Disappeared News

by Larry Geller

The government of Bahrain has continued to persecute its own citizens, but this has not stopped the US from supplying it with arms. There is no doubt that these US-made arms are being used to kill protestors. For example, US-made Humvees have been seen in videos attacking protestors.

President Barack Obama's administration has been delaying its planned $53 million arms sale to Bahrain due to human rights concerns and congressional opposition, but this week administration officials told several congressional offices that they will move forward with a new and different package of arms sales -- without any formal notification to the public.
…
Our congressional sources said that State is using a legal loophole to avoid formally notifying Congress and the public about the new arms sale. The administration can sell anything to anyone without formal notification if the sale is under $1 million. If the total package is over $1 million, State can treat each item as an individual sale, creating multiple sales of less than $1 million and avoiding the burden of notification, which would allow Congress to object and possibly block the deal.

[Foreign Policy, Obama administration using loophole to quietly sell arms package to Bahrain, 1/27/2012]

Bahrain is charged with numerous deaths and torture, and is currently facing accusations that it is misusing tear gas, for example, in people’s homes, leading to the deaths of a dozen people.

It is the home of the US Fifth Fleet. Fat chance that the US will intervene on behalf of democracy in that country.

Permalink posted by Larry @ 1/29/2012 01:17:00 PM