Iraq moves toward completion Dec. 31.

The U.S. State Department announced Oct. 14 that it was putting the Bahrain sale on hold until a government commission set up by King Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa in June to investigate Manama’s harsh crackdown on protesters demanding the end of the Sunni monarchy. It’s more than likely the report will exonerate the Bahraini government, which would clear the way for the Pentagon to complete the $53 million sale.

It includes 44 Humvee armored vehicles, several hundred TOW anti-tank missiles with associated equipment and support programs. Primary U.S. contractors are AM General and the Raytheon Co.
The United States clearly has strategic interests in Bahrain and doesn’t want to see the Al Khalifa monarchy fall as that would jeopardize U.S. bases in Bahrain and boost Iran’s influence.

The U.S. Navy is extending its naval base in Manama, which supports more than a dozen U.S. warships. The Navy has taken over the Mina Salman port, which will be large enough to berth Nimitz class aircraft carriers. The Navy has been in Bahrain since 1973, when the British pulled out of the Persian Gulf, and has built a minor naval station into one of the most crucial bases in the region.

According to the Marine Times newspaper, the U.S. Marine Corps plans to locate one of two new Marine Expeditionary Brigade headquarters in Bahrain under the U.S. Central Command.

Manama authorities claimed the mass protests, mainly by the kingdom’s downtrodden majority Shiites, were instigated by Iran, which has long claimed the island state as its territory.

The revolt took place as the Arab world was convulsed by uprisings by pro-democracy protesters that have toppled the presidents of Tunisia and Egypt, both U.S. allies, and overturned the regime of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, who was killed by rebel fighters.

Other uprisings are taking place in Syria and Yemen, with some 5,000 people killed since January, most of them by the forces of regimes they seek to topple. Western human rights organizations claim the weapons used by these repressive regimes, with records of large-scale human rights abuses, were provided by U.S., European and Russian governments and defense companies.

These groups demand tighter regulation of arms sales to such regimes. Amnesty International said Oct. 18 that many of the world governments calling for political reforms and human rights in the Middle East were the very ones preventing it by selling weapons to those regimes. Amnesty’s report on arms sales to despotic regimes listed Austria, Belgium, Britain, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Russia and the United States as the main suppliers since 2005 to the countries — Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen — covered by the study.

Britain has said it plans to tighten export regulations to halt the sale of weapons, ammunition and tear gas to regimes that maintain police states and abuse human rights. But, like the Americans, Britain and its European partners are coming to rely heavily on military exports to maintain production lines and research and development at a time when defense budgets are being slashed because of the global economic slowdown. So it wasn’t surprising that when British Prime Minister David Cameron visited the gulf in February, when the Arab uprisings were getting into full swing, a posse of executives from U.K. defense companies went with him. …source

Ignoring Human Rights, Defense Dept. Considers Selling Weapons to Bahrain
by Zachary Foster – 24 October, 2011 – policymic.com

Last week, Amnesty International published a report urging the international community to ban arms sales of any kind to countries in which there is a substantial risk that these arms will be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international human rights law.

The report analyzed arms transfers to Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria, and Yemen since 2005, finding that the principle weapons suppliers were Austria, Belgium, Britain, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and the United States.

The evidence is at times disturbing. In 2009, Finland authorized the sale of sniper rifles to Bahrain for “demonstration purposes.” Egyptian security forces (mostly from the Ministry of Interior) killed hundreds of peaceful protestors with shotguns and automatic weapons obtained from the U.S. government as well as other U.S. commercial suppliers. Libya used Spanish-made MAT-120mm mortars in the city center of Misrata – weapons that are altogether prohibited by the Convention on Cluster Munitions. These and thousands more weapons sales, the report documents, have enabled tyrants in the Middle East to slaughter their own people.

To the credit of the West, in most cases the U.S. and European states froze contracts or revoked licenses to states that began using their weapons en masse against their own people.

Still, exceptions can be made for friends. A September 14 Department of Defense press release noted a possible Foreign Military Sale to the government of Bahrain, which had requested 53 million dollars of military equipment, including 44 Armored High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles, a variety of wire guided missiles, Night Sight Sets, spare parts, and other support and test equipment. Perhaps some of the tanks and armored vehicles used in the February 17 raid on peaceful Bahraini protesters — in which five people were killed and 250 injured — were damaged and in need of urgent U.S. government repair before the next round of protests broke out?

The State Department, in response to pressure from Congress and other NGOs, recently announced a “delay” in the shipment of new arms to Bahrain pending the results of an international commission investigating “alleged” abuses by the Kingdom’s security forces. Is Foggy Bottom incapable of conducting its own investigation? Is there not enough independent evidence of flagrant human rights violations to “cancel” the shipment altogether?

The main recommendation of the report, however, is not to prohibit arms sales to erstwhile violators – something about which there seems to be general consensus (with the possible exception of the Defense Department) – but rather to establish “objective and non-discriminatory” criteria “designed to prevent arms transfers where there is a substantial risk of serious violations occurring” in the future.

How it is possible to establish “objective” criteria to predict which countries will commit “serious” violations in the future? If these criteria were so easy to develop, why didn’t Amnesty publish this report a year or two ago? Amnesty could only conceive of producing such a priori criteria after violations have taken place.

The inevitable risk – one acknowledged in the report – is that politicians will exploit this kind of law to punish some states and reward others, for reasons that may or may not have anything to do with the potential for human rights violations (if such a potentiality is even possible to determine). Short of banning the sale of any kind of arms to anyone for any reason, I think the Amnesty recommendations need a great deal more deliberation – including public debates over the objective criteria – before U.S. lawmakers consider accepting them. …source

BAHRAIN
Small arms – Austria (€28,709), Belgium (€5,643,483), Finland (€13,500), France (€1,254,772), Germany (€87,862), Switzerland (SFr292,804), the UK (£1,065,795)6 and the USA ($929,904) all authorised the transfer of small arms to Bahrain, including assault rifles, sniper rifles, semi automatic and non-automatic firearms, and shotguns.

Smooth-bore weapons over 20mm – Austria (€384,000), France (€1,628,630), Italy (€6,796,430)7, and the UK (£1,458,000) authorised the sale of equipment under the category of smooth bore weapons over 20mm that covers grenade launchers, riot guns used for firing tear gas and other projectiles, or machine guns, for example. The problem is governments usually do not report on exactly what equipment was sold under the reporting categories in their annual reports on arms exports and despite asking for clarification on what was sold no further information has been obtained to indicate the type of weaponry allowed.

EXAMPLES OF DEADLY FORCE
Riot police and soldiers fatally wounded seven people between 14 and 18 February. Security forces used live ammunition, sometimes at close range, fired medium-to-large calibre bullets from high-powered rifles, and apparently targeted people’s heads, chests and abdomens. ‘Ali ‘Abdulhadi Mushaima’, aged 21, suffered multiple gunshot wounds from being shot by the riot police while at a demonstration on 14 February in al-Daih village, east of Manama. He died soon after in hospital. ‘Isa ‘Abdulhassan, aged 60, died instantaneously from a massive head wound caused by a shot fired probably from less than 2m away. Mahmood Maki ‘Ali, aged 23, and ‘Ali Mansoor Ahmed Khudair, aged 52, were shot dead from within 7m. ‘Ali Ahmed ‘Abdullah ‘Ali al-Mo’men, aged 23, died in hospital of multiple gunshot wounds. ‘Abdul Redha Mohammed Hassan, aged 20, died in hospital after also being shot in the head from close range.

full report HERE

They cited Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Britain and the U.S. as the top suppliers of arms since 2005 to the five Arab Spring countries covered in the report — Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen. The equipment cited in the report included small arms; smooth-bore weapons over 20mm; ammunition; bombs, rockets, missiles and explosives, armored vehicles; and toxic agents.

Exporters Armed Arab Spring Crackdown
Written by David Rosenberg – October 18, 2011 – The Media Line

Repressive regimes had all the equipment they needed to quash protests, Amnesty Says

Many of the world’s governments calling for change and human rights in the Middle East were playing a key role in blocking it by selling arms to the region’s repressive regimes, Amnesty International said in a report on Tuesday.

Egypt, whose security forces killed 850 people and left thousands of others injured in 18 days of protests before President Husni Mubarak was forced out of power, bought or approved to buy millions of dollars worth of sub-machine guns and armored vehicles from Germany in the years beforehand, as well as assault weapons, tear gas and ammunition from the United States.

Amnesty cited 17 countries in Europe and North America that sold arms and equipment to despotic regimes with records of humans rights abuses that could be – and, when Arab Spring unrest erupted 10 months ago, were – used against civilians. The London-based human rights organization urged the world’s governments to adopt a systematic and comprehensive system for governing the global arms trade.

The sales recorded by Amnesty in its report Arms Transfers To The Middle East And North Africa: Lessons For An Effective Arms Trade Treaty were relatively small and involved relatively unsophisticated weapons. But Brian Woods, manager of arms control at the organization’s international secretariat, said they enabled governments to repress protests and rebellions.

“You don’t need a jet fighter or a submarine to violate human rights. You can do that with rubber-coated bullets, tear gas, pistols and sniper rifles. We’ve seen it on our television screens,” Wood told The Media Line.

Although the governments of the Middle East and North Africa routinely score low on the observance of human rights, the Arab Spring unleashed an unprecedented wave of killings, arrests and repression. The United Nations estimates that some 3,000 have been killed in Syria in a rebellion that shows no sign of ending. In Libya, fighting probably left more than 10,000 dead – two thirds of them on the rebel side before strongman Mu’amar Al-Qaddafi was ousted in August. In Yemen, some 1,800 have been killed in fighting.

As governments were quelling rebellions with arms often bought from abroad, Western leaders were urging them to observe human rights and belatedly imposing arms embargos, the report’s authors asserted.

They cited Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Italy, Russia, Britain and the U.S. as the top suppliers of arms since 2005 to the five Arab Spring countries covered in the report — Bahrain, Egypt, Libya, Syria and Yemen. The equipment cited in the report included small arms; smooth-bore weapons over 20mm; ammunition; bombs, rockets, missiles and explosives, armored vehicles; and toxic agents.

“Governments that now say they stand in solidarity with people across the Middle East and North Africa are the very same as those who until recently supplied the weapons, bullets and military and police equipment that were used to kill, injure and arbitrarily detain thousands of peaceful protesters in states such as Tunisia and Egypt,” said Helen Hughes, Amnesty’s principal arms trade researcher. …more

U.S. monitors end use of sold weapons
Published: Oct. 20, 2011 – UPI

WASHINGTON, Oct. 20 (UPI) — Washington supports Bahrain’s right to defend itself, though any military agreement includes monitoring of end use, the U.S. State Department said.

Washington put a $53 million arms agreement with Bahrain on hold to wait out a report from an independent commission monitoring the human rights situation in Bahrain.

Amnesty International, in an assessment of arms transfers, criticized nations like the United States, Russia and several European countries for supplying weapons to regimes that later responded with force to anti-government protesters.

Mark Toner, a spokesman for the U.S. State Department, said Washington supports Bahrain’s right to self-defense.

“Whenever we conduct these kinds of sales, whether they be to Bahrain or elsewhere in the world, we always include an end-use monitoring component that allows us to see if these are being used for the purpose for which they were intended,” he added.

Bahrain called in security support from members of the Gulf Cooperation Council for help in responding to a Shiite uprising against the Sunni regime early this year.

Toner added that it could be “a matter of months” before vetting procedures regarding arms sales are completed.

The Pentagon in September notified Congress of the proposed sale of armored vehicles and wire-guided missiles to Bahrain. …source

US links Bahrain arms deal to human rights report
19 October 2011 – BBC

The US says it will wait for the findings of a human rights commission before pursuing a $53m (£34m) arms deal with the Gulf kingdom of Bahrain. The US state department said it shared misgivings voiced by congressional representatives about the treatment of civil rights protesters. The commission is due to report by 30 October on a crackdown by Bahrain’s Sunni rulers on protests led by the country’s Shia majority.

Bahrain is home to the US Fifth Fleet. State department spokesman Mark Toner said the US would look “closely” at the forthcoming human rights report. “We’re going to continue to take human rights considerations into account as we move toward the finalisation of this deal,” he said.

He added that the arms would be for “external defence purposes” and that several procedural steps remained before the weapons could be delivered.

Assistant Secretary of State David Adams wrote to Democratic Senator Ron Wyden, a critic of the arms deal, that after the publication of the report the US would also “assess the government of Bahrain’s efforts to implement the recommendations and make needed reforms”. “We will weigh these factors and confer with Congress before proceeding with additional steps related to the [deal],” he wrote. …source

State Dept. acknowledges Congress’ concern about Bahrain arms sales, cites human rights probe
By Associated Press, October 18, 2011 – Washington Post

WASHINGTON — The State Department said Tuesday it will consider a special investigation of alleged human rights abuses in Bahrain before moving ahead with $53 million in arms sales to the violence-wracked nation.

In a letter to Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., and public statements, the department said it shared congressional concerns about Bahrain’s treatment of protesters and would await the results of a special inquiry established by Bahrain King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa. That commission’s report to the king is due Oct. 30.

At least 35 people have died since Bahrain’s Shiite-led majority began protests in February seeking greater rights from the ruling Sunni monarchy in the strategic nation, which is home to the U.S. Navy’s 5th Fleet.

“That’s something we would look at closely,” State Department spokesman Mark Toner said of the commission’s report. “We’re going to continue to take human rights considerations into account as we move toward the finalization of this deal.”

Wyden and Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., have introduced a resolution blocking the arms sale, which includes Humvees and missiles. At least a half-dozen senators, including Wyden, have written to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton criticizing Bahrain’s human rights violations and resistance to calls for reform. They have said completing the arms sale would weaken U.S. credibility amid democratic transitions in the Middle East.

David S. Adams, assistant secretary for legislative affairs, wrote Wyden that President Barack Obama and Clinton have spoken publicly about the shared concerns about Bahrain and have urged the government “to hold accountable those who have committed human rights violations, implement needed reforms and engage its citizens and be responsive to their aspirations.”

Toner said several procedural steps still remained before the U.S. could deliver the weapons to Bahrain. He noted the sale pertained to equipment for Bahrain’s “external defense purposes.”
…source

U.S. finalizes arms deal with Bahrain
Published: Oct. 18, 2011 at 8:56 AM

MANAMA, Bahrain, Oct. 18 (UPI) — A top U.S. diplomat confirmed Tuesday the United States has finalized a $53 million weapons deal with the Persian Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain.

Stephen Seche, deputy assistant secretary of state for Arabian Peninsula Affairs, said the deal is part of a move to defend Bahrain from aggression, Gulf News reported.

Stability in Bahrain is vital to the United States and its coalition partners in the war against terror. Ships of the U.S. Navy Fifth Fleet and other navies uses its port and coordinate their anti-terror operations from Bahrain.

In a related matter, Seche said the United States was looking forward to the findings of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry scheduled for release Oct. 30.

The panel was set up in June to investigate rioting that occurred in the kingdom during February and March. Thousands of people have been interviewed by the commission in an effort to find out what really happened. …source

Bahrain PM Says Supports Human Rights, As US Arms Deal In Offing
Written by: Eurasia Review – October 17, 2011

Bahrain’s Prime Minister Prince Khalifa bin Salman Al-Khalifa stressed Sunday his country’s aims to promote human rights and bolster global security and stability, reports Bahrain state media.

The statement made to a US Congress delegation comes amid reports a US arms deal with Bahrain could be linked to claims of human rights violations. A US State Department spokesperson confirmed Friday that Bahrain is negotiating a $53 million contract with Bahrain for “armored high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles, better known as humvees and TOW missiles to go on them” aimed at protecting the country from a potential attack “or nefarious activity by countries like Iran.”

According to BNA, Al-Khalifa, “stressed the importance of dialogue-as a strategic choice – and the protection of human rights and liberties as the cornerstone of Bahrain’s reform policies.”

BNA reported “that the US Congress delegation led by House of Representatives member Donald Payne acknowledged Bahrain’s efforts to embark on democracy and promote reforms steadily. They also lauded the Government’s efforts in this regard, ensuring Bahrain’s pioneering democratic and reform strides.”

On Friday, US State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland acknowledged that the State Department had received a letter from a number of members of US Congress regarding the sale, to which she responded, “As you know, human rights is an issue that we take into account when we look at missile sales. In this case, this is a notification about future intent. This sale doesn’t – there’s a timetable, and quite an extended one, for when these things might be delivered, and we will continue to take human rights into consideration as we make future decisions about this.”

Nevertheless, Nuland said that the sale is designed to support the Bahraini military in its external defense function, “specifically in hardening the country against potential attack or nefarious activity by countries like Iran, et cetera, and we do have an interest in Bahrain and our other Gulf partners being able to be strong militarily vis-à-vis the regional challenges that they face.”

“So again, this is a notification. No transfer decisions have been made. Human rights will be taken into account. We are discussing this with the Congress. We are also discussing this with the Bahrainis as well as the full docket of human rights issues, and we are continuing to look at things,” Nuland said.

At the Friday press conference, in response to a journalist’s questions if the State Department was expecting an invasion from Iran Nulan declined to comment.

When asked if it’s safe to assume that the intent will be used as a bargaining chip or a leverage with the Bahraini Government, conditional on the human rights situation, that the US is not going to deliver the arms unless there is a change in the human rights situation, Nuland responded, “I don’t think that’s an accurate way to portray this. This is a foreign military sale for use against an external threat. However, whenever we sell military equipment, we have to – we hold countries to high human rights standards. So we are watching intently the work of this independent Bahraini commission. It will make its report. The Bahraini Government will need to take steps to address what is found. And as I said, we don’t make foreign military sales without taking human rights considerations into account. But I wouldn’t characterize this the way you have.”
http://www.eurasiareview.com/17102011-bahrain-pm-says-supports-human-rights-as-us-arms-deal-in-offing/

Bahrain Arms Sale Scrutinized in Whitehouse Press Briefing

During yesterday’s State Department daily press briefing, the Bahraini arms sale came under heavy scrutiny and criticism. State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland noted “that this sale is designed to support the Bahraini military in its external defense function, specifically in hardening the country against potential attack or nefarious activity by countries like Iran, et cetera, and we do have an interest in Bahrain and our other Gulf partners being able to be strong militarily vis-à-vis the regional challenges that they face.”

Yet, when further pressed about the issue of making sure once the arms are delivered, how the U.S. will confirm they are not used internally, Nuland noted “We do have in all of these sales, and including in this one, end-use monitoring agreements where we are allowed to go in and monitor how this equipment is being used; is it being used for the purpose that we agreed to when we agreed to the sale.” A follow up question was asked about the arms sale being used as a bargaining chip for the Bahraini to change their human rights record, the press secretary responded “I don’t think that’s an accurate way to portray this. This is a foreign military sale for use against an external threat. However, whenever we sell military equipment, we have to – we hold countries to high human rights standards.” Nuland further pressed the issue of the sale will only be used for external use and a monitoring system will be in place, but gave no further detail about the issue of human rights or actual accountability.
…source

‘US arms sales to Bahrain rise’
Jun 11, 2011 – PressTV

The US increased its military sales to Bahrain just before Manama began its brutal crackdown on protesters in February, says a report by the US State Department.

The annual report that provides sales figures between the US weapon manufacturers and foreign governments showed a USD 112 million increase in military sales to Bahrain between 2009 and 2010, The Washington Post reported.

In total, the US government has approved USD 200 million in military sales to the Persian Gulf kingdom during this period.

Previously, the sales included military hardware for aircraft and military electronics. However, in 2010, the US government also approved the sale of USD 760,000 in rifles, shotguns and assault weapons to Bahrain.

Since the anti-government demonstrations began in mid-February this year, the Al Khalifa regime has confronted the demonstrators with armed military and police, firing live ammunition. Scores have been killed and hundreds injured.

This comes as the West has remained silent on the Al Khalifa regime’s massive crackdown on the anti-government protesters.

Maryam al-Khawaja, activist from Bahrain Center for Human Rights, in a conference in Berlin on Friday, criticized the “double standards” of the West regarding the “non-stop campaign of state terror” committed by the Al Khalifa regime.

“In Libya, you saw foreign troops coming in to protect and save people from their government who is killing them; in Bahrain, you saw foreign troops coming in to save and protect the government from its people who are unarmed, and who are demanding things like human rights and freedoms and democracy,” she said.

Bahrain is a key US ally in the Persian Gulf region and hosts the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

Chris Bambery, the Middle East analyst, said in an interview with Press TV on Friday that Bahrain is also “a major banking center for British and American finance.”

In 2009, the first year of US President Barack Obama’s term, Washington sold an overall of USD 40 billion in military hardware to countries in the Middle East and North Africa.

This is an increase from the final year of former President George W. Bush’s term in 2008, when the US State Department approved USD 34.2 billion in military sales.

US Resumes Arms Sales to Bahrain
By Aaron Ross – Sep. 23, 2011 – MotherJones

Less than three months after including Bahrain on a list of human rights offenders requiring the United Nations’ attention, the Obama administration seems to have changed its mind. The US now believes Bahrain is “an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East,” according to a statement from the Defense Department, which intends to sell $53 million worth of military equipment and support to the Gulf state, including bunker buster missiles and armored vehicles.

“This is exactly the wrong move after Bahrain brutally suppressed protests and is carrying out a relentless campaign of retribution against its critics,” said Maria McFarland of Human Rights Watch, which flagged the sale yesterday. “By continuing its relationship as if nothing had happened, the US is furthering an unstable situation.”

McFarland was referring, of course, to the Bahraini government’s crackdown earlier this year against peaceful protesters, primarily Shiites, who momentarily captured the West’s attention with their demands for greater political, social, and economic rights from the ruling Sunni monarchy. In response, state security forces killed over 30 people and arrested some 1,400 more. Many were reportedly tortured.

The heavy-handed tactics succeeded in crushing the initial wave of protests, but the situation remains volatile. Police continue to violently repress anti-government activists; on Friday, they fired rubber bullets and tear gas at protesters during a demonstration ahead of tomorrow’s parliamentary by-elections.

With the exception of its statement at the UN and tepid condemnation from the White House, the US has refrained from publically criticizing its longtime ally, which hosts the Navy’s Fifth Fleet. In 2010 alone, the US approved more than $200 million in arms sales to Bahrain. Although the proposed $53 million deal is the first since last November, it will almost certainly go through, a Defense Department spokesman told Mother Jones. That’s because Congress would have to pass specific legislation to stop the sale—an unusual, if not unprecedented, action.

How exactly selling arms to this island kingdom of around a half-million citizens will “contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States,” as the Defense Department announcement claims, is unclear. The State Department, to which DOD referred that question, has yet to respond.* But whatever the explanation, McFarland argues, the move casts a shadow on the US’s professed support for the ideals of the Arab Spring. “It will be hard for people to take US statements about democracy and human rights in the Middle East seriously when, rather than hold its ally Bahrain to account, it appears to reward repression with new weapons,” she said. …source

UK tightens arms export controls after Arab Spring
By Adrian Croft – LONDON – Thu Oct 13, 2011 – Reuters

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain will tighten its arms export rules so it can swiftly halt sales of weapons, ammunition and tear gas to countries where there has been a sharp deterioration in security, the government said on Thursday.

The move is a response to criticism during the Arab Spring uprisings that Britain had recently approved the export of crowd control equipment that could have been used against demonstrators in countries such as Libya and Bahrain.

Prime Minister David Cameron faced censure for a trip in February to the Gulf on which he was joined by executives from defence companies and other businesses.

“We will introduce a new mechanism to allow ministers to respond more rapidly and decisively to the outbreak of conflict or to unpredictable events like the Arab Spring, by suspending licensing,” Foreign Secretary William Hague told parliament.

Britain said in February it was revoking more than 50 arms export licenses — including tear gas and ammunition licenses — for Bahrain and Libya whose security forces were at that time cracking down on protests, killing and wounding demonstrators.

Some arms export licenses for Egypt and Tunisia were also revoked.

A parliamentary committee said in April that both the 17-month-old coalition government and its Labour predecessor “misjudged the risk that arms approved for export to certain authoritarian countries in North Africa and the Middle East might be used for internal repression.”

The committee’s report highlighted a potential conflict of interest between the coalition government’s goal of boosting British manufactured exports, including weapon sales, and its commitment to uphold human rights.

Hague said in July that a review had concluded there was “no evidence of any misuse of controlled military goods exported from the United Kingdom” during the Arab Spring, but that more work was needed on how Britain’s arms control system operated.

Hague said on Thursday the government planned to introduce a new system which would allow “immediate licensing suspension to countries experiencing a sharp deterioration in security or stability.”

“Applications in the pipeline would be stopped and no further licenses issued, pending ministerial or departmental review,” he said.

Respect for human rights was already one of the mandatory criteria for approving arms export licenses, he said.

However, under the proposed new system, the Foreign Office would provide more information on the human rights situation in a country and ministerial oversight of licence applications would be increased, Hague said. …source

U.S. Arms Bahrain While Decrying Russian Weapons in Syria
By Thalif Deen – IPS

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 11, 2011 (IPS) – Peeved at Russia’s Security Council veto derailing a Western- sponsored resolution against Syria last week, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice implicitly accused the Russians of protecting the beleaguered government of President Bashar al-Assad primarily to safeguard their lucrative arms market in the Middle Eastern country.

But around the same time, the United States was evaluating a 53- million-dollar weapons contract with Bahrain, where political unrest has claimed the lives of 34 people, mostly civilians, at least 1,400 others have been arrested, and more than 3,600 dismissed from their jobs for participating in street demonstrations demanding a democratic government.

“The U.S. government appears hypocritical when it condemns the use of force against Syrian protestors but condones similar behaviour in Bahrain,” Dr. Natalie J. Goldring, a senior fellow with the Center for Peace and Security Studies in the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, told IPS.

Sadly, she said, the administration of President Barack Obama is on shaky ground when it lectures other countries about their arms transfers.

“Its recent announcement of proposed weapons sales to Bahrain signals business as usual, at a time when we should be doing the opposite,” she said.

The proposed arms contract, which has triggered strong protests from human rights groups, includes 44 armoured high mobility multipurpose wheeled vehicles (HMMWVs), wire-guided and other missiles and launchers, along with related equipment and training.

Maria McFarland, deputy Washington director at Human Rights Watch, said, “It will be hard for people to take U.S. statements about democracy and human rights in the Middle East seriously when, rather than hold its ally Bahrain to account, it appears to reward repression with new weapons.”

Goldring pointed out that Ambassador Rice said the opponents of the U.N. resolution would rather sell arms to the Syrian regime than stand with the Syrian people.

“Transferring weapons to Bahrain leaves the U.S. government vulnerable to the same accusation that we would rather sell arms to the Bahrain regime than to stand with the people of Bahrain.” she added.

The Obama administration would be in a much stronger position to influence other countries behaviour if it stopped selling weapons to countries that abuse their citizens’ human rights, Goldring said.

Although a majority of the Security Council members – nine out of 15 – voted in favour of last week’s resolution, qualifying it to be adopted, the two vetoes by Russia and China negated the positive result.

The draft resolution, which strongly condemned the continued grave and systematic human rights violations by Syrian authorities, drew positive votes from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, France, Gabon, Germany, Nigeria, Portugal, the UK and the United States.

The countries abstaining were India, Brazil, South Africa (collectively known as IBSA) and Lebanon.

The resolution, which was co-sponsored by France, Germany, Portugal and the UK, also called on Syria to immediately cease the use of force against civilians.

If Syria failed to do so within 30 days, the Security Council would consider “other options”, a euphemism for economic and military sanctions.

Pieter Wezeman, a senior researcher in the Arms Transfers Programme of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), told IPS Russia is Syria’s most important arms supplier.

In the past five years, he said, Russia delivered an estimated 36 Pantsyr-S1 mobile air defence systems and a quantity of Igla-S man portable surface-to-air missiles.

All indications are that more is on order and to be delivered, including reportedly 24 MiG-29SMT combat aircraft, a Bastion coast defence system with Yakhont missiles, several Buk longer range surface-to-air missile systems and an unknown number of YAK-130 combat trainer aircraft.

“Altogether the Syrian orders make up a significant amount in revenues for the Russian arms industry,” Wezeman said. …more

Congress gears up to fight arms sales to Bahrain
By Josh Rogin – October 5, 2011 – Foreign Policy

Congress and the NGO community are gearing up to fight the Obama administration’s plan to sell $53 million worth of weapons to Bahrain, which is proceeding on schedule despite that country’s crackdown on protesters.

The State Department argued in its Sept. 14 notification to Congress that the proposed sale will contribute to U.S. national security “by helping to improve the security of a major non-NATO ally that has been, and continues to be, an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.”

The administration is planning to sell Bahrain 44 armored, high-mobility Humvees and over 300 advanced missiles, 50 of which are bunker-buster missiles similar to those sold secretly to Israel in 2009.

“Bahrain will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense,” the notification reads.

But the government of Bahrain, led by King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, has been engaged in a months-long struggle with a predominantly Shiite protest movement. Opposition groups claim that 30 protesters have been killed by the government and more than 1,000 have been arrested. The government also called in a Saudi-led force in March that included dozens of tanks to bolster their position, effectively putting the country on lockdown.

Independent organizations such as Human Rights Watch have reported that the Bahrain government has used brutal tactics, including using masked thugs to sweep up lawyers and other activists in nighttime raids. Today, the government announced new trials for 20 medics whose long jail sentences provoked outrage in the international community.

“In Bahrain, steps have been taken toward reform and accountability, but more are required,”
President Obama said in his Sept. 21 speech at the U.N. “America is a close friend of Bahrain, and we will continue to call on the government and the main opposition bloc – the Wifaq – to pursue a meaningful dialogue that brings peaceful change that is responsive to the people.”

The Obama administration has several interests in Bahrain, the fact that the U.S. Fifth Fleet is stationed there being chief among them. Bahrain is also a client state of Saudi Arabia and policymakers have voiced fears that a victory by the protest movement would strengthen Iranian influence in the country.

Regardless, a growing group of lawmakers and non-governmental organizations are gearing up to oppose the State Department’s plan to sell weapons to Bahrain. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) are circulating a resolution that would stop the sale from going through.

“Providing arms to a government that is actively committing human rights violations against peaceful protestors is at odds with United States foreign policy goals,” Wyden told The Cable. “We should be promoting democracy and human rights in the region and not rewarding a regime that is jailing and in some cases killing those who choose to peacefully protest their government and anyone who supports them. This resolution will prevent the U.S. from providing the Kingdom of Bahrain with weaponry until they show a real commitment to respecting human rights.” …more

Congressional Members Oppose US-Bahrain Arms Sale
POMED Wired – 06 Oct. 2011

Josh Rogin writes that “a growing group of lawmakers and non-governmental organizations are gearing up to oppose the State Department’s” proposed $53 million arms sale to Bahrain, and that “Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA) are circulating a resolution that would stop the sale from going through.” Senator Wyden told Rogin that ”providing arms to a government that is actively committing human rights violations against peaceful protestors is at odds with United States foreign policy goals,” adding that ”we should be promoting democracy and human rights in the region and not rewarding a regime that is jailing and in some cases killing those who choose to peacefully protest their government and anyone who supports them.” Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) also expressed reticence about the proposed arms sale.

Cole Bockenfeld, the Director of Advocacy at the Project on Middle East Democracy, attests that “failure to [re-energise diplomatic efforts toward Bahrain] risks an escalation of violence that could endanger the relationship both parties hold dear.” Bockenfeld suggests that the Obama Administration can assist the reconciliation process by encouraging the withdrawal of GCC forces from Bahrain and expediting the confirmation and deployment of Ambassador-designate Thomas Krajeski. Bockenfeld concludes that “the U.S. Administration and the Bahraini government have a responsibility to act and deliver meaningful reform and accountability, or risk the very scenario both wish to avoid.” …source

Why is Obama Selling Weapons to the King of Bahrain While He’s Attacking Pro-Democracy Protestors?
Saturday, September 24, 2011

Geopolitics and economics trump human rights and democracy in Bahrain, where the oil-based kingdom, led by King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, has spent months cracking down on protesters and dissidents and now is being rewarded with American military hardware from Washington.

The Department of Defense officially notified Congress on September 14 that 44 armored Humvees and hundreds of missiles are being sold to Bahrain for $53 million. It is the first sale of military equipment to Bahrain since it began attacking demonstrators earlier this year, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW).

“This is exactly the wrong move after Bahrain brutally suppressed protests and is carrying out a relentless campaign of retribution against its critics,” said Maria McFarland, deputy Washington director for HRW. “It will be hard for people to take US statements about democracy and human rights in the Middle East seriously when, rather than hold its ally Bahrain to account, it appears to reward repression with new weapons.”

Bahrainis took to the streets in large numbers beginning in February and demanded democratic reforms. What they got in return was volleys of gunfire from security forces that killed seven people and wounded hundreds of others. The next month the government declared a “state of national safety,” with more deaths (20) and thousands more arrested.

In its notification to lawmakers, the Pentagon said the sale of weapons will contribute to American foreign policy and national security “by helping to improve the security of a major non-NATO ally that has been, and continues to be, an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.”

In addition to being a loyal OPEC ally, Bahrain’s ruling family has allowed the United States Fifth Fleet to be based in their country, providing the U.S. Navy with an optimal location in the strategically-vital Persian Gulf region.

Since the U.S. overthrow of Saddam Hussein in 2003, Bahrain has been left as the last nation with a Shi’a majority and a Sunni ruler.

The main contractors who will profit from the weapons sales to the King of Bahrain are AM General in South Bend, Indiana, and Raytheon Missile Systems Corporation in Tucson, Arizona.
-Noel Brinkerhoff …source

On the Arab demands for democratic rule; “It’s a great opportunity for the United States, but we are constrained by budget and to some extent constrained by political obstacles,” she said. “I’m determined that we’re going to do as much as we can within those constraints to deal with the opportunities that I see from Tunisia to Libya and Egypt and beyond.” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton – as the US and Europe launch unprecedented moves to sell weapons to tyranical governments throughout the region.

Tumult of Arab Spring Prompts Worries in Washington
By STEVEN LEE MYERS – Published: September 17, 2011 – NYT

WASHINGTON — While the popular uprisings of the Arab Spring created new opportunities for American diplomacy, the tumult has also presented the United States with challenges — and worst-case scenarios — that would have once been almost unimaginable.

What if the Palestinians’ quest for recognition of a state at the United Nations, despite American pleas otherwise, lands Israel in the International Criminal Court, fuels deeper resentment of the United States, or touches off a new convulsion of violence in the West Bank and Gaza?

Or if Egypt, emerging from decades of autocratic rule under President Hosni Mubarak, responds to anti-Israeli sentiments on the street and abrogates the Camp David peace treaty, a bulwark of Arab-Israeli stability for three decades?

“We’re facing an Arab awakening that nobody could have imagined and few predicted just a few years ago,” Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said in a recent interview with reporters and editors of The New York Times. “And it’s sweeping aside a lot of the old preconceptions.”

It may also sweep aside, or at least diminish, American influence in the region. The bold vow on Friday by the Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, to seek full membership at the United Nations amounted to a public rebuff of weeks of feverish American diplomacy. His vow came on top of a rapid and worrisome deterioration of relations between Egypt and Israel and between Israel and Turkey, the three countries that have been the strongest American allies in the region.

Diplomacy has never been easy in the Middle East, but the recent events have so roiled the region that the United States fears being forced to take sides in diplomatic or, worse, military disputes among its friends. Hypothetical outcomes seem chillingly present. What would happen if Turkey, a NATO ally that the United States is bound by treaty to defend, sent warships to escort ships to Gaza in defiance of Israel’s blockade, as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has threatened to do?

Crises like the expulsion of Israel’s ambassador in Turkey, the storming of the Israeli Embassy in Cairo and protests outside the one in Amman, Jordan, have compounded a sense of urgency and forced the Obama administration to reassess some of this country’s fundamental assumptions, and to do so on the fly.

“The region has come unglued,” said Robert Malley, a senior analyst in Washington for the International Crisis Group. “And all the tools the United States has marshaled in the past are no longer as effective.”

The United States, as a global power and permanent member of the United Nations Security Council, still has significant ability to shape events in the region. This was underscored by the flurry of telephone calls that President Obama, Mrs. Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta made to their Egyptian and Israeli counterparts to diffuse tensions after the siege of Israeli Embassy in Cairo this month.

At the same time, the toppling of leaders who preserved a stable, if strained, status quo for decades — Mr. Mubarak, Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi of Libya and Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia — has unleashed powerful and still unpredictable forces that the United States has only begun to grapple with and is likely to be doing so for years.

In the process, diplomats worry, the actions of the United States could even nudge the Arab Spring toward radicalism by angering newly enfranchised citizens of democratic nations.

In the case of Egypt, the administration has promised millions of dollars in aid to support a democratic transition, only to see the military council ruling the country object to how and where it is spent, according to two administration officials, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss diplomatic matters. The objection echoed similar ones that came from Mr. Mubarak’s government. The government and the political parties vying for support before new elections there have also intensified anti-American talk. The officials privately warned of the emergence of an outwardly hostile government, dominated by the Muslim Brotherhood and remnants of Mr. Mubarak’s party.

The upheaval in Egypt has even raised the prospect that it might break its Camp David peace treaty with Israel, with Egypt’s prime minister, Essam Sharaf, telling a Turkish television channel last week that the deal was “not a sacred thing and is always open to discussion.”

The administration, especially Mrs. Clinton, also spent months trying to mediate between Turkey and Israel over the response to the Israeli military operation last year that killed nine passengers aboard a ship trying to deliver aid to Gaza despite an Israeli embargo — only to see both sides harden their views after a United Nations report on the episode became public.

Unflinching support for Israel has, of course, been a constant of American foreign policy for years, often at the cost of political and diplomatic support elsewhere in the region, but the Obama administration has also sought to improve ties with Turkey after the chill that followed the invasion of Iraq in 2003. …more

Bahrain Requests Humvee Mounted TOW-2A and TOW-2B Missiles
By US Defense Security Cooperation Agency on Monday, September 19th, 2011

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency notified Congress today of a possible Foreign Military Sale to the Government of Bahrain for Armored High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles, TOW Missiles and associated equipment, parts, training and logistical support worth an estimated $53 million.

The Government of Bahrain has requested a possible sale of 44 M1152A1B2 Armored High Mobility Multi-Purpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWVs), 200 BGM-71E-4B-RF Radio Frequency (RF) Tube-Launched Optically-Tracked Wire-Guided Missiles (TOW-2A), 7 Fly-to-Buy RF TOW-2A Missiles, 40 BGM-71F-3-RF TOW-2B Aero Missiles, 7 Fly-to-Buy RF TOW-2B Aero Missiles, 50 BGM-71H-1RF Bunker Buster Missiles (TOW-2A), 7 Fly-to-Buy RF Bunker Buster Missiles (TOW-2A), 48 TOW-2 Launchers, AN/UAS-12A Night Sight Sets, spare and repair parts, support and test equipment, publications and technical documentation, personnel training and training equipment, U.S. Government and contractor engineering, technical and logistics support services, and other related elements of logistical and program support. The estimated cost is $53 million.

This proposed sale will contribute to the foreign policy and national security of the United States by helping to improve the security of a major non-NATO ally that has been, and continues to be, an important force for political stability and economic progress in the Middle East.

The proposed sale will improve Bahrain’s capability to meet current and future armored threats. Bahrain will use the enhanced capability as a deterrent to regional threats and to strengthen its homeland defense.

The proposed sale of this equipment and support will not alter the basic military balance in the region.

The prime contractors will be AM General in South Bend, Indiana, and Raytheon Missile Systems Corporation in Tucson, Arizona. There are no known offset agreements proposed in connection with this potential sale.

Implementation of this proposed sale will not require the assignment of any additional U.S. Government or contractor representatives to Bahrain.

There will be no adverse impact on U.S. defense readiness as a result of this proposed sale. This notice of a potential sale is required by law and does not mean the sale has been concluded. …source

US, Bahrain in talks on $53mn arms deal
Fri Sep 16, 2011 11:18PM GMT

The United States and Bahrain are currently discussing a deal, which, if it goes through, would see the US sell the Persian Gulf kingdom $53 million of military equipment, according to a recent report.

The Defense Security Cooperation Agency (DSCA), which is part of the US Department of Defense, has notified the Congress of a possible Foreign Military Sale (FMS) to the government of Bahrain, the German defense news website defpro.com reported on Thursday.

DSCA provides financial and technical assistance, transfer of defense materials, training, and services to US allies, and promotes military-to-military contracts.

Bahrain is seeking to purchase armored high mobility multi-purpose wheeled vehicles, TOW missiles and associated equipment, and training and logistical support from the US military.

Reports estimate the total cost of the deal, which still needs to get congressional approval, to be over $53 million.

In February, Manama began a harsh crackdown on Bahraini citizens calling for an end to the absolute monarchy at anti-government demonstrations.

Human rights groups say the United States, Britain, and other Western countries are supplying arms to the Bahraini regime.

The US is selling arms to Bahrain despite the fact that scores of people have been killed and many more arrested and tortured in prisons in the Saudi-backed crackdown on protests in Bahrain — a longtime ally of the US and home to a huge military base of the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet.

Bahraini forces have abducted many people, including opposition activists, journalists, teachers, students, doctors, and nurses, and have also destroyed dozens of mosques.

Human rights groups and the families of protesters arrested during the crackdown say that most detainees have been physically and psychologically abused. …source

What a hypocritical world we live in
by Pamela Hansen – Article published on 18 September 2011

How can countries that market arms to tyrannical regimes pretend that they do not support human rights violations? What is even more two-faced is that they then get on their high horse and interfere militarily, or subtly, in other countries because of atrocities caused by weapons supplied by themselves?

I am so nauseated by politicians supporting and selling arms to dictators then turning all shocked and appalled when those weapons are used to ensure the tyrants retain their power.

UK anti arms campaigners have expressed dismay that Bahrain, which has killed scores of mainly Shias (who are treated as second-class citizens) since protests broke out in February, has been invited to one of the world’s largest arms fairs being hosted in London’s docklands.

When, in the early hours of 17 February, Bahrain security police stormed the roundabout where a protest was being held, doctors, nurses and paramedics went to the aid of people who had been shot, beaten and tear-gassed.

The security forces were not well pleased and, according to reports, at least one doctor was attacked by baton-wielding officers while tending to an injured demonstrator.

Doctors staged a protest after word spread that security forces were preventing the wounded from being taken to hospital. They blocked the entrance to the hospital, demanding the resignation of the health minister.

Other hospital workers, including nurses, joined in the protests. This led to 47 medics held under arrest in March. In early June, those doctors and nurses who had treated injured protesters in Bahrain appeared in a special military court in Manama charged with attempting to topple the monarchy.

The list of invitees to the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEI) exhibition, which also included Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, the UAE and Kazakhstan, had been held back from the campaigners until the press started asking for it last week.

More than 1,300 companies, around half of which are British, are participating in the exhibition. Sixty-five countries have been invited.

In February, we saw the embarrassment of the US government in the early days of the revolution in Egypt, when the media was ever so careful not to call it that. Tear gas used against the regime protestors, obviously supplied by the US, flashed on our TV screens and we discovered that countries, notably the US, had subsidised Mubarak’s military to the tune of $1.3 billion a year.

Although President Barak Obama applied pressure on the Egyptian military for it not to attack the protestors, had the Egyptian people not been so resolute to overthrow Mubarak, the so-called democratic countries would still be propping him up.

He would no doubt have been invited to the current UK arms fair as well as Gaddafi.

And all is not over in Egypt. Last week, the ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), (whose representatives have no doubt visited the arms fair) widened the scope of the emergency law – restricted in 2010 by Mr Mubarak to narcotics and terrorism – to include strikes, traffic disruption and the spreading of rumours.

Hundreds are again gathering in Cairo’s Tahrir Square to protest against the recent expansion of the emergency law. The Egyptians are now protesting at the military’s handling of transition from autocratic rule.
[Read more →]

Leading article: A regime we should not do business with
Tuesday, 13 September 2011 – The Independent

The sale of arms to unpalatable regimes is turning into an ugly stain on the record of the Coalition Government – an unacceptable practice that, disturbingly, seems to cause neither the UK authorities nor our arms industry the slightest qualm.

In February, as Arab Spring uprisings were being brutally suppressed, David Cameron saw nothing wrong in attending an arms fair in Abu Dhabi, blithely dismissing the objection that his actions were wholly inconsistent with his avowed support for democracy in the region. Seven months on, another arms fair is taking place – it opens today in London’s Docklands – and among the Government’s invitees is a delegation from Bahrain, a dictatorship whose crackdown on pro-democracy protesters this year have left at least 30 people dead.
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Britain was forced to revoke a number of export licenses against Bahrain after it emerged that in 2010 the Department of Business approved the export of a host of crowd-control weapons. That we are still in the business of trying to sell arms to a regime with so much of its own citizens’ blood on its hands is nothing less than shameful.

What is happening can’t be defended on the grounds that our arms industry employs thousands and makes an estimated £9bn a year in exports. Britain and Bahrain’s long-standing close diplomatic ties are also irrelevant. Considerations of morality must come first. …source

An invitation for Bahrain – despite human rights violations
By Jerome Taylor – Tuesday, 13 September 2011 – The Independent

A host of authoritarian regimes will be entertained in London today at one of the world’s largest arms fairs, despite concerns over how readily unpopular dictatorships turned to live ammunition to suppress popular revolutions during this year’s Arab Spring.

Invitations to the Defence and Security Equipment International (DSEi) exhibition – an enormous arms fair which opens its doors today at the ExCeL Centre – have been extended to 65 countries.

At least 14 delegations hail from countries that are defined as “authoritarian regimes” by human rights groups who have expressed fears that the British arms industry is returning to a “business as usual” approach towards weapons sales in the Middle East despite the political turmoil sweeping the region.

Arms campaigners have expressed dismay that Bahrain, which has killed scores of mainly Shia citizens since protests broke out in February, has been invited. Earlier this year the British Government was forced to cancel a host of export licences that had allowed the Gulf kingdom to import crowd-control weapons.

Other countries that have been sent invitations include Egypt, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Qatar, the UAE and Kazakhstan.

Arms campaigners had tried for months to discover which national delegations were being invited to the arms fair through freedom of information requests but they were rebuffed. The government finally published the list yesterday once national newspapers, including The Independent, began to make enquiries last week.

The exhibition,held every two years, features more than 1,300 companies, around half of which are British. The government defends the arms industry as a vibrant and lucrative part of the UK economy. But campaigners say Britain’s determination to sell arms abroad is ethically unacceptable.

“The Government appears so embarrassed by the countries it has invited that it has only issued a complete list the day before the exhibition opens,” said Kaye Stearman, from the Campaign Against the Arms Trade. “Does the UK public really feel happy about selling arms to undemocratic and abusive countries like these?”

Last night the Foreign Office defended the invitation adding that export licences are under review following the Arab Spring.

“An invitation does not mean that licences will be automatically issued for the goods exhibited,” a spokesman said. “We will not issue licences where we judge there is a clear risk that the proposed export might provoke or prolong regional or internal conflicts, or which might be used to facilitate internal repression.”

But Oliver Sprague, Amnesty International’s arms programme director, countered: “The invitation makes a mockery of any claim that Bahrain’s access to arms is being moderated.” …source