A famous saying by Voltaire goes, "God save me from my friends – I can protect myself from my enemies." There is also an English popular proverb that goes, "With this kind of friends, you don't need enemies." This is probably a good illustration of the relationship between the two allies, Bahrain and the USA. The two countries have been cooperating for a hundred years; and the fifth American fleet has been based in Bahrain since the 1970s. However, the USA is intentionally or inadvertently following politics that harm Bahrain's security, stability, peace, and prosperity. On September 24, I sat at the temporary hall of the UN General Assembly in New York and listened to President Barack Obama's speech. Obama's speech was almost entirely devoted to the Arabs and Iran, a first in the history of American presidents' speeches. Obama also said that the USA is working for democracy in Iraq, Bahrain, and Syria. I wondered why the American president had to mention Bahrain with Iraq and Syria, and I criticized him for that. This was not a mistake that the smart president made. Indeed, the US Ambassador to Manama, Thomas Krajeski, spent two years conducting muddled work in Bahrain, thus pushing some Sunni leaders to demand his ousting. Krajeski is a professional diplomat who worked in several Arab countries, including Egypt, Iraq, the UAE, and Yemen (as an ambassador) before landing in Bahrain. I think it would be better for Krajeski and for us if he behaved as his country's ambassador rather than a High Commissioner. Indeed, the man interferes in every large or minute detail in Bahrain such as the national dialogue, the tribunals, and the way prisoners and their visitors are being treated. King Hamad Ben Issa appointed three ministers to take part in the national dialogue, and the opposition dispatched some low profile representatives. I read an interview with the ambassador that was published in Yale's political magazine. He said that he is present in Bahrain to serve his country's interests before anything else, and added that his country wants to see stability, security, and peace in Bahrain, which is what the Bahrainis also want for their country. This is lovely. He then alluded to the visit of Crown Prince Salman Ben Hamad to Washington where he was received by Obama. I must tell the ambassador that I met with Prince Salman in Manama two weeks following the launching of the unrest there in February 2011. The Prince informed me of a series of measures that would immediately meet more than fifty percent of the opposition's demands. He felt, and so did I, that the crisis will be solved in a matter of days. Why hasn't the crisis been solved? Before I answer this question, I say to Ambassador Krajeski that I have known Bahrain since I was a teenager. The late Prince, Sheikh Issa, became a personal friend of mine since the time I saw him in a palace on the Awali road with his father, Sheikh Salman, may God have mercy on their souls. I have known all the Bahraini officials since that time and I am well acquainted with the people there, including the cab drivers. I have many Shiite Bahraini friends, some of whom have official posts and some of whom are merchants. In other words, I have known Bahrain for half a century rather than two years. The problems in Bahrain have not been solved because the opposition, namely the leaders of the Al-Wifaq group, do not want democracy. They want to kill the democracy by establishing the Faqih rule and by becoming totally annexed to the Ayatollahs in Qum. Al-Wifaq's head, Ayatollah Ali Salman, studied in Qum and so did his Guide, Issa Qassem. This man banned the Shiites from taking part in the elections twice; he then lifted this ban twice and then re-installed it. Through it all, he was merely implementing Qum's instructions. This is just the opposite of democracy. The American administration is not blind. It is just ignoring the reality and operating in the Gulf against the interests of the GCC countries in collusion with the Iranian gang under the pretext of democracy. They can't export to Bahrain what they don't have in their own country. I am talking about something that I am very familiar with. Even if the Bahraini government were to accept the opposition's demands, the UAE will not. And if the UAE does, Saudi Arabia will not. If the treason of the opposition leaders and the Iranian incitement were to persist, King Hamad Ben Issa might naturalize 100,000 individuals from the Gulf and thus turn the Shiites into a minority. This is to be continued tomorrow. [email protected]
