Amid ongoing crackdown by the Al Khalifa regime on pro-democracy protesters in Bahrain, a political analyst says that the United States is heavily dependent on the Bahraini regime.
“The US is heavily dependent on the Bahraini government for giving them a military base there, a naval base. And so the US is very reluctant to criticize the Al Khalifa government in Bahrain for that reason,” said Bill Beeman, a professor with the University of Minnesota, in an interview with Press TV on Thursday.
Beeman also criticized the double standards adopted by the United States with regard to the countries in the Middle East, saying, “We should be protecting human rights wherever they are violated and they certainly are being violated in Bahrain.”

On Wednesday, Saudi-backed Bahraini forces attacked a funeral procession held for a 17-year-old youth killed by regime forces in the northwestern village of Bani Jamra.

The funeral was held for Ali Khalil al-Sabbagh, who was shot dead by regime forces in the same village on Tuesday.

He is the latest victim of the ongoing crackdown by the Al Khalifa regime on dissent.

Bahrainis have been staging demonstrations since mid-February 2011, calling for political reforms and a constitutional monarchy, a demand that later changed to an outright call for the ouster of the ruling Al Khalifa family following its brutal crackdown on popular protests.

Scores have been killed, many of them under torture while in custody, and thousands more detained since the popular uprising started in the kingdom.

By Press TV

 

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