Bahrain
I hate the way that American politicians pretend that they are advocates for democracy around the world.
Bahrain is a great example of their hypocrisy. The country has a Shia majority but is ruled by a Sunni king with absolute powers. His Prime Minister has been in place for 40 years. There are more political prisoners in Bahrain per capita than any country in the world. There is a token parliament, but a Shura council that sits above it that can overall every decision. All its members are appointed by the King.
The American government supports this dictatorship, because the King of Bahrain provides a base of the Fifth Fleet. The people of Bahrain are not allowed democracy, because it does not fit with American interests.
That is hypocrisy on a grand scale from the Land of the Free.
1 comment:
There are not many people in the US government who could begin to tell you the difference between a Sunni and a Shi'ite, or who believe that it matters. After all, we're the same people who put an army on the ground in Mesopotamia without knowing that. Over and over, I have run into the belief that to mention something or to know anything about it is to be in favor of it. In that environment, people with actual knowledge get tuned out or shouted down. The mental environment here in the US has deteriorated sharply in my lifetime. My father had some expertise in matters related to the USSR, and he was very much in demand because even backward people wanted to understand the USSR. My own expertise is in Islam and the Middle East, and I am unable to overcome the perception that I must be Muslim myself or I wouldn't know or care anything about it. In this environment, we can expect our government to operate from a combination of hypocrisy and ignorance that will result in consequences that surprise us only because we didn't bother to learn anything about the other culture.
Post a Comment