Justice over the Dollar Bill: Bahrain
by Abbe Sudvarg, PEP Board Chair
I understand that our economy is doing very poorly. And I also do understand that selling U.S. made products to other countries is good for our economy. But why, so often, must the Made In America label be affixed to weapons? Why do we, so often, sell weapons to any oil-rich despot who wants to buy them?
Bahrain is an archipelago of 36 islands located off the Eastern Coast of Saudi Arabia. The government is a hereditary monarchy. According to the U.S. State Department (www.state.gov): U.S. military sales to Bahrain since 2000 total $1.4 billion. Principal U.S. military systems acquired by the Bahrain Defense Force include eight Apache helicopters, 54 M60A3 tanks, 22 F-16C/D aircraft, 51 Cobra helicopters, 9 MLRS Launchers (with ATACMS), 20 M109A5 Howitzers, 1 Avenger AD system, and the TPS-59 radar system.
On February 14th 2011, Protests began in Bahrain when thousands of people gathered from across the state. They planned to walk to the Pearl Roundabout in central Manama, the capital, for a “Day of Rage” to demand greater freedom, social justice and political and constitutional reforms. Peaceful protest soon turned to panic as security forces resorted to overwhelming force. Within a week, seven protesters were dead and hundreds of others were injured. The worst violence occurred on the 17th of February during an early morning raid on those camped at Pearl Roundabout. Massed ranks of riot police stormed the area to evict the sleeping protesters, firing live ammunition and using tear gas, batons, rubber bullets and shotguns, including at close range, to disperse them. Tanks and armored vehicles later blocked access to the roundabout. Five people were fatally wounded and at least 250 were injured, some critically. Among the injured were people clearly identified as medical workers who were targeted by police while trying to help people wounded by the security forces. (Amnesty International Arms Transfers To The Middle East and North Africa)
Despite these atrocities, the United States had, this month, all but finalized a $53 million weapons deal with the Persian Gulf Kingdom of Bahrain. Just last week, however, the State Department agreed to delay the weapons sale until a commission in Bahrain finishes investigating the government’s human rights abuses.
Maybe, just this once, we won’t sell more weapons to a country that will turn them against its own people. Maybe, just this once, justice will win over the dollar bill.
