[Pro-democracy demonstrations stretched into a third day in Bahrain, while
police and anti- regime protesters clashed in Yemen and Libya, the latest
country in the region hit by demands for change. . ..
In Yemen, where the government has cooperated with the U.S. in anti-terror
efforts, hundreds rallied for a sixth day, marching outside Sanaa University
to demand the immediate resignation of the president of 32 years, Ali
Abdullah Saleh. . . .
The unrest in Libya helped boost oil prices, with futures rising for the
first time in four days. Oil for March delivery rose 60 cents, to $84.92 a
barrel, at 9:09 a.m. on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Libya has the largest proven oil reserves in Africa, with 44.3 billion
barrels in 2009, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.Glen
Carey and Mohammed Hatem, "Protests Spread to Libya as Unrest
Roils Bahrain, Yemen," atimes.com, February 16, 2011]
David Martin, "Brutal Bahrain Plays Vital Role to U.S. Gov't,"
cbsnews.com, February 17, 2011
[Bahrain is a tiny archipelago of 1.2 million people separated from Saudi
Arabia by a causeway - 65% of Bahrain is Shi'ite. But the al-Khalifa dynasty
in power is Sunni. Most Shi'ites are poor, marginalized and discriminated
against - a rural proletariat. And they have been squeezed further as a mass
of "imported" Sunnis - upwards of 50,000 from southern Pakistan,
Balochistan, Jordan and Yemen - have been naturalized. Add to it a classic
divide and rule strategy - local workforce pitted against foreign workforce;
54% of the population are guest workers, nearly half of these from southwest
India. . . .
To top it off, the US 5th Fleet - a self-described cop on the beat - is
berthed in Bahrain.--Pepe Escobar, "All about
Pearl roundabout," atimes.com, February 18, 2011]
Andrew England, "Libyans challenge Gaddafi's grip," ft.com,
February 18, 2011
"Unrest in the Middle East and North Africa -- country by
country," cnn.com, February 18, 2011
Robert Fisk, "'They
didn't run away. They faced the bullets head-on': After Egypt's revolution,
the people have lost their fear," Independent, February 19, 2011
Robert Fisk, "These are secular popular revolts -- yet everyone is
blaming religion," Independent, February 20, 2011
John Vidal, "What Does
the Arab World Do When its Water Runs Out?," Observer, February 21,
2011
"Political Unrest in North Africa
and the Middle East," nytimes.com, February 21, 2011
"Gadhafi accused of genocide against his own people,"
mcclatchydc.com, February 21, 2011
Hussain Abdul-Hussain, "Iraq protests
show a democracy hijacked by '100 mini-Saddams'," thenational.ae,
February 27, 2011
Justin Elliott, "U.S. silent as Iraqi regime cracks down: The
U.S.-backed al-Maliki government imprisoned intellectuals and used live
ammunition on protesters," salon.com, February 28, 2011
Gus Lubin, "These
Are The Controversial Satellite Photos That Set Off Protests In Bahrain,"
businessinsider.com, March 2, 2011
[Saudi Arabia was yesterday drafting up to 10,000 security personnel into
its north-eastern Shia Muslim provinces, clogging the highways into Dammam
and other cities with busloads of troops in fear of next week's "day of
rage" by what is now called the "Hunayn Revolution". . . .
An indication of the seriousness of the revolt against the Saudi royal
family comes in its chosen title: Hunayn. This is a valley near Mecca, the
scene of one of the last major battles of the Prophet Mohamed against a
confederation of Bedouins in AD630.--Robert Fisk, "Saudis
mobilise thousands of troops to quell growing revolt," Independent,
March 5, 2011]
[Whatever the outcome of the protests, uprisings and rebellions now sweeping
the Middle East, one thing is guaranteed: the world of oil will be
permanently transformed. Consider everything that's now happening as just
the first tremor of an oilquake that will shake our world to its
core.--Michael T Klare, "The
collapse of the old oil order," businessinsider.com, March 5, 2011]
[When Saudi Arabian troops rolled into Bahrain to help quell Shi'ite Muslim
protests, the world's top oil-exporting region inched closer to a sectarian
stand-off that could involve non-Arab Shi'ite power Iran.--Lin Noueihed, "Analysis: Tiny Bahrain could provoke
regional conflict," Reuters, March 14, 2011]
Webster G. Tarpley, "Behind the 2011 Orgy of Destabilizations: Pre-Emptive Coups by the CIA
to Halt an Exodus of US Satraps and Viceroys Leading to a Multipolar
World," tarpley.net, March 15, 2011
Shirin Sadeghi, "The Fabrication of Bahrain's
Shiite-Sunni Divide," huffingtonpost.com, March 16, 2011
[A crackdown that killed dozens failed to stop massive demonstrations--Ahmed
Al-Haj, "Yemen's US-backed leader fails to stop uprising,"
msnbc.msn.com, March 19, 2011]
"Yemen's president Ali Abdullah Saleh agrees to step down: Deal to
hand power to deputy within 30 days accepted by opposition parties, but with
reservations," Associated Press, April 24, 2011
[Wissam Tarif of the human rights group Insan . . . said he had received the
names of 1,800 people who have been detained since Thursday, bringing to
nearly 10,000 the number of people taken into custody since the uprising
began in March. The death toll stands at 716, he said.--"Syria crackdown
escalates, spreads," Associated Press, May 8, 2011]
Ernesto Londono and Sudarsan Raghavan, "Yemeni crowds
celebrate after president transfers power, flies to Saudi Arabia,"
Washington Post, June 4, 2011
Patrick Cockburn, "Saudi police
open fire on civilians as protests gain momentum," Independent,
October 5, 2011
Kevin Sullivan, "Saudi Arabia's secret Arab
Spring," Independent, October 23, 2011
Robert Fisk, "The Middle East we must
confront in the future will be a Mafiastan ruled by money," independent.co.uk, April
20, 2014