U.S. Military vs. Human Rights in Bahrain

U.S. Military vs. Human Rights in Bahrain

For the U.S. government, strategic priorities have taken preeminence over human rights in Bahrain, where a substantial opposition movement by the Shiite majority is threatening to topple the long-ruling Sunni royal family.

Bahrain in one of only four countries in the world with a majority Shi’a population, and the only one in which the Shi’a are not in power. The others are Iran, Iraq and Azerbaijan.

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But remaining loyal to the king has meant ignoring allegations of human rights abuses endured by Shiites who have suffered discrimination in politics, employment and housing. That treatment has fueled the recent protests, including a march on Tuesday that numbered more than 100,000—a remarkable figure given Bahrain’s native population is barely half a million.

“The problem has been that we have been doing everything we can to cuddle up to the Khalifas and have been consciously ignoring at best the situation of Bahraini Shiites,” Gwenyth Todd, a former political adviser to the Navy in Bahrain, told The New York Times. “We could find ourselves in a very bad situation if the regime has to make major concessions to the Shia, unless we change our tone.” She related one case in which she was forced to use $30,000 of her own money to fulfill a Navy program to help poor Shiites after a Naval commanding officer reneged on the program because it would offend the royal family.

http://www.allgov.com/US_and_the_World/ViewNews/US_Military_vs_Human_Rights_in_Bahrain_110223