(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - More than 1,000 Saudi Arabian troops and 500 police from the United Arab Emirates, backed by tanks and helicopters, are in the oil-rich nation of Bahrain to help crush the month-long anti-government protests.
Bahrain Center for Human Rights (BCHR) says state-organized murder is taking place on the Streets of the country.
BCHR also said that doctors at Ibn al-Nafees hospital complain the army has raided the building and taken the body of a dead protester as well as several of the wounded.
Press TV talks with Mark Glenn, a political commentator with the Cross Solidarity Movement in Coeur D'Alene in Idaho about the ongoing developments in Bahrain. What follows is the transcript of the interview:
Press TV: We are getting reports that Hassan Mushaima of the Haq Movement and Ibrahim Sharif, head of the Waad Society have been detained late on Wednesday after security forces raided their homes ? We have seen these measures in Egyptian revolution too where opposition leaders were arrested. Will the same measures work in Bahrain?
Glenn: First of all, Bahrain is in a different situation from Egypt. I have maintained from beginning that the US was not in the least worried about having Mubarak removed from in Egypt. Bahrain, however, is a different situation because as it is home to the US Fifth Fleet which projects the US power in that part of the world, especially against Iran, and control of that island is absolutely crucial. Furthermore, Bahrain is a huge economic hub for international banking so the way I read the latest development is that we do in fact have an invasion taking place and of course with the absolute approval of the US government because they [the US administration and other Western powers] are genuinely worried this about the revolution falling in the hands of the wrong people and of course what I mean by that are people who are going to install a regime that is not going to be cooperative with the American interest and of course with the banking interests there.
Moreover, we also have to take into account the very large population in Bahrain and Iran's' historical claims to that island. I think what we are seeing taking place here is some sort of the nervousness on the part of the Americans and others that possibly Bahrain with its large Shia population could fall within the Iranian sphere of influence and having that take place, we will have all these banking interests fall in Iran's hands and of course the US would have a place to have its military bases. I think it is very significant and whether it is going to work or not I hate to be so pessimistic about that but let's keep in mind that Palestinians have been fighting for their rights for 60 years and they are no closer to attaining that now than they were in 1948 so we have to be realistic about this that if the US decides to crush this revolution more than likely it will succeed in doing that.
Press TV: You said that the US was not worried about Mubarak leaving office in Egypt. We know that the US was very comfortable dealing with just the military in Egypt and we have seen the US forming military alliances over the decades and being very comfortable with changes in government as long as these alliances are in power. There was no such military alliance as far as Bahrain goes and Bahraini military doesn't seem to be a part of the larger political dynamics of the country. Will we see the US be forced to deal with a government that might be elected by the people if this revolution is to succeed?
Glenn: We have to look at what the US generally does when things don't work in its favor. When things are going sour for the US, flames starts flying and bombs will start falling so if indeed this present revolution or rebellion ,or whatever you like to call it, decides to turn in the direction that the US finds jeopardizing its interests, then the US will typically mount public relations media campaign, making it all about the Iranian revolution: the Iranians are responsible for all of this unrest and they threaten to take over the island and all the media hype that we hear on a regular basis, demonizing Iran.
Of course, in that case the US, having set the precedence in countries such as Iran, would then be justified in taking whatever military action that would be necessary to make sure that revolution doesn't fall into the wrong sort of hands. We have to keep in mind that the US just doesn't walk away from the situations where it has been beaten in the first round. It would stick it to the second and their round that if that country has to be destroyed militarily in order t to achieve the US objectives, that is what typically what takes place.
Press TV: If we were to believe that the Saudi forces are there mainly to protect the key oil installations and other major sites in Bahrain from these largely peaceful protesters and they are not using force, how significant, in that scenario, is the presence of the Saudi troops on Bahraini soil considering Bahrain already hosts the US's Fifth Fleet on its soil anyway?
Glenn: The sole reason for the Saudi troops being there is because the US realizes that it cannot maintain this illusion that it has been trying to maintain now since all of this unrest began a few months ago. It cannot maintain this illusion of impartiality that it doesn't have its hands up to the elbows by putting American troops on the grounds. So it is going to be seen by not just Arab world but the entire Middle East as another invasion by another Arab country by the US at which point all discussion about freedom, democracy and human rights fly out of the window immediately. After all, that was the reason for invading and destroying Iraq. The US told the world that it wanted to bring Iraqis freedom and democracy and it rounded up killing over two million people.
So the only reason for the Saudis being there was to hide the fact from entire world that is not secretly controlling events behind the scenes. We also have to keep in mind that it is in line with the picture that the US and the West in general would like to portray of that part of the world: it is just peopled by unstable harassable individuals and they are not culturally suited for democracy and other Western values so this justifies the heavy-handed treatment that the US and the West have meted out to the people for decades. So there are many facets to this that had to be considered. The reason for the Saudi troops being there is to make sure that this doesn't turn into a popular revolution, to maintain US supremacy, as far the Fifth Fleet, to protect the banking interests there and to make sure it all appear that this is not being done with the express approval and direction of the US.
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