THE ANNEXATION OF BAHRAIN TO SAUDI ARABIA? The Plan of the Saudi-Bahrain Merger
By Kourosh Ziabari
Global Research, June 3, 2012
URL of this article: www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31215
The
recently declared plan by the members of Persian Gulf Cooperation
Council to annex the soil of Bahrain to Saudi Arabia and form a greater
Arab union has attested to the fact that the tyrannical and merciless
rulers of Arab sheikhdoms in the Persian Gulf are still obliviously
living in the colonial era, dating back to the early 1550s, when the
world's major colonial powers relied on the power of arms and
ammunitions to conquer and attain new territories and put the rivals'
nose out of joint in a conspicuous show-off of muscle-flexing.
It's more than one year that the spirited, courageous
youths of Bahrain have refused to leave the streets of capital Manama
and other major cities of the country, continuously demanding the
downfall of the dictatorial regime of Al Khalifa which is
unconditionally financed, armed and backed by the United States and its
puppet allies Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates.
The Witness Bahrain website associated with the
opposition groups puts the number of civilian deaths resulting from Al
Khalifa crackdown on the peaceful protesters in the past 15 months at
65; but it's for sure that the number of protesters killed at the hands
of the mercenaries of Al Khalifa regime is far greater than this.
Over the past year, the Bahraini officials resorted
to every means at their disposal to distract the public attention from
their bloody crackdown on the peaceful protestors demanding the ouster
of the King and the dissolution of his despotic government. They even
refused to cancel the Grand Prix 2012 race in April 2012 amid growing
international protests by the mass media, human rights groups,
academicians and politicians who had felt and recognized the depth of
catastrophe taking place in the tiny Persian Gulf country.
But the British Prime Minister, whose country is a
major supplier of weapons and money to Bahrain, made a controversial
statement in defense of the Formula 1 race in Bahrain, saying that
"Bahrain is not Syria; there is a process of reform underway and this
government backs that reform and wants to help promote that reform." And
nobody was there to complain to Cameron for his hypocritical stance on
Syria while indifferently turning a blind eye to the painful suffering
of the defenseless nation of Bahrain.
The very government which Cameron claimed is
defending and promoting reforms, has relentlessly detained and tortured
hundreds of peace activists and protesters since the beginning of
revolution in the island backing to February 2011, and killed many
innocent children and teenagers under vicious, brutal torture in its
horrific jails. Several protesters are sentenced to life prison and many
of them await trial in military courts without any lawyers and official
jury.
One of the heartrending cases of regime's atrocious
treatment with its own people is the issue of Abdulhadi al-Khawaja. The
audacious Bahraini peace activist who is now a national hero and symbol
of resistance against the tyranny of Al Khalifa has started an
open-ended hunger strike since February 8, 2012 and it's about four
months that he hasn't eaten anything nor drunk a sip of water. Bahraini
activist Alaa Shehabi wrote for the Foreign Policy on April 12 that the
possible death of al-Khawaja "could mark a significant breaking point
for the regime's efforts to rehabilitate its tarnished reputation -- and
could accelerate the disturbing trend toward militant radicalization in
the opposition." And it's an undeniable fact. Although al-Khawaja is
thankfully alive, he is spending the unbearable and intolerable days of
being tortured while he is on hunger strike, and pictures taken of him
which were published on the Bahraini websites show that he is in a
tremendously throbbing and agonizing situation.
Just three days ago, King Hamad of Bahrain who is now
seen as a bloodthirsty dictator in the region and one of the most hated
leaders of the world was invited by Queen Elizabeth II to attend a
royal ceremony in London. He was among the 50 foreign royals who
attended the "diamond jubilee" feast. Tens of angry protesters gathered
outside the Buckingham Palace to protest the controversial invitation.
"We feel it's tremendously important to show that
there are British people who do not agree with these royal dictators
being invited to Windsor Castle and Buckingham Palace," said human
rights campaigner Peter Tatchell.
"The queen has misjudged the public mood. Most
British people would not agree with our head of state wining and dining
dictators who stand accused of very serious human rights abuse," he
said.
And now, the Bahraini rulers are plotting a dangerous
conspiracy with their Saudi cronies to form a union, seeking certain
ends such as establishing an alliance against Iran which has seriously
stood up against the carnage of the Bahraini people and supported their
revolution. The Bahraini officials have laughably accused Iran of
meddling in their internal affairs.
Unquestionably, Bahrain's annexation to Saudi Arabia
will pose a serious threat to the security and stability of the Persian
Gulf and overturn the regional equations drastically. And it should not
be neglected that such plans are mostly dictated by the world's most
infamous colonial power, the United Kingdom.
The American author and former university professor
Kevin Barrett has likened this Saudi-British-Israeli plot to the
colonial ploys of Hitler.
"I think this is
more of an alliance of Hitler's Anschluss, when Nazi Germany invaded
Austria," said Kevin Barrett in an interview with Press TV.
"The big difference is that the majority of people in
Austria supported that. Whereas today, the vast majority of people in
Bahrain will be horrified to be occupied by and digested into Wahhabi
Saudi Arabia," Barrett added.
The Al Khalifa regime which has found itself
incapable of silencing the loud voice of Bahraini people who demand an
end to this authoritarian regime is seeking ways through which it can
extricate itself from the crisis it has been entangled into. Maybe
joining Saudi Arabia can be a short-term solution, but indubitably it
will portend dangerous consequences for the region including the firm
response of the Iranian nation and the strong reaction of rest of Muslim
nations around the world. And moreover, such a Bahraini-Saudi union
will not be tolerated by the people of Bahrain. Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa
and Saudi Arabia's Malek Abdullah can bet that this dangerous union is
doomed to failure.
