While we were out: Bahrain's secret terror

[EFerrari]

Desperate emails speak of 'genocide' as doctors who have treated injured protesters are rounded up
By Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor
Thursday, 21 April 2011


The intimidation and detention of doctors treating dying and injured pro-democracy protesters in Bahrain is revealed today in a series of chilling emails obtained by The Independent.

At least 32 doctors, including surgeons, physicians, paediatricians and obstetricians, have been arrested and detained by Bahrain's police in the last month in a campaign of intimidation that runs directly counter to the Geneva Convention guaranteeing medical care to people wounded in conflict. Doctors around the world have expressed their shock and outrage.

One doctor, an intensive care specialist, was held after she was photographed weeping over a dead protester. Another was arrested in the theatre room while operating on a patient.

Many of the doctors, aged from 33 to 65, have been "disappeared" – held incommunicado or at undisclosed locations. Their families do not know where they are. Nurses, paramedics and ambulance staff have also been detained.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/bahrains-secret-terror-2270675.html

[DCKit]

1. Was there any doubt that this was exactly what was going to happen...

while we were being entertained by developments in Libya?

Remember, Bahrain is one of our "friends".

[EFerrari]

2. Exactly. n/t

[leftstreet]

5. +1

[MedleyMisty]

9. You honestly think the Libyans rose up against Gaddafi

just to provide you with some entertainment and "distraction" from Bahrain?

WTF, man? How does one's brain even get twisted into that position?

I think, after 42 years of having their money taken and used to fund terrorist groups all over the world and to enrich Gaddafi (I've seen pictures of his gold sinks, among other pictures, sent around Twitter in outrage at what had been taken from them), they were inspired by Tunisia and Egypt and said fuck it, it's time to get up off our knees.

You realize that they had sucky health care and sucky schools (where they were forced to learn Gaddafi's Green Book) and sucky infrastructure, that Gaddafi said unions were for the weak, that he didn't allow any sort of social organizations except a very few that he tightly controlled, that he would show public hangings on state TV? That Libya was the very picture of what Republicans want for us?

The people of this world do not live to entertain you. They live for themselves. And the Libyans decided to live for themselves in a way that we could all learn from.

You know those two photographers who died in Misrata a few days ago? The Libyans held massive demonstrations for them, carried US and UK flags, carried signs saying "US and UK your blood was mixed with ours in Misrata", had huge public prayers for them, are talking about naming two streets after them in Misrata. And you sit here and call them entertainment.

Americans disgust me.

[frylock]

3. knr

[slipslidingaway]

4. knr nt

[truebrit71]

6. Repeat after me..'with friends like these....'

...

[Kurovski]

7. K&R. (nt)

[malaise]

8. Posted about this and it sank like a stone

:hi:

How humanitarian. :sarcasm:

[MedleyMisty]

10. Why say "while we were out"?

Maybe you were out. I was paying attention. But that's a weird ability I have, this ability to pay attention to multiple things.

The activist who went on a hunger strike - when she tweeted pleading for Obama to show some attention, to care about their human rights, I replied and told her we detain and torture people here too so not to feel too bad that he didn't respond.

There's not like a whole lot of normal active pro-Gaddafi Libyans on Twitter. Plenty of pro-Gaddafi Americans, but not Libyans. And I haven't found any anti-revolution Egyptians. But there are a ton of pro-government Bahrainis on Twitter, and they sound just like our upper class. No empathy for anyone but themselves and their friends and they are hardcore authoritarians who try to blame it all on the protesters and say that it's right for the government to eliminate the terrorists who are undermining it, with Iranian help.

Notice how much that's like Gaddafi's story about Al Qaeda and the crusader colonialists. But you guys believe Gaddafi's propaganda and support him while condemning the Bahrain government. Care to explain why some people deserve freedom and human rights but others don't, why it's totally cool for the Libyans to be tortured and raped and killed but wrong for that to happen to Bahrainis?

[PurityOfEssence]

11. How terribly inconvenient

How much more deeply cynical do our "friends" have to be before a bit of the taint rubs off on this administration? The answer is simple: no amount of ruthlessness to sustain regimes we like or bring down ones we don't will make a difference to the true acolytes.

Oh, right; this is a different country. We didn't make a deal with the Saudis or anything. We're the good guys (well, when a "democrat" is in office) and such comparisons aren't fair.

Imagine the howls from the Libyan Interventionists on this board if this kind of thing was going on in Qaddafi-held territory. Hold that thought, and imagine the silence and/or vehement recrimination if it was happening in rebel-held territory.