Open Letter to Mr. Obama – Bahrain Freedom Movement

05/08/2011 – 11:00 am | Hits: 171

Mr. Obama, Closely observing how pro-democracy youth in Tunisia, Egypt and other Arab countries have led the revolutions and toppled two strong US allies dictators, the youth in Bahrain have formed the *February 14th Youth Coalition* to lead and represent a peaceful pro-democracy revolution that aims to create a real democratic system, where all people, Sunnis or Shiia are equal.

On 13th of March, when the revolution was about to attain real democracy, the Saudis invaded Bahrain with thousands of heavily armed troops backed by hundreds of tanks and tens of Apache helicopters with one mission: search-and-destroy anyone who had dared to call for democracy and anything related to the Pearl (Lulu) square, including the square itself! This happened only two days after your Assistant Secretary of State, Jeffery Feltman had met with the authorities in Manama and in front of the 5th Navy Fleet, which turned blind eyes to the Saudi forces as they launched full-scale attack against the unarmed protesters. In these attacks, at least 35 so far have been killed including women and children and thousands injured. The main Salmaniya hospital was occupied by the Saudi and Bahraini military who prevented the injured from receiving treatment. The Saudis were not satisfied by ‘cleansing’ the square but have also pursued the protesters to their far villages and even workplaces. In this vicious attack, which took ugly sectarian dimension at least 30 Shiia mosques were demolished in one of the most outrageous crimes of modern history. It is widely believed that the Saudis would not have invaded our country without prior permission from the US Navy HQ in Manama. If this is true, these acts made the US Administration complicit in the crimes committed by the Saudis and their GCC allies. The official statements about Al Khalifa regime calling for “help” from neighboring GCC countries was only a facade. Robert Fisk, who was in Bahrain during the invasion, stated on 14th June that “*Bahrain didn’t invite the Saudis to send their troops; the Saudis invaded and received a post-dated invitation*”. We perceive the US and Saudi stands as complimentary rather than conflicting, playing the bad cop and good cop game. But rest assured, playing the good cop part is not going to put you and your administration on the “right-side” of history! While we welcome any credible and honest initiative toward real reform that stripes the brutal regime of Al Khalifa from their dominating power, brings to justice anyone who was involved in the crimes associated with the crackdown (including the King and Prime Minister themselves) and addresses political, social and economic problems originally created by Al Khalifa dynasty, we regard the current “National Dialogue” as nothing but yet another American tactic to confuse the revolution and salvage the Al Khalifa and the Al Saud from the quagmire. This would also give the Al Khalifa regime the time they need to disturb the demographic balance further by naturalizing tens of thousands from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Iraq and more recently Sudan. The so called National Dialogue has failed before it started. The pro-democracy supporters re-iterated their original demands, especially the downfall of Al Khalifa hereditary dictatorship. The opposition parties, which joined the dialogue have lost much of their credibility and people’s support and pull out at the end.  Despite the brutal repression and tragedy, the peaceful pro-democracy revolution in Bahrain will never stop until real democracy is attained regardless of the cost and time. Our courage and determination is strengthened by the murder of our people, detention of our men, women and children, the vicious torture of detainees and the process of starving Bahrainis by the ruling family. Unfortunately, your administration has not learnt the lessons of Vietnam, Afghanistan and Iraq and has chosen to be on the wrong side of history once again. We have learnt that peaceful protest and civil disobedience are indeed the best weapons to fight for our rights. We started the revolution peacefully and will continue to be so until we obtain our rights and freedom. However, with its current policies, your administration has insisted on taking sides against our people and supporting the tyrants, dictators, torturers and enemies of humanity. To show otherwise, we suggest the Fifth Fleet be moved to another country that is not included your own list of human rights abusers!Regards, Pearl Revolution Political Center

28th July, 2011