Image by Stephen Melkisethian via Flickr
by David Swanson
Writer, Dandelion Salad
Let’s Try Democracy
December 9, 2020
You may have heard that the U.S. House of Representatives just passed a bill to spend $741 billion renaming military bases that have been heretofore named for Confederates. You may think that’s a grand idea but still wonder at the price tag.
by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from PressTV
March 3, 2013
Image by donnaidh_sidhe via Flickr
The Bahraini regime last week issued a new law that shows just how wobbly-scared it is of its own people. Anyone found in possession of a false face mask is liable to be jailed.
The mask in question is the stylized face of Guy Fawkes – the 17th Century English revolutionary who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in the failed gunpowder plot. Continue reading
by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from PressTV
February 10, 2013
Image by Al Jazeera English via Flickr
The Leader of the Islamic Revolution Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei described recent American offers of bilateral talks with Iran as tantamount to the US holding negotiations with a gun to the head.
The same apt metaphor, expressing the futility of conducting political talks under extreme duress, applies equally to the internal politics of Bahrain.
Image by freestylee via Flickr
by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from PressTV
Nov. 2, 2012
The brutality of the Bahraini regime again this week inadvertently exposed the hypocrisy and moral bankruptcy of its Western government sponsors.
While US secretary of state Hillary Clinton was reiterating alleged support for democratic transition in Syria, the reality of US-backed despotism in Bahrain once more demonstrated the hollow cynicism of official Western pronouncements on democracy and human rights.
Image by Al Jazeera English via Flickr
Oct 30, 2012 by RussiaToday
Bahraini authorities have banned all protest gatherings amid escalating clashes in the Gulf kingdom. It’s the most sweeping attempt so far to quash anti-regime protests that’ve been going on in the country for nearly two years. The restrictions come after the country’s police reportedly attacked anti-monarchy protesters with tear gas and rubber bullets in the capital Manama on Monday. Clashes in Bahrain occur almost daily, with around 80 people being killed since the unrest began.
by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
East Africa
Crossposted from PressTV
Oct 23, 2012
Image by Al Jazeera English via Flickr
The Western-backed Bahraini regime is stepping up its vicious repression in a bid to terrorize the mainly Shia population to enter into a fake dialogue process. The political dialogue, which is endorsed by Washington and London, is designed to give the appearance of reform, but in reality it is framed to not bring about any democratic change.
by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
East Africa
May 18, 2012
Queen of United Kingdom (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
When Queen Elizabeth II receives her guests at Windsor Castle today to celebrate 60 years as head of the British state she will be greeted and fawned upon by some of the world’s most ruthless dictators.
Some 40 sovereigns from around the world are invited to the celebratory lunch to mark the queen’s Diamond Jubilee, six decades after she accessed the British throne in 1952.
A spokesman for Britain’s House of Windsor said the occasion would be an historic and intimate gathering of crowned heads. Among the attendees will be the queen’s counterparts from other European royal households, including sovereigns from Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Andorra, Belgium, Luxembourg, Monaco, the Netherlands and Norway.
by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
18 September 2011
The persistence of pro-democracy protests in Bahrain in the face of brutal repression may be giving Washington second thoughts about its unwavering support for the royal rulers of the strategically important Persian Gulf kingdom. Are we about to witness a cosmetic ‘regime change’ – not so much for the genuine sake of democratic rights in Bahrain, but more to save Washington’s vital interests across the region?The tiny island situated between Saudi Arabia and Qatar serves as the base for the US Navy’s Fifth Fleet. The Fifth Fleet, comprising 16,000 personnel and 30 vessels, is a staging ground for US military projection across the Middle East and Central Asia. It also monitors the sealanes of the Persian Gulf through which some 30 per cent of the world’s total supply of traded oil passes every day.
by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
6 August, 2011
After more than five months of popular opposition to its autocratic rule, the US and British-backed unelected monarchy in Bahrain is deploying a new tactic of repression – toxic terror.
Unable to thwart widespread calls for democratic freedom, the Western-backed Bahraini dictatorship is targeting vulnerable civilians – the young, elderly and infirmed – in a bid to crush the pro-democracy movement.
by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
July 20, 2011
Efforts by the US and British-backed Bahraini regime to repair its international image over human rights violations are in tatters with the revelation that senior members of the oil kingdom’s royal family have been personally involved in torturing hundreds of civilian detainees, including doctors and nurses.
Image by malyousif via Flickr
PressTVGlobalNews on Jul 13, 2011
The ongoing negotiation between Bahrain’s opposition and the Al Khalifa regime is “futile” as it fails to address the real demands of the people, says an activist.
Dandelion Salad
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
For Immediate Release June 07, 2011
The President met today and had a productive discussion with His Highness Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, Crown Prince of Bahrain, following the Crown Prince’s meeting with National Security Advisor Tom Donilon. The President reaffirmed the strong commitment of the United States to Bahrain. Continue reading
by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted from Irish Times
February 20, 2011
photo by Mahmood Al-Yousif
CC license
AttributionNoncommercialNo Derivative Works
Some rights reserved
Manama, Bahrain
There was a sea of jubilant faces as up to 50,000 Bahraini citizens retook the Pearl Monument in the capital, Manama, on Saturday afternoon in defiance of state security forces who had only hours earlier unleashed a massacre against their own people.
by Finian Cunningham
Featured Writer
Dandelion Salad
crossposted from Irish Times
February 20, 2011
Image via Wikipedia
Manama, February 19, 2011. Bahrain’s capital, Manama, descended into scenes of bloody chaos last night after the kingdom’s army opened fire on thousands of anti-government protesters near one of the city’s main hospitals.
Medics at Al Salmaniya Hospital said they were overwhelmed with the number of casualties, with over 100 people being admitted suffering gunshot wounds to the head and upper body. As doctors struggled to tend to victims, the entrance of the hospital was thronged with angry protesters denouncing King Hamad Al Khalifa and his regime.
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