Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
Bahrain Doctors,Nurses,Medical staff,some of whom have been tortured and sexually abused,have been imprisoned for five--15 years for giving medical treatment to wounded protesters.They are mainly Shiite staff The ruling family are Sunni ( al-Khalifar )..............It is a dictatorship.
The majority population is Shia
Having travelled the Middle East for two decades one of my responsibilities was to control our company activities in the Middle East.Our main office and set up was on Bahrain Island.
On one occasion I was `entertained` by Bahrain Security Services (organised and run by former British Policeman,not very pleasant gentlemen ) in Manama for having obtained a contract that one of the many Crown Prince`s wanted.
Fortunately my `influential`sponsor/partner was able to make my detention a matter of hours instead of days/months.
Also we had critical contract to repair their Refinery FCC Unit ( Cat Cracker ) which if interrupted would result in the Saudi Oil people crawling all over them.
Bahrain does not have Oil............they refine it for Saudi Arabia.
The Medical staff and many Bahrain civilians now in Prison will not be having a pleasant time.Prisons in Middle East are awfull places.
Britain supplies arms and crowd control equipment to Bahrain.and Security officers are British.
Bahrain does not have Oil...........................Lybya has Oil.
Bahrain like Syria peoples will have to fend for themselves.
However Democracy of sorts will win in the end.............Sooner the better.
Keith Sansum1
- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
in this respect cameron entertained there leader just last week.
i have posted many times before on the UK double standards.
we go into and get heavily involved in places like libya
yet here as reg says abuse is taking place of innocent people who are just helping others, and we stand by and do nothing.
its a scandal
what do others think????
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howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
not much to think about keith, without oil or mineral wealth no-one cares.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
howard;
maybe this cobbled together govt(and others before them) should be more honest on there intentions
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Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
I expect the argument that the West only gets involved in oil producing countries in order to protect its supply of oil is correct but am struggling to see why. Countries such as Iraq and Libya had strongmen oppressing their own people but there was no problem with the flow of oil. We want to buy it but, conversely, they want to sell it. If one oil producing country wants to cut off the supply of oil to us then there are plenty of other sources to obtain it from until they change their minds after they see the money stop rolling in. If it were only a question of oil then having a dictator in place is the best way to ensure that the oil keeps flowing.
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
The double standards of PM Cameron and W. Hague are evident enough in Libya: see the residents in Sirte. NATO planes are bombing the city continually to get the rebels in, while these are shelling the place indiscriminately.
As for Bahrain, well evidently they don't have a law there that recognises that doctors and medics in general, including nurses, are by profession dedicated to helping all people in need of medical care.
The cobbled together cabinet should stand up and answer some questions! PM Cameron and W. Hague have played their cards, they have lost.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
but there has been discussion on here that a lot of the involvement has been because of the lack of democracy and treatment of any particular countries people.
obviously bahrain shows that all to be hogwash
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Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
Saudi Arabia an oppressive Kingdom.The Eastern Province,mainly Shia and contains the largest Oil Reserves in the....World has experienced Pro-Democratic protesters and have been repealed by Security forces with live rounds.
Saudi Security forces were used to quell Bahraini Shia protesters.
The Saudi Monarchy are Sunni and regard the Shia not to be true Muslims.
The Saudi Shia are angry at the treatment of Bahraini Shia protesters by Saudi Security forces.
The Uprisings will spread but unlike Syria the West will not intervene...........they have no Oil.
The future will see a different attitude.................Just a matter of Time.
howard mcsweeney1- Location: Dover
- Registered: 12 Mar 2008
- Posts: 62,352
i think the saudi royal family know deep down that their future is bleak and are behavig in a desperate manner.
osama bin laden saw them as corrupt and were the main target for him, mind you he didn't get along with many people.
the foreign office will be keeping a close eye on things to see which way the wind blows.
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
The Saudis have always had a carrot and stick approach to government. As long as the oil price is high enough there are enough carrots. If the price falls then the stick comes to the fore. They have been sitting on a demographic time bomb for 25 years and if the oil price falls back again there will not be enough carrots to buy off the jobless youth.
Osama bin Laden might have been contemptuous of the Al-Saud and its wealth but he thought nothing of using the resources of his own family to get him going on the route he chose. The bin Laden family is one of the richest merchant families in the Kingdom but all the similar families (Olayan, al-Jomaih, al-Sudairi, etc.) have their wealth well invested abroad and are resigned to the fact that they will have to go eventually.
Ultimately the Kingdom will descend into anarchy.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
Some reservations to express here:
Bahrain has oil, not as much as Saudi Arabia, but with a smaller population, Bahrain has enough oil being exported on a daily basis as not to have any financial problems.
Syria also has oil, again not as much as S. Arabia, and also exports some.
As for the Shi'ite protests in an eastern province of Saudi Arabia, the news I read states that some protesters fired live rounds of ammunition at Saudi Police, injuring a number of them.
S. Arabia has accused a foreign country of causing the disturbances in the eastern province, with reference to Iran.
All Saudi citizens, including Shi'ites, are entitled to economic privileges.
Saudi Arabia has a state system that is not exactly equivalent to democracy as intended in the West, but it was like that from the start of the Saudi state. In that region, there never has been a democracy as the West knows it.
There is no international law saying that a country has to have western-style democracy. International laws are more concerned with basic human rights within a country, and most countries in the world do have a constitution guaranteeing human rights for all citizens of the state.
Saudi Arabia is also an important trading partner with the West, and with their oil exports, have enough power to sting the whole world up the hind if anyone started picking on them. They'd just have to turn the tap off for a few weeks.
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
and the UK's lack of interest in what goes on in barhain?
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Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
What is going on in Bahrain is nothing new. It happened under British rule before 1971 as well. In 1979 I managed to get tear-gassed in the main souk in Manama while security forces were teaching the Shia shopkeepers a lesson. Years and years of repression of the Shia majority by the ruling Sunni elite have brought the country to a state where internal opposition is so strong that it can only be contained with Saudi assistance. There are still a number of British ex-special forces types advising the Bahrainis, I remember many years ago there was a Col Henderson who was particularly nasty and generally feared throughout the island.
This has always gone on with British connivance and will continue until the al-Khalifa dynasty is overthrown. It's called realpolitik.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Keith Sansum1- Location: london
- Registered: 25 Aug 2010
- Posts: 23,942
the answer to my last post peter is nothing then?
in posts of the past some posters have given the impression we got involved in libya for many reasons one being the lack of democracy
is this me, or does this all stink of double standards?
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Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
Keith, Britain should have a policy of not exporting weapons, and in case of civil unrest or war in countries in Africa and Asia, inviting the sides to peaceful talks with eachother.
We shouldn't get involved. It's not our problem.
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
# 13. During my detention Henderson questioned me.He was nasty/intimidating.Six months later we met at a Bapco dinner and he was still a nasty b.......d.
# 11.Few corrections needed here but one will do. Bahrain does not have OIL.They only refine for Saudi.
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
Let's hope all our other mutual acquaintances are a little more friendly than that son of a b****, Reg! The only time I met him personally he was out of his jurisdiction, at the British ambassador's house in Riyadh. Apparently he also had some sort of liaison function between the Bahrain secret police and the Saudi National Guard.
From what I heard he only moved socially in diplomatic and royal circles and did not deign to rub shoulders with his fellow Brits.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Guest 696- Registered: 31 Mar 2010
- Posts: 8,115
Reg, Bahrain produces 48,500 barrels of oil a day. A rather modest output, when compared to some oil-producing giants that can vaunt millions of barrels a day, but then, a groat is a groat.
Guest 698- Registered: 28 May 2010
- Posts: 8,664
Reg I can remember seeing 'nodding donkeys' in the desert south of Jebal Dukhan in the days when you were allowed to drive down to the south of the island before the airbase was built.
I'm an optimist. But I'm an optimist who takes my raincoat - Harold Wilson
Guest 716- Registered: 9 Jun 2011
- Posts: 4,010
Donkeys years ago.