{"id":9713,"date":"2012-05-14T13:01:26","date_gmt":"2012-05-14T20:01:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=9713"},"modified":"2012-05-14T13:01:26","modified_gmt":"2012-05-14T20:01:26","slug":"us-resumes-weapons-sales-as-bahrain-moi-continues-lethal-use-of-less-than-lethal-weapons","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/?p=9713","title":{"rendered":"US resumes weapons sales as Bahrain MOI continues lethal use of less-than-lethal weapons"},"content":{"rendered":"

US resumes arms sales to Bahrain. Activists feel abandoned<\/strong>
\nBy Kristen Chick – May 14, 2012 – Christian Science Monitor<\/p>\n

Cairo – A decision by the Obama administration to resume a large arms deal to Bahrain has incensed opposition activists in the tiny Gulf kingdom who see the deal as a signal that the US supports Bahrain\u2019s repression of opposition protests.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nMilitary Grade Riot Control Weapons Routinely Deployed as Lethal Weapons Against Bahrain Democracy Movement<\/strong> <\/p>\n

In another blow to the opposition, Gulf Arab leaders are meeting in Saudi Arabia today to discuss greater integration of their Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a move that could solidify the security cooperation between Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. Last year, Saudi Arabia sent 1,500 Gulf troops into Bahrain to help quell the uprising that began in February 2011.<\/p>\n

The US froze the $53 million deal to sell military equipment to Bahrain in September, months after security forces there violently suppressed protests calling for reform in a crackdown that has killed more than 50 people. The move to resume the sale \u2013 minus some equipment that could be used against protesters \u2013 is read by the opposition as the US ending any pressure for reform.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt’s a direct message [from the US] that we support the authorities and we don’t support democracy in Bahrain, we don’t support protesters in Bahrain,\u201d says Mohammed Al Maskati, a Bahraini rights activist, of the arms sale. He said opposition activists called for a week of protests against the US after the announcement on May 11. \u201cNow protesters are starting to be more angry against the USA and this is not good for the USA,\u201d he says by phone from Bahrain.<\/p>\n

Activists are also protesting the proposed GCC union today.<\/p>\n

Bahrain, a tiny island in the Persian Gulf connected by a causeway to Saudi Arabia, is home to the US Navy\u2019s Fifth Fleet, considered a vital bulwark against Iran. The US response to Bahrain\u2019s repression has been muted compared to other regional uprisings.<\/p>\n

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US resumes arms sales to Bahrain. Activists feel abandoned By Kristen Chick – May 14, 2012 – Christian Science Monitor Cairo – A decision by the Obama administration to resume a large arms deal to Bahrain has incensed opposition activists in the tiny Gulf kingdom who see the deal as a signal that the US more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[247],"tags":[1618],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9713"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/27"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9713"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9713\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9715,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9713\/revisions\/9715"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9713"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9713"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crookedbough.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9713"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}