Manns Medium

When I came across this article by Scott Bronstein,   Amber Lyon   and   Taryn Fixel of CNN titled CNN arrests expose crackdown in Bahrain the question of Iran instigating these conflicts except for the one in Egypt, for what they thought would be their gain crossed my mind.   The evidence for this thought is excerpted below and if read carefully, one could probably find more. The article stated that "Our economy came to the brink of collapse," Sheikh Khalid, Bahrain's Foreign Minister said. "So we had no choice but to protect the interests of our country... from collapse, from total collapse internally. And from external threats. We all know where we are. We all know who threatened us and called on the people to rise up."   When asked who he referred to, Sheikh Khalid said "Iran, of course."   I question this only because the actions being taken are some what identical to those taken by Iran when their population took to the streets and if they were...

According to this article by Charles McDermid and Abu Dhabi of Time titled Standing up to Iran: Gulf Alliance Flexes Its Muscles the American Neo-Cons and those who have been chomping at the bits to bomb Iran, like John McCain and Dick Cheney may soon get their wish. It reports about the back and forth between the GCC and Iran which could imply that the rhetoric may soon escalate into intervention. The American neo—cons have always pushed the need for Iran to be dealt with and this may just be what the doctor ordered for them. "These are just some of the hallmarks of the new-look Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - the bloc of six Arab nations that is shedding its image as a somnolent, oil-rich cartel and propelling itself forward in the role of hands-on military campaigner in the uprisings that are reshaping the region. It has already intervened - mainly with member Saudi Arabia's troops - in the rebellion in GCC compatriot Bahrain. This is the GCC 2.0 and the world, and mos...

According to an article by Hadeel Al-Shalchi of the Associated Press titled Former US rep in Libya to seek Gadhafi's exit “A former U.S. congressman invited by Moammar Gadhafi arrived in Tripoli on Wednesday on a self-described private mission to urge the Libyan leader to step down as rebels and pro-government forces waged near stalemate battles. Curt Weldon, a Pennsylvania Republican who has visited Libya twice before, said he leading a private delegation and had informed the White House and some members of Congress about his trip.” Even though this news is worth major consideration there was a portion of this article which I think carries greater consequences. That portion was “Neither government forces nor the rebels have made any serious gains in recent days, nor the conflict has shifted to smaller objectives on both sides, such as control of the key oil port of Brega. Rebels have complained that NATO airstrikes come too slowly to seriously disrupt the pro-Gadhafi troops. Bu...

Many have asked the question why America has not intervened in the conflict of the Ivory Coast and some of us tried to educate them that it was because both sides were about equal in bullets and bandages, it was not really a peaceful protest and no one from the Ivory Coast ahs requested our assistance but this appeared to be too complicated for many in the media to wrap their heads around. An article written by Rukmini Callimachi of the Associated Press titled Fighters surround Ivory Coast strongman in bunker may be the catalyst needed to show that sometimes when you are not sure what to do, the best that you can do is nothing.   It reports “s urrounded by troops backing Ivory Coast's democratically elected leader, strongman Laurent Gbagbo huddled in a bunker with his family Tuesday and tried to negotiate terms of surrender directly with his political rival, officials and diplomats said. France's foreign minister said Gbagbo would be required to relinquish power in writing af...

For the supporters of Moammar Gadhafi and his regime this article by Joe Pompeo titled Alleged Libyan rape victim Iman al-Obeidi breaks through to the international press does them little justice and proves that this regime and their supporters needs to be dealt with.   In the report he writes about an alleged rape victim, Iman al-Obeidi who claims that she was raped and beaten by guards loyal to Gadhafi.   She was quoted as saying "I showed to the journalists my hands and legs. I was bound and tied up. I was beaten and tortured, for two days they violated my freedom ... I want to convey to the journalists that the brigades who are supposed to protect people, look what they did to me."   "They had my hands tied behind me and they had my legs tied, and they would hit my while I was tied, and bite me on my body, and they would pour alcohol in my eyes so that I would not be able to see, and they would sodomize me with their rifles, and they would not let us go to the bath...