The Obama administration’s claim to support freedom and democracy in the Middle East has been tarnished by recent reports it will sell military hardware to Bahrain despite the regime’s brutal crackdown on nonviolent protesters.
In March 2011, 500 troops and police from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates joined Bahraini military forces in an effort to crush the protests. Thousands were arrested, many tortured, and at least 40 people were killed. The regime also launched widespread attacks that destroyed Shiite mosques. The Obama administration’s tepid response to the violence may be explained by the fact that the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain.
In September, the administration told Congress it planned to sell Bahrain $53 million in military equipment, mainly armored Humvees and antitank missiles. Although protests from human rights organizations delayed the sale, the State Department now says it will begin a transfer of military equipment, which it claims is “not large enough to require congressional notification.”
