Saturday, April 23, 2011

Western and Sunni Arab nations ignore oppression of Shia

They think we're agents of Iran, kinda like Saddam did.

"Rats, Roaches and Shiites", by Sharman Narwani:

'I'm not arguing that Shiites have a lot in common with rodents and insects. But you wouldn't know it by watching Bahrainis and Saudis snuff them out with barely a peep from Western and majority-Sunni Arab nations, both.

Shia-majority Iran, Iraq and the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah have been the most vocal in condemning the outrageous killings, arrests and beatings of Shiites in the Persian Gulf -- but they have had to do so with a muffled voice. Each objection from Iran or Hezbollah unleashes a barrage of opportunistic rants by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the U.S. about "Iranian interference" and expansionism.

Which means as long as we can successfully infer a nefarious connection between these groups, one can simply yell "Iran" or "Hezbollah" and kill, torture and imprison Shiites with impunity -- in much the same way that we yelled "al Qaeda" and buried hundreds of Sunni Muslims in Guantanamo for years. No matter that we have never ever proven a connection of significance between these coreligionists.

It's the equivalent of saying all Irish Catholics have a connection to the Irish Republican Army. Or that all Jews take marching orders from Israel.'

Read more here.

Thanks Homam for posting on fb.

20 comments :

C.H. said...

"Shia-majority Iran, Iraq and the Lebanese resistance group Hezbollah have been the most vocal in condemning the outrageous killings"


"Shia-majority Iran" holds more Shia hostage than any other country in the world. Also, their words of support for Bahrain are quite meaningless when 100 people die in one day in Syria...and the Iranian government, along with their state-run media, have nothing to say.

Woth mentioning as well is Iraq's crackdown on protests...which have killed just as many if not more innocents than the Khalifa government in Bahrain.

Iraqi Mojo said...

The Syrian and Iraqi governments should be held accountable for their crimes, just as the Khalifa government should be.

But I did expect C.H. to defend the Bahraini king, like he has defended KSA before. He even agreed with Dolly in another comment. C.H. is an employee of FOX News, it should be noted, and Saudis own a chunk of FOX. This article is about you, C.H., and your Saudi allies. Thank you and Dolly for expressing your opinions and corroborating Sharman Narwani's claim.

C.H. said...

Where have I ever defended the Bahraini King or KSA? Perhaps you should read some of my comments over at MJT's about KSA.

I support everyone in their struggle for freedom...I just hate hypocrisy.

C.H. said...

Its a simple statement of fact, Mojo...the Iraqi Government crackdown has been every bit as ruthless as the repression in Bahrain. Wouldn't it make sense to call the GoI out on its hypocrisy?

I don't understand how you interpret that as defending the Bahraini King.

C.H. said...

My love for Saudi Arabia...

http://coreyhunt.wordpress.com/2008/12/18/the-making-of-an-iraqi-hero/

But I have an even bigger challenge for Al-Zaidi. If he is able to avoid prison time, and he is begging for that as we speak, what will he do if Al-Baghdadiya assigns him to cover a press conference with a Saudi cleric in downtown Riyadh? Better yet, what if Saudi Arabia re-opens diplomatic relations with Iraq, and Al-Zaidi is sent to cover a press conference between, let’s say, President Jalal Talabani and the Saudi ambassador. If Bush deserves two shoes for destabilizing Iraq, then it would only be fair if Al-Zaidi tosses a truckload of shoes at the Saudi ambassador, since that country has turned a blind eye to the hundreds of suicide bombers who have crossed over the border into Iraqi towns to mass murder innocent civilians and continues to export Wahabbi fundamentalism across the region, which creates exactly the type of sub-human murderers mentioned at the beginning of this post.

Anand said...

Mojo, CH is anti KSA. Not sure about the Bahraini king. Personally I don't think the Bahraini king has that much power any more, with KSA, UAE, Arab League, Jordan and Pakistan having seized substantial de facto power.

If anything the Baraini king wants reform and is less anti Shiite than the foreign nations which are interfering.

CH, however, may not fully appreciate how much Shiites, Sufis, Zaidis, Alawites, and other minority muslims have been oppressed for 14 centuries . . . and how there is no way to stop violence against nonmuslims without also stopping violence against oppressed muslims.

Iraqi Mojo said...

C.H., maybe you did not defend KSA and the Bahraini king, but your comments seem to minimize the oppression of Shia in Bahrain. You slam anything reported by Press TV, even if it turns out to be true, like when they reported about Saudi troops in Bahrain. Like the Wahhabis, you seem to conflate Bahraini Shia with Iran.

Lately you've been commenting on my blog only when I post a clip or quote from Press TV, and your comments have nothing to do with oppression of Shia, except Iranian Shia. Instead you slam Iran and Press TV. And that's fine, but if all you can say with respect to oppression of Bahraini Shia is:

" "Shia-majority Iran" holds more Shia hostage than any other country in the world. Also, their words of support for Bahrain are quite meaningless when 100 people die in one day in Syria...and the Iranian government, along with their state-run media, have nothing to say."

and "Woth mentioning as well is Iraq's crackdown on protests...which have killed just as many if not more innocents than the Khalifa government in Bahrain,"

you look like more like a Wahhabi (like Dolly) than an American.

Iraqi Mojo said...

You made a good point about the hypocrisy of the Iraqi and Iranian governments, but you've said nothing about the hypocrisy of the US government with respect to Bahrain.

From the article: 'Hundreds of activists have "disappeared" in the small Persian Gulf nation of 600,000 citizens - one in every 1,000 Bahraini, by one count -- and masked men storm into private homes regularly in the middle of the night to detain Shia human rights workers, bloggers and opposition members. US-based Physicians for Human Rights tells the New York Times that now even "doctors are disappearing as part of a systematic attack on medical staff." '

Iraqi Mojo said...

Maybe I'm being hard on C.H., or maybe I'm being too sensitive, and probably his comments don't make him look more like a Wahhabi than an American. Perhaps his comments make him look more like an Israeli. LOL

Seriously though, I didn't mean any disrespect. You have condemned Dolly and other Wahhabis before, and I appreciate that.

C.H. said...

Anand,

Thank you for the comments. I will add though that I do have an understanding of what Shia are going through in the Muslim world...not as well as Mojo does, but I have experienced it second-hand many times. Just the other day my friend from Karachi, Pakistan was in mourning because three of neighbors (vegetable sellers) were gunned down by assassins on motorbikes.

C.H. said...

"you've said nothing about the hypocrisy of the US government with respect to Bahrain."


Okay Mojo, but what exactly is the US government hypocrisy with respect to Bahrain? It seems to me that Obama is being consistent by ignoring the suffering being inflicted on Bahrainis. I've gotten into heated discussions with Iraqi Shiites recently...they claim that "if this were Iran, the US would do something!" This is abject nonsense, because the US government and the rest of the Western world didn't do a damn thing to help the Iranian people when they took to the streets. In fact, the US even gave Ahmadinejad a visa to come to the UN as the **elected leader** of Iran where he spewed his demented rants all over the airwaves.

C.H. said...

"Lately you've been commenting on my blog only when I post a clip or quote from Press TV"


That's because I have close friends in Iran and that network is a propaganda outlet that the regime uses to smear them, and all other Iranians who dare to ask for more freedom. Forgive me for being angry when people give it respect as a legitimate news source.


"probably his comments don't make him look more like a Wahhabi than an American."


Thanks...that was a bit harsh, especially after the hundreds of comments I have logged condemning Wahhabi mass murder in Iraq :-/


"Perhaps his comments make him look more like an Israeli."


Many Israelis say that Bashar Assad needs to stay in power because he brings "stability" to Syria. I will never understand their position.

Iraqi Mojo said...

"but what exactly is the US government hypocrisy with respect to Bahrain?"

The US is staying relatively quiet on Bahrain. Do you disagree? At least it's being covered well by the media.

How is FOX News covering Bahrain?

'Each objection from Iran or Hezbollah unleashes a barrage of opportunistic rants by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the U.S. about "Iranian interference" and expansionism.'

It's clear that the US is taking sides here. The US is not interested in democracy in Bahrain. But the US is interested in democracy in Iran. If the Iranian regime started arresting and torturing Iranian doctors, I betchya FOX News would be all over it. I bet you would be too, C.H. lol

I do wonder how FOX News is covering Bahrain.

C.H. said...

"The US is staying relatively quiet on Bahrain. Do you disagree?"


I don't disagree. But I'm still not seeing the hypocrisy. The US stayed silent about Iran during its crackdown on protesters too. The whole argument that the US would speak out against Bahrain if it were an enemy like Iran isn't true. I've heard this from many of my Shia friends and I refute it every time because its insulting to those of us who tried to stand with the Iranian people.

There may be some hypocrisy in regards to Libya and Bahrain (I recently read an article entitled "Bahrain pulls a Qaddafi") But again, Obama has yet to speak in public about Syria, which has unleashed an even more violent crackdown and is an American adversary.

I think Maury summed it up best...Obama is the worst president Arabs (and Iranians) could in the White House during their bid for freedom.

C.H. said...

"If the Iranian regime started arresting and torturing Iranian doctors, I betchya FOX News would be all over it."


The Iranian security apparatus prefers abducting and torturing students these days. They are considered enemies of the revolution and "spies". Doctors are probably safer in Iran than in Bahrain.

FOX has had round the clock coverage of all the Arab revolts, from what I have seen. Although, sadly, ALL of the American media outlets (including CNN and MSNBC) were reluctant to cover Tunisia.

Iraqi Mojo said...

FOX News HAS covered Bahrain:

"Bahrain ordered an Iranian diplomat to leave the island kingdom as ties between the two nations worsen and tensions rise between the Shiite powerhouse and Sunni Arab states in the oil-rich Persian Gulf.

The state-owned Bahrain News Agency reported late Monday that Hujatullah Rahmani, the second secretary at the Iranian Embassy in Manama, was declared persona non grata and ordered out within 72 hours."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/04/26/bahrain-expels-iranian-diplomat-ties-worsen/#ixzz1KgaTlOlP

Iraqi Mojo said...

and I saw this somewhere else yesterday:

"Three players from Bahrain's national soccer team have been detained and six clubs have withdrawn from domestic leagues following widespread anti-government protests, the country's governing soccer body said Monday."

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2011/04/25/bahrain-soccer-players-detained-clubs-shut/#ixzz1Kgaph0BZ

Iraqi Mojo said...

FOX News has covered Bahrain. I stand corrected.

Iraqi Mojo said...

'My New York Times colleague Michael Slackman was caught by Bahrain security forces a few weeks ago. He said they pointed shotguns at him and that he was afraid they were about to shoot when he pulled out his passport and shouted that he was an American journalist. He said the mood then changed abruptly and the leader of the group came over and took Mr. Slackman's hand, saying warmly : "Don't worry! We love Americans!"

"We're not after you. We're after Shia," the policeman added. Mr. Slackman recalls: "It sounded like they were hunting rats." '

C.H. said...

I wonder if the UN would consider putting Bahrain on the "human rights" council after reading that, like they are doing for Syria.