Imagine that you have been seriously injured in an automobile accident. An ambulance is dispatched, but before they load you on the gurney, they ask which political party you belong to or which church you attend. Barely conscious, you manage to mumble your answer. Wrong answer, they announce and leave you to die along the side of the road.
Whether or not you believe that the rationale for going to "war" with Libya was based on a genuine humanitarian crisis, I think most people would agree that what is happening in Bahrain clearly qualifies as one. Not only is the government (with the assistance of Saudi military forces) gunning down peaceful protesters in droves, but a report has surfaced that doctors and other medical practitioners who have treated injured demonstrators are being "disappeared."
What is transpiring in Bahrain today constitutes a direct violation of a basic human right. Where is the outrage from the US and NATO governments? Why isn't the US, in conjunction with NATO, raining down bombs on the brutal Bahrain dictatorship to protect the slaughter of innocent? (Not that I support military intervention, mind you.)
The goings on in Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and other countries puts the lie to the "humanitarian" rationale utilized for Libya. We have a multitude of reasons for wanting to dispose of the Libyan leader -- most involving capitalist imperialism -- but the desire to protect human life isn't one of them.
If it was, we would have headed to Bahrain weeks ago!
Whether or not you believe that the rationale for going to "war" with Libya was based on a genuine humanitarian crisis, I think most people would agree that what is happening in Bahrain clearly qualifies as one. Not only is the government (with the assistance of Saudi military forces) gunning down peaceful protesters in droves, but a report has surfaced that doctors and other medical practitioners who have treated injured demonstrators are being "disappeared."
The intimidation and detention of doctors treating dying and injured pro-democracy protesters in Bahrain is revealed today in a series of chilling emails obtained by The Independent.Civilized countries allow doctors and medical personnel to treat patients as they come. It shouldn't matter if the injured or ill person is a citizen or resident. It shouldn't matter what political party, religion or flavor of ice cream the individual prefers. The role of the medical community is to try to save lives.
At least 32 doctors, including surgeons, physicians, pediatricians and obstetricians, have been arrested and detained by Bahrain's police in the last month in a campaign of intimidation that runs directly counter to the Geneva Convention guaranteeing medical care to people wounded in conflict. Doctors around the world have expressed their shock and outrage.
One doctor, an intensive care specialist, was held after she was photographed weeping over a dead protester. Another was arrested in the theater room while operating on a patient...
What is transpiring in Bahrain today constitutes a direct violation of a basic human right. Where is the outrage from the US and NATO governments? Why isn't the US, in conjunction with NATO, raining down bombs on the brutal Bahrain dictatorship to protect the slaughter of innocent? (Not that I support military intervention, mind you.)
The goings on in Bahrain, Yemen, Syria and other countries puts the lie to the "humanitarian" rationale utilized for Libya. We have a multitude of reasons for wanting to dispose of the Libyan leader -- most involving capitalist imperialism -- but the desire to protect human life isn't one of them.
If it was, we would have headed to Bahrain weeks ago!
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