By John Ballard
Christopher Hill, a former US secretary of state for east Asia who was ambassador to Iraq � and usually a very obedient and un-eloquent American diplomat � wrote the other day that "the notion that a dictator can claim the sovereign right to abuse his people has become unacceptable".
Unless, of course � and Mr Hill did not mention this � you happen to live in Bahrain. On this tiny island, a Sunni monarchy, the al-Khalifas, rule a majority Shia population and have responded to democratic protests with death sentences, mass arrests, the imprisonment of doctors for letting patients die after protests and an "invitation" to Saudi forces to enter the country. They have also destroyed dozens of Shia mosques with all the thoroughness of a 9/11 pilot. But then, let's remember that most of the 9/11 killers were indeed Saudis.
And what do we get for it? Silence. Silence in the US media, largely silence in the European press, silence from our own beloved CamerClegg and of course from the White House. And � shame of shame � silence from the Arabs who know where their bread is buttered. That means, of course, also silence from al-Jazeera. I often appear on their otherwise excellent Arabic and English editions, but their failure to mention Bahrain is shameful, a dollop of shit in the dignity that they have brought to reporting in the Middle East. The Emir of Qatar � I know him and like him very much � does not need to belittle his television empire in this way.
That, and more.
Hold your nose and go read the rest.
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