Administration Supports Iranian Opposition But Cautious on Bahrain Protests

A funeral procession is held in Bahrain on Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011 for 21-year-old Ali Abdulhadi Mushaima, killed during nationwide anti-government protests on Monday. (AP Photo/Hasan Jamali)

(CNSNews.com) The Obama administration has vocally supported the right of Iranian opposition supporters to protest against the regime, and it has criticized the regimes harsh response. But it has been much more cautious in its reaction to protests in Bahrain, a tiny Gulf ally that is home to an important U.S. Navy base. The State Department late Tuesday issued a brief statement on Bahrain, noting that it had received confirmation of the deaths of two protestors, killed during clashes with security forces on Monday. Spokesman Philip Crowley said the U.S. called on all parties to exercise restraint and refrain from violence.

The administration has been considerably sharper in its comments on Iran, accusing it of hypocrisy for hailing the popular uprising in Egypt while clamping down on protests at home. At a press conference earlier Tuesday, President Obama criticized the regime in Tehran for gunning down and beating people who were trying to express themselves peacefully. He also voiced the hope and expectation that the Iranian people would have the courage to be able to express their yearning for greater freedoms and a more representative government. Although Bahrain was mentioned in a reporters question, the president in his reply did not refer to the country by name, although he did have advice for unspecified governments facing restive populations elsewhere in the region.

Each country is different, he said. The message that weve sent even before the demonstrations in Egypt has been, to friend and foe alike, that the world is changing; that you have a young, vibrant generation within the Middle East that is looking for greater opportunity, and that if you are governing these countries, youve got to get out ahead of change.

Asked during a press briefing Monday why the State Department was condemning events in Iran but not those in other regional countries experiencing unrest including Bahrain, Crowley replied, Well, actually, in the other countries there is greater respect for the rights of the citizens. He added that the administration was watching developments in other countries, including Yemen, including Algeria, including Bahrain.

Citing a speech Clinton made in Qatar last month, Crowley said, theres a significant need for political, social, and economic reform across the region, and we encourage governments to respect their citizens right to protest peacefully, respect their right to freedom of expression and assembly, and hope that there will be an ongoing engagement, a dialogue between people in governments, and they can work together on the necessary forms. Now, those reforms will not be identical. Theyll be different country by country. Bahrain is a small Persian Gulf island kingdom about 150 miles from the Iranian coast with a population of just over one million, more than a third of whom are non-nationals.

Although Shiites comprise about 70 percent of the population, Bahrain has been ruled by a Sunni royal family for more than two centuries, and Shiites have long claimed discrimination. Shiite Iran largely sympathizes with Bahrains Shiites while the Sunni government is backed by Bahrains giant neighbor, the fellow Sunni kingdom of Saudi Arabia. After Hamad bin Isa al Khalifa became king in 1999 he scrapped emergency laws and enacted limited reforms, ushering in a new constitution and establishing a parliament with an elected lower house and an upper house whose members he appoints. Sunnis dominated the lower house in elections in 2002 and 2006, but 2010 elections saw the opposition Shiites bloc making gains, winning 18 out of the 40 seats. A 2007-8 government clampdown on critics saw many Shiites arrested, and dozens claimed to have been assaulted and abused while in detention.

Citizens did not have the right to change their government, the State Departments latest report on international human rights, issued in March 2010, said of Bahrain. The government restricted civil liberties, including freedoms of speech, press, assembly, association, and some religious practices.

Freedom House, the Washington-based democracy watchdog, last year downgraded Bahrains status from partly free to not free, citing worsening discrimination and harassment of opposition figures. Notwithstanding its record on human rights Bahrains strategic location and friendly government has made it an important ally of the U.S.

The country was used as a military base for operations during the 1991 Gulf War, and the two countries signed a defense cooperation agreement later that year, permitting U.S. military access to Bahraini facilities and ensuring the right to pre-position material for future crises. After 9/11 President Bush designated Bahrain a major non-NATO ally, a status only enjoyed by 14 countries, including such key partners as Australia, Japan and Israel. Bahrain hosts the headquarters of the U.S. Naval Headquarters Central Command and the U.S. Fifth Fleet, the primary base for maritime operations in the Persian Gulf whose importance has grown as the dispute over Irans nuclear activities has deepened.

In a development reflecting the importance of the site into the future, the U.S. Navy last May held a groundbreaking ceremony for a $580 million project that will significantly expand the size of the base, scheduled for completion in 2015. Like other Arab Gulf states, Bahrains location has given rise to grave fears about the possibility of a nuclear-armed Iran. One of the U.S. diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks late last year reported that King Hamad warned Gen. David Petraeus in 2009 that the danger of letting it [Irans nuclear program] go on is greater than the danger of stopping it. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen visited Bahrain separately last December for talks focusing on the Iran nuclear issue. COMENT.. If youre the neighbor of a country that is pursuing nuclear weapons, that is viewed in a much more threatening way than if youre a concerned country many thousands of miles away,.

Afghan Lord
Radical Protest at Dickinson College
As more than 200 students continue their sit-in to protest in demanding more transparent policies on sexual violence, the news has already spread out to the media. Yesterday morning I realized there were a few students absent and I wondered where they were. A classmate reminded me that there is a protest going on campus. I thought it was not that serious and it could end soon but surprisingly it is still going on and they occupied the administration building, Old West.

It is the second day of the demonstration and I personally think it is too much; it is not civilized to occupy the administration building of an academic institution and create anxiety. There are some other ways that are more proper in addressing such issues rather than flocking around the offices as mass.

First, Dickinson College is an academic environment for higher education. Sometimes I am envious of American kids that have such a great opportunity for higher education. But I am afraid; I have often found that they are not taking advantage of such opportunities. Some have no idea what they want or what they are doing here. Some feel themselves unleashed from their families and think college is a place to get drunk, party and mess up. There is not a single weekend that goes by without at least one or two incidents. Most of these cases could be involved serious crimes but fortunately on campus security deals and makes things calm down. Last year, there was a movement that some students were asking the DPS not to show up around when they are partying.

Its ironic that they want more freedom but they are sometimes are not capable of handling it well. This is finally the result when they messed up, they are flooding to protest against administrative policy which cant do much. Some of them have no idea why they joined the protest. Nevertheless protest has become trendy nowadays.

If there is a rape case or sexual assault, there are some legal institutions that can deal with it, not the administration. It is polices and courts job to investigate the rape cases. If the students are very serious and want to bring changes, there are higher authorities in this country than college administration. The administration might be able toss out the perpetrator but that is it, it may not necessarily bring changes. These things should be done profoundly. This is not unique case which happens at Dickinson College, as my understanding is that sexual assault on college campuses is quite pervasive all over the country. So, why not address this issue in a broader way rather than taking a

radical action and occupying the building? This creates tension, and it is a radical movement in its nature in such an academic environment.

Dickinson College does not resemble any Middle Eastern countries; there are many civilized ways for the student to address the issues. There is a rule of law in this country and such cases should be followed by law and addressed to legal authorities. In developing countries, protesting is the only way to show anger and dissatisfaction with policies because usually the legal systems are not strong enough or sometimes they are ruled by despotic rulers.

Finally, I think a better way to improve the college campus life is in students feeling a bit responsible for what they are doing on campus. I believe that girls are not only part of this cause, guys are also part of it. If boys and girls get less drunk, do less sexual exposure in parties, less mingling with drunk guys and girls, smoke less weed, we wont have sexual assault cases on campus. We would have a healthy campus life without any sexual harassment.

Coment I.. If boys and girls get less drunk, do less sexual exposure in parties, less mingling with drunk guys and girls, smoke less weed, we wont have sexual assault cases on campus"...when two individuals have sex after the "above" incidents, that is NOT rape...Pleasezget a better understanding of sexual assualt before you voice your naive opinion on the matter.

Coment 2. Also, in response to you claiming that we will not make a difference in administrative policy: 1. We already have 2. You claim we should address the issue on a broader scale--we did! We published what we did and inspired students from across the world, as close as other schools in Pennsylvania and as far away as Taiwan to help improve the policies on all college campuses. You need to start small to get big.