As I told you in twitter, it seems that you were living in another planet during the kidnapping of Bahrain.

Who guided thoses protesters to perform all these crimes in Bahrain? Do you think that these rogue protesters have done all these crimes by themselves? Occuppying the hospital, attacking the university, blocking major roads and the financial harbor, running over security forces and lots of other actions. Who instructed them? Who administered them?? Come on, be logical please.

Opposition exist in every country. And regularly, their objective is reforms and welfare of the country. While in Bahrain the situation is totally different, the opposition worked on devastating Bahrain and igniting the fire of secterianism between people.

You missed to say that protesters have purposely cut the tongue of a "Mo'athen" prayer caller, only because he is sunni.

Fahad, I understand you are trying to gain some international legitimacy by writing about Bahrain, a topic I know you have always felt strongly about, but skipping over facts blatantly to support your own goals is nonsensical.

Your most blatant issue off the bat, is that video you just posted of Khawaja whom you describe as " lay[ing] out his view of how standing up to injustice is a more important part of Shiism than practicing the Shiite religious rites" regardless of sect. In the video, Khawaja, who after his stint with fundamentalist religious parties throughout the 80s and 90s branded himself a "human rights activist", is actively speaking in a manner that (in terms of the perspective he attaches to his folklore of reference) insults the beliefs of the Sunni community which make up just under half of the population. Furthermore, he goes on in much the same fashion as most religious fundamentalists do, to equate Koranic era stories to the lived realities of people today, framing the monarchy and all its supporters as Yazids against the supposedly more righteous sons of Imam Hussein. While the greater Sunni community themselves look upon those events with a fundamentally different perspective, Khawaja's branding of all people associated with the government and monarchy as the same fellows people who this sort of folklore would appeal to believe to be a bunch of murderers and thieves of the most vile sort is insulting in the least, if not downright a form of sectarian propaganda intended to incite people against everyone they disagree with politically. It is telling, that as he gives this speech he is surrounded by people egging him on with "Death to the Al Khalifa" which he at no point once stops to correct.

A human rights activist I would imagine would discuss rights, tell people to not give them up and push for them constantly. However Khawaja in this speech alone revels in sectarian folklore and chants of death to fuel on the crowds rage.This sort of Behaviour was true of Mushaima as well. This is not aided by the fact that each of his daughters have made consistent highly positive references to Khomeini as a revolutionary hero in their blogs in the past. Maryam for example just gave a speech at a Khomeini memorial event in London, which she later claimed not to know the topic of after she faced a significant degree of public backlash.

Aside from their presentation of themselves as such over the last few years there is absolutely no grounds for calling these men "Post-Islamist", they represent the most hard line religious and political faction in Bahraini society. Based on the way they have acted in the past, their constituent base of support today as well as the content of their speeches (Mushaima being the worst offender), they are the most willing faction to exploit Shia identity politics to their benefit in much the same way as some of the atrocious pro-government folks who use divisive Sunni identity politics to create communal wedges.

As for the two Sunni's you commented on. Ibrahim Sharif belongs to the Waad party, a group I have actively voted for in recent elections. He is a secular and the society has no real popular basis because of the fact that their political language is often so secular in tone that it is not appealing to the majority of the community to vote for. I will agree with you, his arrest was confusing. Bufalsa on the other hand made his speeches as an active military officer. He has no popular base whatsoever aside from the people around him at the roundabout, and in terms of the military, breached every protocol by publicly taking a stand against his government and chain of command. His arrest in light of how other countries treat active military officers which take on similar actions is unsurprising.

This is one of the most accurate and realistic reports I have read so far about the revolution in Bahrain. As an active protestor, I would like to affirm that what we are looking for is a real-democracy, not the one the regime is desperately "trying" to sell. The regime has made it all clear that they have no interest is any sort of real reform. For example, Al Wefaq, which is the biggest opposition party in terms of number of followers (and won 18 out of 40 seats in the last parliamentary election) HAS BEEN GIVEN FIVE INVITATIONS OUT OF 300. The remaining 295 Invitations will go to pro-regime parties and individuals!

In addition, what is the point in having dialogue with pro-regime parties, who will only say YES! If the king is serious about his dialogue, he should speak with the real opposition. Now that most of them have been sentenced to life in prison, protests will go on until the regime collapses.

FAHAD, please go on and don't worry about regime-hired mercenaries, who's only job is to post false information. I think the reports from reputable organizations such as HRW and Amnesty International are sufficient (Even Obama's Administration has added Bahrain to the list of countries abusing human rights). These are facts that no one can deny.

Reputable and award-winning journalists such as Robert Fisk of the Independent have already published many reports while they were covering the protests on the ground. If Robert had stayed in Bahrain any longer, he would have been detained and accused of making plots to topple the regime and following foreign agenda (and possibly sentenced to life)!

If Bahrain's monarchy is not approved by majority of population, and its Constitution does not represent people's will, opposition leaders have all rights to topple this kind of brutal and corrupt regime. If Bahrain's ruling family does not start political reforms for constitutional monarchy and civil society, their fate will end up in justice courts for crimes against humanity. There are many historical events to learn from (French, English, Russian revolutions, etc.).

Last week Bahrain (long time US ally) was enlisted by the US as a country with serious violations of human rights. A step in the positive direction indeed but so short.

The regime needs to understand that there are consequences for violating human rights... how about sanctions? Just like Alassad regime in Syria? They have no problem at all to stay like this killing and torturing people..... it is totally acceptable for them,

Bahrain has every to not entertain the opposition party. If you would like the Iranian (Shiite) crescent to spread towards the other part from the Arabian Gulf, I am certain additionally you want Iran to possess nuclear solar water heating devices. The Sunni Ruling Minority within the Kingdom of Bahrain Mustn't allow Iran to increase its grasp. An amount be next? Lebenon, Kuwait and Qatar??? The dominion of Saudi Arabia and also the Uae were correct in supporting Bahrain and sending troops to quell the opposition movement.

Keeping the country off balance is good for royal business. Fahad, I understand you are trying to gain some international legitimacy by writing about Bahrain, a topic I know you have always felt strongly about, but skipping over facts blatantly to support your own goals is nonsensical. Your most blatant issue off the bat, is that video you just posted of Khawaja whom you describe as " lay[ing] out his view of how standing up to injustice is a more importan roth ira conversion What happened in Bahrain happened similarly in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen etc. The only difference, was that the dictators in those countries did not dare to call for foreign troops from Saudi Arabia to kill their people. Apparently the self-declared king of Bahrain is weak that he will need mercenaries from abroad in order to save his throne. You're PR campaign is flawed, your government (who you sure.

They will not be guaranteed their own postings because ministers, advisors, idol judges, ambassadors, and army officers, and they'll correspondingly lose remarkable ability to draw out rent like a source of income. Ongoing instability enables the solar panel kits in the household to move support in the Sunni establishment and most importantly from Saudi Arabic to ensure the extension of the standing quo. Whereas the actual king as well as crown knight in shining armor would stay in their jobs if there have been a changeover to a real constitutional monarchy, many others within the royal loved ones stand to shed a great deal.