(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - In an interview with us, Lawrence Davidson, author and historian, enlightens us on the hypocritical direction the Bahraini regime is taking to open dialogue with the people.
Q: Bahrain is trying doctors who help protesters. Is treatment of wounded protesters a charge to be taken to court?
Davidson: The Bahraini monarchy is essentially acting in a fascistic fashion. Simultaneously, they want to have a national dialogue on compromise. It's hard to know on these circumstances what the dialogue would be.
On the one hand, they've got the power. If you object to anything they do, they arrest you. And worse, they might torture you. And yet, they want a dialogue with you! It's almost farcical.
Q: It's interesting you spoke about dialogue...The Bahraini regime is backed by the Saudi military yet the regime is speaking of national dialogue. How much do you think there will be a genuine change in the policy family?
Davidson: I don't think there will be any. In fact, I think that the entire dialogue process is probably a response to the American pressure.
Q: How productive do you think it will be?
Davidson: I don't think there would be any doubt that it will not be productive. Again, I think that the Bahrainis are doing this under the pressure of the Obama administration.
It can't be anything but a façade, a kind of show-thing because you can't negotiate with somebody you are, essentially, putting in jail every time they tell you what you don't want to hear. There's no basis for legitimacy for these dialogues.
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