Month: February 2011

"Let me suggest to you that what game is being played down here is irresponsible and it’s dangerous. We need to say these things and we need to say them out loud. When we say we’re cutting spending, when we say everything is on the table, when we say we mean entitlement programs, we should be specific. And let me tell you what is the truth. What’s the truth that no one is talking about? Here is the truth that no one is talking about: you’re going to have to raise the retirement age for social security. Oh I just said it and I’m still standing here! I did not vaporize into the carpeting and I said it.

We have to reform Medicare because it costs too much and it is going to bankrupt us. Once again lightning did not come through the windows and strike me dead. And we have to fix Medicaid because it’s not only bankrupting the federal government, it’s bankrupting every state government. There you go. If we’re not honest about these things, on the state level about pensions and benefits and on the federal level about Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, we are on the path to ruin," – governor Chris Christie.

Mackey flags a new statement by Human Rights Watch:

Several patients at the Salmaniyya hospital told Human Rights Watch the army and police opened fire without warning on a crowd making their evening prayers near the heavily guarded roundabout. One protester said he was attacked by an armed man in civilian clothes.

The United States provided approximately US$20 million in military assistance to Bahrain in 2010, primarily for the purchase of military equipment, weapons, and training. It has proposed another US$20.2 million in assistance for 2011. It is unclear whether such equipment was used in today's attacks against the protesters.

Audio report from HRW here. Scott Lucas:

Saqer Al Khalifa, a professor who fervently supports the regime in Bahrain, is loudly declaring that no one died from gunfire today. His latest message, "Many protesters painted themselves with red paint, laid down on street and took photos of themselves."

AJE:

Ali Ibrahim, deputy chief of medical staff at Salmaniya hospital, says 66 have been admitted suffering wounds from the raid at Pearl Roundabout in the capital. Four are in a critical condition. The injuries are worse than those seen on Thursday, he says.

Telegraph:

The British Government has halted exports of security equipment to Bahrain and Libya.Britain has licensed hundreds of cartridges of tear gas and other riot control equipment for export to Bahrain in the past nine months and been criticised by human rights groups. Foreign Secretary William Hague said there was no evidence Bahrain was using British-made products to crack down on protesters. 

BBC:

Fatema, who lives across from Salmaniya Hospital in Manama, tells the BBC it is a crazy scene in the capital right now: "Injured people have been brought in cars (to the hospital) all day and there are thousands of people outside. There is a lot of anger, but I've never seen Bahrainis so united before."

The Guardian:

There was a darkly amusing moment when al-Jazeera's English channel interviewed someone named Faisal Fulad from something called Bahrain Human Rights Watch. Fulad seemed surprisingly supportive of the Bahraini government and was warmly appreciative of the Crown Prince's recent statement.

When pressed on the recent deadly violence, Fulad said the region's governments supported Bahrain's actions. "Qatar also supports the Bahraini policy," claimed Falud. The interview was quickly terminated.

Unrelated fact: al-Jazeera is based in Doha, the capital of Qatar. The TV station is owned by Qatar Media Corporation, and al-Jazeera was founded by a $150m grant from the emir of Qatar, Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani. The chairman of the Qatar Media Corporation is Sheikh Hamad bin Thamer bin Mohammed bin Thani al-Thani.

(Photo: Anti-government protesters run from teargas during a clash with Bahraini security forces near the Pearl roundabout on February 18, 2011 in Manama, Bahrain. By John Moore/Getty Images)

Josh Green seems to think this is a rebuttal of the Birthers:

“It’s distracting. It gets annoying. Let’s stick with what really matters.”

It seems to me it isn't. It's a tactical point that it could lose votes. She has not said clearly that obviously Obama was born in Hawaii and this is paranoid nonsense and people should cut it out. It was good, however, to see her answer questions not from a Fox News colleague. I still want an open, unscripted press conference. And then, there are the shoes she wore. I mean: really? What is this: The Real Housewives Of Wasilla?

[Update: I was wrong. The full context included the question "Do you question [Obama's] faith and citizenship?" She responded "I don't." And then added those remarks above. Josh was right. Apologies.]

Ashley Bates provides a primer on the country.

Mark LeVine examines the national interest:

If the US is Egypt's primary patron, in Bahrain it is among the ruling family's biggest tenants, as the country is home to the Fifth Fleet, one of the US military's most important naval armadas, crucial to protecting Persian Gulf shipping and projecting US power against Iran. … The larger question is: What is more essential to American security today, convenient bases for its ships, planes and troops across the Middle East, or a full transition to democracy throughout the region?

It will have to be a balancing act. But the full dichotomy is less extreme than it appears. The base could be moved. What worries me about Bahrain is that the US could get pulled into the Sunni-Shiite conflict. Backing Sunni dictators as the Shiite revival gathers steam does not look like a winning long-term strategy to me.

He just cannot get through it.

The full gory video is here.

The unrest in the Middle East gives Gregg Easterbrook hope:

Today China, India, the United States, Indonesia and Brazil, the world’s five largest nations, representing more than half of the global population, have abolished all forms of inherited rule. Much of the rest of the world has done or is doing the same. This is no guarantee of happiness, of course. Open systems can be chaotic (the United States), still lack personal freedom (China) or be poorly administered (Italy). But in the main, ending family rule has been good for societies that achieve this.

So the two Bushes don't count? And a president and a secretary of state don't count? And the Daleys don't count? And the Kennedys? And Cuomos? I could go on for ever. No, these offices aren't inherited as such. But America is a dynastic democracy if ever there was one. He continues:

Bahrain, where the current strongest protests are occurring, is ruled by an absolute monarch whose primary achievement in life was being handed a crown by his father. The sooner his family’s rule ends, the better. The sooner the whole concept of family rule fades into history, the better off the human family will be.

I agree. Maybe one day, Americans will as well.

A Bahraini man mourns over the body of a relative at a hospital in Manama on February 17, 2011 after he killed during clashes between opposition protesters and riot police. By AFP/Getty.