Opposition leaders: Bahraini rulers get powers from US for bloody crackdown

The Bahraini regime has been given carte blanche by the United States to use ruthless repression against dissenting voices, says a prominent Bahraini opposition leader. Rashid al-Rashid said the green light Washington gave the Ale-Khalifah regime to carry out excessive repression and the apathy of the international community encouraged the regime to blatantly and brutally violate human rights. "This has taken a heavy toll on the Bahraini nation and thousands of people are now being imprisoned, persecuted and forced into exile," he said. "A US-led front will never allow the establishment of democracy or political change in Bahrain, as such a development will result in Washington losing control and dominance over the country,"  

“One of the main challenges facing the popular uprising in Bahrain is the sheer scale of the repression and the massive use of repressive and brutal measures. The international community saw how the Ale Khalifah regime violently tore down the monument in the center of Pearl Square [in the capital Manama] on March 17, 2011 to symbolically end popular protests and killed dozens of Bahrainis in cold blood,” Rashid said . Anti-monarchy demonstrations began on February 14, 2011 and have been held regularly since the popular uprising began.Demonstrators are demanding that the Ale-Khalifah regime relinquish power and establish a democratic, just system that represents all Bahrainis.

However, the ruthless Manama regime has responded to calls for social equality with an iron fist, cracking down on dissenting voices. "The campaign of repression continues unabated," Rashid said. "Oppositionists have stood up for the inalienable rights of the Bahraini nation for the past 12 years, and as a result have endured various forms of abuse, arbitrary detention, physical and mental torture in detention, deportation and loss of communication with the outside world." “So far, the people of Bahrain could have overthrown the ruling Ale Khalifah dynasty if they had to fight only one regime. The Saudi-led intervention in Bahrain to help the regime quell the country's pro-democracy insurgency and carte blanche issued by US officials have hampered his victory," the Bahraini opposition leader commented. "As the Bahraini nation struggled to assert its political rights and fundamental freedoms, it faced a regional coalition whose primary objective was to keep the Ale-Khalifah regime in place and protect it with every means of brutality and repression." said Rashid. The Bahraini opposition leader further stressed that the presence of US and British forces and the normalization of the Ale Khaifa regime's relations with Israel's apartheid regime are among the other challenges threatening the popular uprising in Bahrain.