Putting My Head Around The Situation In The Middle East: Bahrain

***WARNING:  This post contains some very graphic footage of people being injured and/or murdered.  In regards to the videos, some are NSFW and carry a viewer discretion advisory.  I will post a separate warning before any such video.***

2011 has so far been a very newsworthy year when it comes to the Middle East.  In just six weeks, both Tunisia and Egypt have successfully, and, for the most part, peacefully, fought for their democracy and independence.  Yemenis have been protesting for weeks, but due to a mixture of apathy and fear, the crowds have dramatically diminished.  Yesterday's protest numbered only at about 2,000, compared to hundreds of thousands at the height of the protests.

Within the last ten days, the protests in Bahrain and Libya have been making news, but for all of the wrong reasons.  Unfortunately, because of the nature of what is happening in Libya, the news on Bahrain has been on the back burner in the last week.  Let me fill you in, because the two are really quite similar.

Bahrain is ruled by a monarchy.  There is a popular based parliament system, but it is effectively useless.  The ruling party are Sunni Muslims, yet the vast majority of Bahrain's citizens are Shiite Muslims.  The Sunni based government has gone so far in recent years, that they have brought in Sunnis from other countries to build up the population in the country.  Protests started on February 14th, with small protests here and there, but didn't start in earnest until February 17th.

Early that morning, the government immediately responded with violence, firing tear gas and beating protesters with batons.  In the first day, it was reported that four people had been killed , 231 were injured, and 70 were reported missing.   By the early morning hours of the 18th, the orders were given by the royal family to start using live ammunition on the protesters.  No one was immune.  Everyone was a target:  protesters, journalists, medics, and even people in funeral processions.  This is a video that was taken in the streets of Manama, Bahrain, and posted on Youtube on February 18th.

***Warning:  This video contains violent and graphic footage.  Viewer discretion is advised.***
At the 3:00 mark is when things start to turn violent.  Protesters see armored vehicles blocking the street ahead.  They hold their arms up to show that they are unarmed.  Then, they start shouting the words, "Peaceful.  Peaceful." in Arabic.  The military starts firing automatic weapons on the protesters, killing at least one, perhaps two men.  At around the 9:00 mark, you'll hear automatic gunfire again.  This time, they're firing at the ambulance.  It's quite intense.



The Bahraini Minister of Health, Faisal Mohamed al-Homor, made it illegal for ambulances or medics to pick up the dead or wounded.  This resulted in hundreds of doctors and nurses(in non-emergency roles) leaving their posts and joining the protesters to demand his resignation.

At the moment, the "official" count of the dead and wounded are 7 dead and 150 wounded.  Bahrainis, as well as most people that have been keeping a close eye on the protest, have been calling that number a very small fraction of the actual figure.  I personally have seen video of at least 5 deaths, and dozens of injured.  The reason why I say "at least" 5 dead is because I have seen video of probably 10-12 male bodies in hospital beds.  Some from similar angles.  Some from different angles.  It is hard to tell if some of these people are different videos of the same victim or not.  A couple appear to have similar injuries, but, a chest riddled with bird shot from a shotgun blast at close range would look similar in any case.

The following is a portion of a phone interview between Dr. Ghassan of Salmaniya Hospital in Manama, Bahrain, and Al Jazeera, on February 18th.  He paints a much more dire and realistic picture of what is actually is going on in the country.  Keep in mind that this was five days ago.  The video does not necessarily show any graphic footage.  It does show some footage of the protests, and of protesters carrying the body of one of the murdered demonstrators.  It may be a little uncomfortable to watch because the doctor in the interview becomes increasingly emotional.  It only brings home the point as to how desperate the situation is in Bahrain.



The hospital is so full of casualties, that they're taking the injured to makeshift triage units inside local theatres. Independent press coming out of the country is virtually non-existent.  Most media, if anything, has been coming via Youtube, or by rumor.  There are journalists on the ground in Manama, but they are either calling their stories in or reporting by email.

In any moment of chaos, rumors are bound to be rampant.  There is a rumor that has been gaining probably the most momentum within the capital city, and it has quite a bit of circumstantial evidence that is tough to swallow.  It appears that the Saudi army may have come in to Bahrain to assist the government by firing on the protesters and disposing of the bodies.  Numerous injured over the past few days have come in to hospitals claiming that they were shot or beaten by men dressed up in Saudi military uniforms.  Here is an interview with one such young man.  Keep in mind, I do not speak Arabic.  I do not know if the translation is accurate or not.  I am only going based upon the subtitles that are at the bottom of the screen.



As you heard, the Saudi army is being accused of not only shooting protesters, but filling vehicles with bodies to dispose of them.  This video was posted three days ago.  Another video surfaced on Youtube on the 19th, supposedly showing Saudi military vehicles on the highway between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain.  According to the person posting, it was a caravan of personnel entering Bahrain.  Again, unsubstantiated, but if it's true, this is historic.



And last, and possibly the worst rumor to surface in the last couple of days is this.  Refrigerated trucks have been seen in Manama, with Saudi plates, guarded by Bahraini military personnel, loading dead bodies of protesters inside.  Those same trucks have been seen on the highway back to Saudi Arabia.  The rumors have been circulating for days now, and foreign journalists have doubted it all along. A couple of cell phone pictures have been taken, allegedly showing the trucks, such as this picture taken two days ago.  The three refrigerated trucks are parked, circled in the top left hand corner of the photo:

It wasn't until a reporter for the UK's Independent spoke with a male nurse that worked under the umbrella of the United Nations, that the story started to garner some credibility.  Not only did he confirm the allegations, but add that an American friend of his by the name of "Jerrod" videotaped bodies being thrown into the trucks and was arrested.  He has not been seen since.  That was a week ago.  The article goes on to hypothesize to some degree why the Saudi Arabian government would step in to essentially assist a neighbor country with genocide, and it has some very plausible arguments.

If these allegations are true, they go far beyond "human rights violations".  It is genocide, pure and simple.  If the rumors regarding the Saudi army are found to be true to any degree, we are seeing something take place that is on a level of Hitler and the Nazis.  Keep in mind, those are two words that I don't throw around lightly.  This goes way beyond Tunisia, and far beyond Mubarak.  There were 300 deaths in all of Egypt during 18 days of protests.  That was in a country of 80 million people. Bahrain has a population of 1.2 million people, and they have only been protesting for 9 days.  If there has been any good news to report, yesterday the King  released hundreds of political prisoners that have been in prison for protesting, blogging, and distributing materials against the government.

What upsets me is that there is absolutely no coverage regarding the unrest in Bahrain on US television.  Stories of Justin Bieber's haircut make national news, but this gets ignored.  I don't understand it.  How is this not important?  Can someone please explain this to me?

Bloodshed Expected Tonight In Cairo

As I reported this morning, Mubarak's plan to send the army into Cairo Saturday backfired.  For the most part, soldiers sided with the protesters, protecting them from the local police.  The government is incensed.  Rumors started circulating around 1pm local time in Egypt that the authorization was given to the Egyptian army to "shoot to kill" starting tonight.

This information is coming from Shadi Hamid, a fellow at the Brookings Institute.  He has been receiving calls from multiple contacts inside Egypt (protesters, journalists, organizers) since the protests began on January 25th.  As the day continued, the news became even more frightening.  According to his Twitter account, not only had the above information been confirmed, but a memo had been discovered that the order is to go into effect at midnight.

Based upon the actions seen by the majority of the troops on the ground so far, it's unlikely that they will suddenly start shooting protesters.  The threat at the moment appears to be from the air.  For hours now, military jets and helicopters have been flying over Tahrir Square, the focal point of the protests, at low altitudes, trying to scare the protesters.

Al Jazeera was kicked out of the county today.  Video is scarce.  How many more lives will have to be lost before someone steps in? A senior member of the opposition is saying that "tonight is the night", and that "there will be major bloodshed".  It won't be the blood of the army or government officials, but of hundreds, or perhaps thousands of people seeking freedom.

Updated News On Egyptian Protests

It's now 8:30am, Sunday morning in Cairo, and thousands of people are already out in the streets for another day of protesting.  The last 36 hours have been nothing short of newsworthy.

Early morning Saturday, Cairo was on fire.  Looters were roaming the city.  It has been reported that the National Museum has had multiple mummies decapitated and that there is a possibility that Tutankahmun's tomb has been damaged.

Eyewitnesses and journalists on the ground claim that the majority of the looters are, in fact, plain clothes Egyptian police disguised as protesters so that the blame will be placed on them.  There was a curfew in place Friday night from dusk till dawn that was not being followed by anyone.  Thousands of people were still in the streets.  There were no police in the city.  Egyptian state television was showing pictures of a burning, but a peaceful Cairo.  Al Jazeera showed it's journalistic integrity Friday night by essentially calling "bullshit".  They showed a split screen image.  On the right was the state television feed.  On the left was the Al Jazeera feed:  what really was happening.  From the New York Times:

"At one point, the screen was split. On one side was live video of a police van that had been set on fire by protesters defying a curfew, with the sounds of gunfire and explosions. On the other side was the scene being broadcast by state television: a quiet tableau of the night sky in downtown Cairo, with the message that a curfew had been imposed.

Al Jazeera’s news anchors often drew attention to the limits of their reporting, noting that they did not know what was happening in some parts of the country because phone lines had been cut. At one point, a correspondent warned that Egyptian security forces were poised to attack the building where the channel’s reporters were working. Anchors told viewers to switch to another satellite channel, and told them how to do it, in case its transmission was interrupted."

Saturday morning comes, and Mubarak sends out the military to deal with the protesters.  His plan backfires. The video below shows a group of protesters coming in contact with a squad of police.  The police start to fire shotguns into the crowd.  Three armored military vehicles come in from behind the protesters.  Instead of blocking the protesters in, they form a barrier between them and the police.  The video below that shows another armored vehicle acting as a barrier against the tear gas canisters being launched by the police.  In the second video, the protesters are even seen riding and dancing on the military property.





At 1:30am, local time Cairo, a reporter managed to Tweet out a message saying that approximately 6000 prisoners had escaped a local prison.  Sky News later confirmed that is wasn't just an escape at one location, but at multiple jails and prisons around Cairo.  The atmosphere is pure chaos.

The sun is up on Egypt again.  Today, the women are leading the protests.  The men of the family have been standing guard overnight to protect their homes from looters and local police.  It is up to Egypt's mothers, sisters, and daughters to continue their fight for democracy.  At this point, it appears to be just a matter of time.