db: Gibbs: America Will Not Take Sides in Egypt

[visionary]

Iran

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/2011214232945422335.html

Clashes between pro-reformists and security forces in Tehran have left several people injured, with one person reported killed.

Thousands of anti-government protesters marched on Monday on Enghelab and Azadi streets [which connect and create a straight path through the city centre], with a heavy presence in Enghelab Square and Vali-Asr Street.

Quoting witnesses, the AP news wire reported that at least three protesters injured by bullets were taken to a hospital in central Tehran, while dozens more were hospitalised because of severe wounds as a result of being beaten.

The semi-official Fars news agency said one person had been shot dead and several wounded by protesters.

"One person was shot dead and several were wounded by seditionists (opposition supporters) who staged a rally in Tehran," Fars said, without giving further details.

As night fell in Iran, the BBC reported that city lights were being turned off and that security forces were attacking protesters in the dark.

While many of the protesters reflected on the day's marches on Twitter and Facebook, Youtube videos show that hundreds were still on the streets after dark, setting fire to rubbish bins and barricades, chanting anti-government slogans.

Monday's marches were organised as a one-day event and it is unclear if further protests will take place overnight or tomorrow.

A message on posted by the organisers of the demonstrations posted on the 25 Bahman Facebook site - the site's title reflecting today's date on the Iranian calendar - seemed to indicate that there might be more protests.

"The 25 Bahman group will try to announce the programme for of protests for tonight and tomorrow shortly," it read.

"Please stand by via any means of communication you have. We are victorious."

Bahrain

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/2011214925802473.html

Anti-government protests in Shia villages around Manama, the Bahraini capital, have left several people injured and one person reported dead.

Demonstrators had called for Monday's 'Day of Rage' after apparently being inspired by the recent uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia.

Helicopters circled over Manama on Monday where demonstrators had been due to gather but which

remained quiet as security forces patrolled Shia areas.

Clashes in Shia villages near the capital left more than 20 people hurt, one of them critically, witnesses said.

Khalid Al-Marzook, a Bahraini member of parliament, told Al Jazeera that one person had been killed and that three others were in critical condition in hospital following the violence.

News agency reports said police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse marchers in the mostly Shia village of Newidrat in the southwest.

The marchers were demanding the release of those detained during earlier protests.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Nabeel Rajab of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights (BCHR), said: "We are only asking for political reforms, right of political participation, respect for human rights, stopping of systematic discrimination against Shias.

"All the demands are to do with human rights and nothing to do with the ruling family and their regime."

He warned that if the government resorted to violence then the people might be forced to demand a complete change of those in power.

[visionary]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201121514319413714.html

A Syrian court has sentenced a teenage blogger to five years in prison on charges of spying for a foreign country.

Tal al-Mallouhi was 17 when she was arrested in 2009 and has been held by authorites for the past two years.

Human rights groups said her long jail term was another sign of an intensifying crackdown on opposition in Syria, in the wake of the Tunisian and Egyptian revolutions.

Al-Mallouhi had written articles on her blog saying she yearned to play a role in shaping the future of Syria, which has been under the control of the Baath Party for the last 50 years.

She had also asked Barack Obama, the US president, to do more to support the Palestinian cause.

It was not clear whether her arrest was connected to the blog, but a security court charged her several months ago with "revealing information that should remain hushed to a foreign country".

Syria's Higher State Security Court issued Monday's sentence at the end of a trial held behind closed doors, an official close to the court told the Associated Press news agency.

The official, speaking anonymously, did not identify the country al-Mallouhi was accused of spying for nor did he give any other details.

He said al-Mallouhi "deserved 15 years in prison but her sentence was commuted considering her age".

Syria's private Al-Watan newspaper alleged in October that al-Mallouhi had spied for the US embassy in Cairo, triggering a November 2009 assassination attempt against a Syrian security officer on a Cairo street. The attack left the officer disabled.

There was no official Syrian comment on the newspaper's report.

On Saturday, Washington condemned Syria for the secret trial and appealed for al-Mallouhi's immediate release.

PJ Crowley, the US state department spokesman, sharply criticised Syria's handling of the case, rejecting what he called "baseless allegations of American connections that have resulted in a spurious accusation of espionage''.

[Larry]

Iran

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/2011214232945422335.html

The semi-official Fars news agency said one person had been shot dead and several wounded by protesters.

"One person was shot dead and several were wounded by seditionists (opposition supporters) who staged a rally in Tehran," Fars said, without giving further details.

Remembering a fake news story I'd read, decades ago, in a National Lampoon:

Ugandan President Idi Amin announced today that 1,400 Ugandan dissidents had died in a three month long bus crash.

When asked about anonymous reports saying that the corpses had been riddled with bullets, the dictator observed that cleaning loaded firearms in a moving vehicle was very dangerous.

The human rights watchdog group, Amnesty International, has said they will investigate. The President is reported to have responded "The **** they will."

[visionary]

Remembering a fake news story I'd read, decades ago, in a National Lampoon:

Ugandan President Idi Amin announced today that 1,400 Ugandan dissidents had died in a three month long bus crash.

When asked about anonymous reports saying that the corpses had been riddled with bullets, the dictator observed that cleaning loaded firearms in a moving vehicle was very dangerous.

The human rights watchdog group, Amnesty International, has said they will investigate. The President is reported to have responded "The **** they will."

LOL

And not so LOL:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/15/iran.protests/index.html?hpt=T2

Iranian lawmakers condemn protests; call for execution of leaders

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian lawmakers denounced Monday's protests in Tehran and called for the execution of two opposition leaders for inciting the demonstrations, Iran's state-run Press TV reported Tuesday.

Members of the Iranian parliament issued fiery chants against opposition leaders and former presidential candidates Mehdi Karrubi and Mir Hossein Moussavi

Press TV aired video Tuesday of lawmakers chanting "Moussavi, Karroubi ... execute them."

Lawmakers also named former President Mohammad Khatami in some of the death chants.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/201121571645551445.html

Bahrain police fire at protesters

At least one person has been killed and several others injured after riot police in Bahrain opened fire at protesters holding a funeral service for a man killed during protests in the kingdom a day earlier.

Fadhel Ali Almatrook was hit with bird-shotgun in the capital, Manama, on Tuesday morning, Maryam Alkhawaja, head of foreign relations at the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights, told Al Jazeera.

"This morning the protesters were walking from the hospital to the cemetery and they got attacked by the riot police," Alkhawaja said.

"Thousands of people are marching in the streets, demanding the removal of the regime - police fired tear gas and bird shot, using excessive force - that is why people got hurt."

At least 25 people were reported to have been treated for injuries in hospital.

An Al Jazeera correspondent in Bahrain, who cannot be named for his own safety, said that police were taking a very heavy handed approach towards the protesters.

"Police fired on the protesters this morning, but they showed very strong resistance," our correspondent said.

"It seems like the funeral procession was allowed to continue, but police are playing a cat-and-mouse game with the protesters."

Angered by the deaths, a Shia opposition group announced it was suspending its participation in the parliament.

"This is the first step. We want to see dialogue," Ibrahim Mattar, a parliamentarian belonging to the al-Wefaq group, said. "In the coming days, we are either going to resign from the council or continue."

Al-Wefaq has a strong presence inside the parliament and within the country's Shia community.

[thebluefood]

All of the protests occurring in the Middle East makes me wonder: are the words of George Washington in his farewell address:

"It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliances with any portion of the foreign world..."

After all, we were supporters of Mubarak and there was a lot of controversy in this country over whether or not we should be supporting the protesters or the government.

Yes, I know President Washington lived in a different time and couldn't possibly foresee things like globalization, but you have to admit: even when the government started supporting the protesters, it seemed a little disingenuous.

[JMS]

Do you really want to bast Truman for failing to commit the US military to the mission of pacifying every civilian in China?

Absolutely not. I'm a big Harry Truman fan. Having said that though, Truman was at the helm when China was lost to the Communists. Truman was the president who lost China. I wouldn't pronounce judgment on him, nor would I sugest China was save-able. I'm just highlighting it as an example of dramatic change and how the US did not oppose those changes as friendly dictators were replaced by populous movements. In china's case to our detriment...

I would also note that it's very difficult to understand who will obtain power if the transistion is allowed to decend into confusion and anarchy. Lenin was not in Russia during the October revolution in 1917, He reached Russia only weeks after the Czar had been deposed, but was still organized and ruthless enough to co-opt the entire revolution for his means. Same goes foray Atollah Khomeini when the Shah was displaced. He was in France and only returned to Iran weeks after the Shah's departure. The Iranian revolution which Carter did not oppose spoke outwardly of standing up a democracy. Even Khomeini spoke of that when he returned to Iran from France. Then it turned out he would have "his representatives" inserted into the democratic process to ensure it's smoth running. And we all know how that turned out. Within two years of the revolution Iran was firmly on the theocracy tract.

---------- Post added February-15th-2011 at 11:58 AM ----------

I think it should also be balanced by times that we have clearly not supported Democracy or suppressed it. South and Central America during the Cold War provides plenty of cases. The United States has a very varied record on Democracy and we do support a lot of despots but hopefully this will be a change for the better in American foreign policy regarding supporting autocracy and not pressuring dictators to open up for reform.

That's an excellent point. Iran in the 1950's is one glaring one which stands out. The Iranian democratic leaders were speaking of nationalizing the oil industry and we engineered their overthrow and the instalation /return of their king, the Shah. Nicaragara comes to mind, pro-communists took over through democratic means, Ronald Reagan stood up a rag tag army to thwart them.. The entire thing was settled when new elections fwere allowed to be held negotiated by the then President of Costa Rica. Coarse in Nicaragua, the communists stopped holding elections by the time we started to involve ourselves, so it's not really a case of blasting democracies.

I guess my point is it's not so simple to say we oppose democracies because we profess to encourage them. It's much more complicated than just hypocracy.

---------- Post added February-15th-2011 at 12:09 PM ----------

Yes, I know President Washington lived in a different time and couldn't possibly foresee things like globalization, but you have to admit: even when the government started supporting the protesters, it seemed a little disingenuous.

Washington was a very smart guy. He knew the United States would grow in stature and power but that it was vulnerable in it's infancy to european threats. Washington's fairwell address became the most influential American foreign policy document until December 7th 1941.... There are noteable exceptions ( Spanish American War, Monroe Doctrine, and WWI but overall the US policy from the late 1700's to the eve of WWII was to avoid foreign entaglements ). It's one reason why we did not enter the league of nations after The American President Woodrow Wilson championed that institution after WWI.

The problem with that policy today is apparent. We have outgrown it. We are a global leader economically, militarily, culterally, and in many many other ways. The Lesson's of WWII are clear. Bad people and bad things happen when good people don't involve themselves. Such people can and will draw us into conflicts. America has vital interests around the world which would dramatically effect our economy and our way of life if they were allowed to be taken from us. Global Oil market, Panama Canal, Suez Canal, Trade with Europe and Japan, to name a few. The best way to ensure these things are protected is to involve ourselves with other like minded governments to safeguard them. Washington didn't face these needs, nor did he have our resources to deal with them. Washington thus isn't a very good advocate for isolationists because his words no longer apply.

Calling for isolationism is a little like calling for a return to the gold standard. It's a basically insane suggestion put forward by well meaning people who are so detacted from the real issues they don't even recognize their alternatives as insane.

[Larry]

Truman was the president who lost China.

Truman did not lose China, because Truman did not have China.

[JMS]

Truman did not lose China, because Truman did not have China.

I know larry you are making an important and subtle point which is just eluding me. Certainly The United States was China's Chiang Kai-Shek's principal benefactor before, during and after WWII. Just as certainly China had become an important and strong United States Ally in the years/decades leading up to WWII. Roosevelt personally appointed the leader and equipped the Chinese air force with American military pilots before we got into WWII which is something he declined to do for Britain for instance.. US General Claire Lee Chennault became Chiang's primary military advisor throughout the war after initially being appointed by Roosevelt to build China's airforce. Along with US General Joseph Stilwell who lead the war in China against the Japanese after perl harbor, together they pretty much ran the Chinese war during WWII directing both American and Chinese forces against Japan. Even during the communist revolt 1945-1949 the US supported Nationalist China with hundreds of millions of dollars worth of aid and logistical support.

It's hard to imagine two countries being closer or one country being more dependent upon another as China and the US in the Era preceding the communist takeover. Truman not only lost China, becoming the whipping boy for the GOP for having done so. The loss of China subsequently gave rise to the Truman doctrine where Truman proclaimed a global crusade upon communist expansion committing the US to the great game which played out during the cold war.

Likewise when Joseph McArthy laid out his case for the necessity of the unAmerican activities commitee and his fight against communist sympethizers on national TV during the Edward R. Murrow show... ( Ed gave him the entire show )...Mcarthies most compelling argument was the dramatic growth of communists over the last 40 years. Having grown from a few thousand people before 1917, to in the early 1950's it included nearly a third to half of the worlds population. Most of whom lived in China.

Hell Mcarthy reffrenced Harry Truman having lost China in his National Broadcast, he also supina'd Truman to speak before the senate's "UnAmerican Activities Comitee" for having lost China. Truman basically told him to stuff it, refusing to appear and daring McArthy to do anything about it.

"Who Lost China"

In 1949 communist armies led by Mao Zedong defeated the nationalist regime of Chiang Kai-shek. The communists took control of the Chinese mainland, establishing the People's Republic of China, while Chiang Kai-shek, who had received U.S. support during the conflict, fled to the island of Taiwan. China, previously a loyal U.S. ally and a country Americans felt particularly familiar with because of the strong presence of American Christian missionaries, overnight became one of America's most bitter enemies. With the post–World War II world starkly divided into American and communist spheres of influence, the Chinese shift was seen as a serious loss. From the establishment of the People's Republic of China well into the Korean War and the witch hunts of the McCarthy era, a debate raged in Washington about whom to blame for the loss of China to communist forces. At the time, most of the blame fell on the administration of President Harry Truman, as well as fellow-travelers and subversives. Studies in the late twentieth century, however, challenged this view and emphasized Chiang Kai-shek's own weaknesses. Although without the urgency of the 1940s and 1950s, the debate over "who lost China" recurrently appeared within American society during the second half of the twentieth century. The debate has informed American responses to crises in the region as well as within China itself, such as the Tiananmen Square repression in 1989.

http://www.bookrags.com/research/who-lost-china-debate-aaw-04/

[visionary]

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/2011215205829237551.html

Update From Iran

One day after protests took place in several Iranian cities, the online world is buzzing with reports of those who died, were injured or arrested in Monday's demonstrations.

In the aftermath of protests, several members of the country's parliament called for reprisals against the opposition leaders who called for the marches.

So far, two of the protesters have been confirmed dead by government sources who claim that the men - Sana Jaleh, 26, and Mohamad Mokhtari, 22 - were killed by members of an outlawed group, the People's Mujahedeen of Iran.

The group denied the allegations on Tuesday, saying that government security forces had "crushed the demonstrators, firing live rounds and tear gas at them".

Jaleh and Mokhtari are named as "martyrs" by the government.

Ok, I just saw a few videos of the parliament members screaming "execute them, execute them!"

Pretty disturbing to see so many officials calling publicly for the death of protest leaders.

I kept expecting someone to call for Barabas to be released.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/15/iran.protests/index.html?hpt=T1

The calls for the leaders' executions come after a particularly deadly month in Iran. At least 66 people were executed in January, according to Iranian media reports. Most of the executions were reportedly carried out for drug offenses, although at least three involved political prisoners, a U.N. statement said.

The official Islamic Republic News Agency reported that nine security force members were among those injured in the protests, which the country's deputy police chief called "illegal gatherings ... directed from America, England and Israel."

"The hands of sedition leaders are drenched in blood and they should answer for these actions," Ahmad Reza Radan said, according to IRNA.

[thebluefood]

Washington was a very smart guy. He knew the United States would grow in stature and power but that it was vulnerable in it's infancy to european threats. Washington's fairwell address became the most influential American foreign policy document until December 7th 1941.... There are noteable exceptions ( Spanish American War, Monroe Doctrine, and WWI but overall the US policy from the late 1700's to the eve of WWII was to avoid foreign entaglements ). It's one reason why we did not enter the league of nations after The American President Woodrow Wilson championed that institution after WWI.

The problem with that policy today is apparent. We have outgrown it. We are a global leader economically, militarily, culterally, and in many many other ways. The Lesson's of WWII are clear. Bad people and bad things happen when good people don't involve themselves. Such people can and will draw us into conflicts. America has vital interests around the world which would dramatically effect our economy and our way of life if they were allowed to be taken from us. Global Oil market, Panama Canal, Suez Canal, Trade with Europe and Japan, to name a few. The best way to ensure these things are protected is to involve ourselves with other like minded governments to safeguard them. Washington didn't face these needs, nor did he have our resources to deal with them. Washington thus isn't a very good advocate for isolationists because his words no longer apply.

Calling for isolationism is a little like calling for a return to the gold standard. It's a basically insane suggestion put forward by well meaning people who are so detacted from the real issues they don't even recognize their alternatives as insane.

I'm not saying we isolate ourselves, per se...but why do we have to continue propping up dictators that don't represent their people properly? Isn't that the very principal we rallied against during the American Revolution? We almost treat the rest of the world like children, saying we know which ruler is best for them and so on and so forth. Doesn't that strike anyone else as a tad bit arrogant? While we maybe a super power, we still aren't perfect and we don't always (or usually, for that matter) know what's best for anyone; even ourselves sometimes.

All I'm saying is: have a little respect for people, you know? I think it's great that we help other nations along with treaties and act as mediators (like we did with Egypt and Israel in the 1970s), but as far as putting our hand into other nations and saying "this is right because we said so." While that maybe the way of the world, I still don't have to like it on principal and I still don't have to think it's right.

[BRAVEONAWARPATH]

CBS News correspondent Lara Logan was recovering in a U.S. hospital Tuesday from a sexual attack and beating she suffered while reporting on the tumultuous events in Cairo.

Logan was in the city's Tahrir Square on Friday after Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak stepped down when she, her team and their security "were surrounded by a dangerous element amidst the celebration," CBS said in a statement Tuesday.

The network described a mob of more than 200 people "whipped into a frenzy."

Separated from her crew in the crush of the violent pack, she suffered what CBS called "a brutal and sustained sexual assault and beating." She was saved by a group of women and an estimated 20 Egyptian soldiers, the network said. The Associated Press does not name victims of a sexual assault unless the victim agrees to it.

She reconnected with the CBS team and returned to the U.S. on Saturday.

.

The scene last Friday in Tahrir Square — ground zero of 18 days of protests that brought down Mubarak — was primarily one of celebration — people wept, jumped for joy, cheered and hugged one another. Some soldiers stationed at the square ran into the crowd, and the protesters lifted them onto their shoulders. Other troops stayed at their posts, watching in awe. There were fireworks, the sound of car horns and even some shots fired in the air.

Sexual harassment of women is an all-too-common occurrence on the streets of Cairo. But many women noted a complete absence of it in the early days of protests in Tahrir Square, where demonstrators made a point of trying to create a microcosm of the society without many of Egypt's social ills.

However, in the final days, and especially after the battles with pro-Mubarak gangs who attacked the protesters in Tahrir, women noticed sexual assault had returned to the square. On the day Mubarak fell, women reported being groped by the rowdy crowds. One witness saw a woman slap a man after he touched her. The man was then passed down a line of people who all slapped him and reprimanded him.

The attack on Logan, CBS News' chief foreign affairs correspondent, was one of at least 140 others suffered by reporters covering the unrest in Egypt since Jan. 30, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. An Egyptian reporter died from gunshot wounds he received during the protests.

A week before Friday's attack, Logan was detained by the Egyptian military for a day, along with a CBS producer and cameraman. They returned to the U.S. after their release, and Logan went back to Cairo shortly before Mubarak left.

Logan joined CBS News in 2002. She regularly reports for the "CBS Evening News" as well as "60 Minutes," where she has been a correspondent since 2006. She has reported widely from Iraq and Afghanistan, and other global trouble spots.

CBS said it had no further comment on Logan's assault.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41607923/ns/today-entertainment/

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/15/bahrain.protests/index.html?hpt=T1

(CNN) -- Thousands of activists camped out at the foot of a Bahraini landmark early Wednesday after the Persian Gulf state's king pledged to consider reforms and investigate the killings of two demonstrators during protests this week.

Police were nowhere in sight as about 3,000 people laid out blankets and pitched tents in Manama's Pearl Roundabout, where a massive pearl sits at the apex of a circle of inward-sweeping arches. Police gave the area a wide berth, apparently allowing protesters to vent their anger before Wednesday's funeral for one of the dead, said Mansoor Al-Jamri, editor of the newspaper Al Wasat.

"It's a very relaxed atmosphere," Al-Jamri told CNN. "You'd assume it was a picnic area if you didn't know it was the aftermath of people who died." Demonstrators painted anti-government slogans on the bases of the monument, sang, told jokes and led chants into the early morning hours, he said.

The Gulf island's ruler, King Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, went on television Tuesday to announce that a committee would be established to study proposed reforms.

"We will ask the legislative authority to look at this phenomena and to suggest the necessary legislation which will solve this in a way that will benefit the homeland and its citizens," he said. And he vowed that his government would investigate the killings of two protesters by security forces.

Hamad called the two deaths unfortunate and offered his condolences to their families, adding, "May God give them patience and forbearance.

"The kingdom of Bahrain is a country of law and constitutional institutions," he said. "We have a law that organizes peaceful demonstrations that was decreed by an elected committee. The right to express one's opinion is a right that is given by the constitution and has been organized by the law which we must all follow."

[visionary]

Bahrain Pictures

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/16/live-blog-bahrain

8:36pm Protesters at hospital morgue to collect body of man killed during yesterday's protests.

9:01am Latest pictures from the funeral procession and people marching with it.

9:37am Thousands following funeral procession, while others continue to occupy Pearl roundabout.

9:39am Witnesses says that more people continue to join the funeral procession. Picture from twitter

10:20am Picture from last night showing the crowds beginning to gather at Pearl roundabout.

[visionary]

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/16/iran.protests/index.html?hpt=T2#

Thousands attend funeral of man killed in Iranian protests

Thousands of people, many of them Iranian government supporters, turned up in Tehran on Wednesday for the funeral of a man killed in anti-government protests.

The gathering near Tehran University comes amid tension in the Islamic republic following a crackdown on anti-government protests.

Government officials said 26-year-old Saneh Jaleh was shot to death Monday by members of an outlawed group called the People's Mojahedin Organization of Iran. The group, which is also known as the Mojahedin-e Khalq, has opposed the Iranian government for decades.

Government officials also claim that Jaleh was part of the pro-government Basij militia, but some who knew Jaleh dispute that account.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/africa/2011/02/20112167051422444.html#

Violent protests break out in Libya

Hundreds of protesters have clashed with government supporters and police, who reportedly shot rubber-coated steel bullets and used water cannon in the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi.

Demonstrators gathered in the early hours of Wednesday morning in front of police headquarters and chanted slogans against the "corrupt rulers of the country", Al Jazeera's sources said.

Chants including "No God but Allah, Muammar is the enemy of Allah," can be heard on videos of demonstrations uploaded to YouTube. Independent confirmation was not possible as Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's administration keeps tight control over the movements of media personnel.

Police reportedly fired tear gas and violently dispersed protesters, arresting 20. Families of those arrested are planning to gather outside the city's security directorate to demand their release, our source tells us.

Al Jazeera is understood to have been taken taken off the state-owned cable TV network, but is still reportedly available on satellite networks.

Meanwhile, protesters have taken to Twitter to spread details on how to bypass internet clampdowns.

The crowds of demonstrators included some armed with rocks and petrol bombs, said the online edition of Libya's privately owned Quryna newspaper, which is based in Benghazi - some 1,000km east of the oil-exporting country's capital.

Anti-government protesters have also called on citizens to observe Thursday as a "Day of Rage". They are hoping to emulate recent popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia to end Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's 41-year-old rule.

The rare protests reportedly began after relatives of those killed in a prison massacre about 15 years ago took to streets. They were joined by scores of other supporters.

---------- Post added February-16th-2011 at 11:01 AM ----------

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/2011216114058147154.html#

At least one person has been killed and dozens wounded in clashes between security forces and protesters in a southern Iraqi province, after around 2,000 people attacked government offices in protest over poor services.

Protesters took threw rocks and took over a provincial council building in Kut, Wasit province, about 160km southeast of Baghdad on Wednesday, officials said. Three government buildings were set on fire, including the governor's official residence.

One person was shot dead after private security guards fired into the crowd, the AFP news agency reported, while Reuters put the death toll at three and said up to 30 had been wounded.

"We have received one dead body and are treating 27 wounded," Majid Mohammed Hassan from Kut hospital's administrative unit told AFP.

He said the person killed was a 16-year-old boy who suffered a bullet to the chest.

Officials said policemen and soldiers fired their weapons into the air in a bid to dissuade protesters, while private security guards employed by Wasit council opened fire directly into the crowd.

"Those were private guards, only they fired at the protesters. They were outside the law," police Brigadier General Hussein Jassim told AFP. "Our forces only fired into the air."

Major Mohammed Saleh, the senior police intelligence officer in Kut, said: "Measures will be taken against the private guards but after the situation has calmed down."

Demonstrators are demanding Latif Hamad al-Tarfa, the provincial governor, resign over poor basic services such as electricity and water.

They held up placards that said, "To all citizens: Electricity is only for officials", a reference to Iraq's dramatic shortfall in power provision.

"We demand that our rights be met, that we have better services and that the authorities fight corruption," Ali Mohsen, a 54-year-old professor at Wasit university, said.

[Larry]

Re: Iraq:

Maybe it's my paranoia, but when I read "private security guards", I think "Blackwater". I'm wondering if this was done my "us".

I do wish that we had the ability to deliver things like public utilities, over there. I understand that there are reasons why it's hard. Just wishing.

[SnyderShrugged]

I keep hearing reports about Mubarak's healh suddenly delcining and that he is losing his will to live.

Anybody else wonder if he's already dead? Has he physically been seen since his resignation? The conspiracy theorist in me wonders if he even resigned or if he was "resigned" in the coup.

[twa]

Well HE never actually resigned,but that is the message the VP put out.

Does it matter?

[visionary]

Al Jazeera is reporting a lot of crazy stuff going on in Bahrain tonight.

It seems that the government forces cracked down on the protesters camped out there over night.

Protesters are pouring into the hospital and two are dead already.

This is how they look into the earlier deaths?

(they're also showing a lot of footage of the massive crowds in the square over there from earlier tonight"

Apparently the security forces attacked the protesters with teargas, beat them, and shot them with rubber bullets and possibly some live ammo while they were sleeping in Pearl Square.

A 22 year old and a 55 year old are dead.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/16/live-blog-bahrain

4.25am Sources tell Al Jazeera that at least one person was killed in the attack on protesters by Bahraini police. A member of the political opposition confirmed that women and children were among those attacked.

410am Maryama Alkawaka of the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights was at Pearl roundabout when police attempted to break up the protest. She said police began shooting at sleeping protesters from the bridge above the roundabout.

She added:

It was very violent, [the police] were not showing any mercy.

4.03am Al Jazeera's correspondent in the capital Manama said there was a lot of tear gas being fired at the protesters. "I am several miles away but i can feel the tear gas," he said, adding:

The police came very quickly in huge numbers... they have been using tear gas, been using rubber bullets... and been using jeeps to round-up people.

A witness who was injured in the attack spoke to Al Jazeera by telephone, saying:

We were sitting there.. peacefully sitting in the square, most of us sleeping.. suddenly the police came surrounding us from everywhere, thousands, shooting us with tear gas, and rubber guns

Apparently people from all over are going to the hospital to see and support the people who were attacked.

[Larry]

I'd be enjoying this wave of democracy a whole lot more if it were happening in Iran and/or Syria.

[visionary]

I'd be enjoying this wave of democracy a whole lot more if it were happening in Iran and/or Syria.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/middleeast/2011/02/20112169518348693.html

The violence broke out during the funeral procession from the art faculty at Tehran's university, where Zhaleh was a student, Irib said.

The broadcaster added that government backers were chanting "Death to Monafeghin", a reference to an outlawed opposition group, which "forced them [opposition supporters] out of the scene".

However, Iranian bloggers reported that loyalist forces were brought into the campus who then took over the faculty, while riot police were deployed across the city.

Others have also written on social networking site Twitter that some roads in the city have been blocked and that thousands of people were out on the streets of Tehran, demonstrating both for and against the government.

There are also reports that authorities have blocked foreign media from working.

Government supporters have insisted that Zhaleh was a member of the Basij militia - a volunteer force connected to the elite Revolutionary Guards, while opposition groups say he came from their ranks.

Rahesabz.net, an opposition website, said Zhaleh was "pro-Mousavi and a member of the Green Movement," referring to the group led by Mir Hossein Mousavi, which refuses to acknowledge the presidency of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

"His family was under pressure to say he is Basiji and pro-government," the website said.

Calls for Friday rally

Government supporters have called a rally in Tehran on Friday to express "hatred" against the opposition movement.

"The noble people of Tehran will take to Enghelab Square after Friday prayers with their solid and informed presence," the Islamic Propagation Co-ordination Council said on Wednesday.

It said those joining the rally will "scream out their hatred, wrath and disgust against the savage crimes and evil movements of sedition leaders, their Monafeghin [hypocrites] and their monarchist allies."

Iran's prosecutor general Gholam Hossein Mohseni Ejeie warned that action would be taken against Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, another opposition leader.

"The heads of seditions are the people who should be punished for their criminal acts and God willing actions in this regard are being taken," Mohseni Ejeie said, according to Fars news agency.

Meanwhile Mousavi and Karroubi both made statements online on Wednesday criticising authorities and calling for further protests against the government.

Karroubi, in a statement posted on his website Sahamnews.org, said he was "ready to pay any price" in his fight.

"I am warning that before it is too late, take out the buds from your ears and listen to the voice of the people. Forcing violence and opposing peoples' wishes will last only for a certain time," he said.

In a separate statement on his own website Kaleme.com, Mousavi praised protesters for turning out in Monday's rally in Tehran.

"The glorious rally on 25th Bahman [February 14] is a great achievement for the great people of a great nation and for the Green Movement," he said.

[visionary]

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/16/live-blog-bahrain

8:25am Reuters news agency has reported that more than 50 armoured vehicles heading towards Bahrain pearl square in Central Manama.

More on the attack from earlier in the night (around 3:00 am)

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/meast/02/16/bahrain.protests/index.html?hpt=T2

For two days, protesters were largely left alone by authorities. But around 3:30 a.m. Thursday (7:30 p.m. Wednesday ET), police changed tactics. Hundreds of white-helmeted police swarmed the roundabout. There are reports that at least 100 people have been injured.

Most of the casualties have being sent to Salamaniya hospital, according to an operator at Manama's other main hospital, Bahrain International.

CNN's Nic Robertson was there at the hospital. He reported that a large group of "very angry" people had gathered, along with distraught family members looking for loved ones. Robertson said demonstrators he'd spoken to were outraged by the way they'd been treated by security forces.

Inside the hospital's emergency treatment room, the scene was one of "complete, uncontrolled chaos," according to Robertson. He described injured people struggling to survive and medical personnel working frantically to save them. He saw serious head traumas, bloody wounds in the head and chest, and people hooked up to breathing apparatuses. Robertson told CNN that all the indications pointed to a very bloody confrontation on the part of police.

Bahrain is an American ally and houses the headquarters of the U.S. Navy's Fifth Fleet. In Washington, the State Department said Tuesday it was "very concerned" by the violence and said it welcomed the promise of an investigation.

Bahrain is ruled by a Sunni Muslim royal family, but two-thirds of the population are Shiites. In recent years, younger Shiites have staged violent protests to complain about discrimination, unemployment and corruption, and many Shiites say the country's constitution has done little to improve their condition.

The protest movement in Bahrain has been organized using social media websites such as Facebook and Twitter, in the same manner as the protests in Tunisia and Egypt.

[visionary]

Some new updates from the horrific situation in Bahrain.

The latest confirmed death toll from the previous night is 4 so far.

I saw a lot of footage on the news of the people who were beaten nearly to death and those who were killed. Pretty awful. If we have some influence to calm the government down and get them to stop attacking people, we need to use it now.

http://blogs.aljazeera.net/middle-east/2011/02/16/live-blog-bahrain

12:13pm The Bahrain minister of health has reportedly resigned from his post in protest over police crackdown, this claim has been denied by the health ministry.

16:15pm A spokesman for the central command of Bahrain's forces made a statement on state television:

Bahrain defence forces will take all necessary measures to secure safety, order and stability.

16:51pm Another video posted on YouTube showing the attack.

BL5zZ7TCvAY

17:02pm Al Jazeera's correspondent says that three more bodies are being kept in the morgue of Salmaniya hospital. There are also reports of another victim - a young girl. Two more patients are fighting for their lives in the hospital. There are also a lot of missing people. A medical source told our correspondent that the army may have taken away bodies in a refrigerated truck.

8:01pm In an interview with the BBC, Saudi Arabia's prince Talal Bin Abdulaziz says there is a danger the protests in Bahrain could spill into Saudi Arabia if there will not be serious reforms in the kingdom. Prince Talal Bin Abdulaziz - a known liberal - is the father of billionaire price Al Waleed Bin Talal.

8:05pm Reuters: US defence secretary Robert Gates spoke with Bahrain's crown prince Salman, the Pentagon says.

9:02 pm US secretary of state Hillary Clinton says the US is urging restraint ahead of possible further unrest in Bahrain on Friday.

9:38pm Britain is to formally review its recent licensing decisions for arms exports to Bahrain after all the violence, a Foreign Office minister said. The licences have included tear gas cartridges and equipment that can be used for riot control. Minister for the Middle East and North Africa, Alistair Burt said in a statement:

In light of events we are today formally reviewing recent licensing decisions for exports to Bahrain. We will urgently revoke licences if we judge that they are no longer in line with the (consolidated EU and UK export licensing) criteria.

10:50pm Tents on Pearl Roundabout in Manama were cleared of protesters by riot police this morning:

[Larry]

So, is this situation in Bahrain our fault? We been propping up a brutal dictator? (The crackdown makes me suspect so.)

Have to confess I'd never heard of the place till this. Just had to go look it up on a map.

Another question is: Is there anything we can/should do about it?

I have to confess, my ignorance about Egypt is a tower of expertise, compared to my ignorance on Bahrain.

[twa]

So, is this situation in Bahrain our fault? .

it's always our fault

sunni/shia struggle,with Iran playing games

http://blogs.news.sky.com/foreignmatters/Post:b3e91f1a-492a-41e2-b68b-db192b00f452

I have kin from there so I know where it is

[NavyDave]

Man those predictions by that Glenn Beck guy last year and again back in January about the spread of protests, riots, cough chaos, have been on point. Now if his prediction about similar acts of protests (with comparisons to Egypt or calling leaders Hitler) begin happening in our major cities...........................