(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - The following is the transcription of Press TV's interview with author and political analyst Kevin Ovenden, who comments on the involvement of foreign forces in Bahrain's uprising.
Press TV: How do you see this situation? I mean obviously Bahrain has its own military officials and has the ability to keep things calm in their own country. Yet, they have foreign forces involved in this. Why do you think that they have resulted to this situation?
Ovenden: On Sunday they had hoped to be able to contain the protesters... They had done (so) over the previous weeks. If you remember, there was an initial violent crackdown by the Bahraini authorities and then they were able to allow demonstrations to take place and contain them. But then on Sunday, the demonstrations broke through and they quite simply overwhelmed the Bahraini security forces, which are quite small in number. The Bahraini system has generally relied upon the minority of the population, which is Sunni. Yet, that loyalty is broken down. It is important to understand that this is not simply an uprising by the majority of the population, who are Shia. There are also members of the Sunni sect taking part in the demonstrations. So Sunday was a turning point. The Bahraini security forces could no longer contain the pressure for change and therefore, Saudi Arabia has intervened along with the UAE. They intervened, invoking a defense pact of the Persian Gulf states. This pact, which was supposedly for the defense of those states against external aggressions, is now being used against the people.
Press TV: How do you see the situation right now? Now that foreign forces have (become) involved and it seems that by the hour the situation is deteriorating -- what do you see going in here? What exactly is the answer to the Bahraini government's latest decision to come down hard and bring security forces in? How do you see it resolving itself?
Ovenden: The Bahraini government has internationalized and regionalized the internal uprising which has been taking place by inviting Saudi forces and forces from the UAE. Therefore, I would expect the response for that also to become more regionalized throughout the Persian Gulf. There are already protests taking place in Saudi Arabia, in the East and the West of the country as part of the growing Arab movement against authoritarian rule -- against the prostitution of their countries to the interest of the United States and to the oil companies -- and against justice, domestically. I would expect this intervention to accelerate those processes inside Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Persian Gulf. As for whether this is designed to provoke Iran, they hoped to be able to provoke Iran, but I do not think it is designed to do that. I do not think they will control the situation. This time three months ago, nobody in the (US) State Department or the White House was anticipating the fall of Ben Ali, Mubarak and the protests across the Persian Gulf that are taking place. Crucially, they are taking place -- first of all, and above all -- in those regimes that are mostly pro-western.
Press TV: Today, in general, there have been gruesome scenes that we have witnessed and many of them have been so extreme and so graphic. We have not actually shown our viewers a lot of this footage. I can say that half of the head is being shown and so many other graphic images, as more and more, these images are being shown and more and more people are dying and the international community sees these images. Do you think that pressure can come more from the international community, not to remain silent and not to, at least, back the Bahraini government by their silence?
Ovenden: Well, the question is, which international community? I have every confidence that the international community has seen many men and women around the world like in North America, Europe, Arab regimes and elsewhere. They will look upon these horrific pictures and will ask the questions, 'Who provided the arms? Who provided the training? Who continues to provide the spare parts for the helicopter gunships?'
The answer to that, of course, is the leading figures of the so-called official international community, that is the United States of America, Britain, France and other European Union powers. These powers have backed all of the corrupt kings in the Persian Gulf, including Bahrain's, and they will continue to do so for their own strategic interests in order to keep the oil flowing at a cheap price, and of course, as part of its brinkmanship with the Islamic Republic of Iran.
I think pressure can be brought to bear. In particular, there is pressure in hypocrisy forms. At the moment, there is public debate amongst western policymakers about a no-fly zone over Libya. Well, do not look to Libya; look to the people you trained, who you armed, and who you continue to arm while you have the US base (for the) Fifth Fleet in Bahrain. You do not need to have a no-fly zone. You simply need to withdraw the support that you are giving now. That is the challenge to the official international community. And I think more and more people around the world are going to put that (to the) challenge. I have to say (that) my faith, however, rises in (the) resourcefulness, capacity and principle of heroism of the people in Bahrain, the Persian Gulf and the people of the Arab region, more generally. These are people, who were able to overthrow Ben Ali, who are resisting Gaddafi, (who were) able to overthrow Mubarak. And I believe they will be able to deal with petty instances of the Persian Gulf.
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