Added On March 19, 2011 – s1.zetaboards.com – All three states have been using violence to crush pro-democracy protests. But only against Libya are the US and its Western allies planning a military response. Yemen and Bahrain’s crackdowns have so far been met only with words, not action. On one level the answer is obvious. Bahrain and Yemen are US allies – especially Bahrain with its large US naval base. Libya is not. The US response to Bahrain is further complicated by neighbouring Saudi Arabia, Washington’s number one Arab ally. Sunni ‘red line’ The Saudis were not happy to see Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak go. ” Start Quote Having watched Tunisia and Egypt go, other Arab leaders are following Libya’s lead in drawing a line in the sand and opting for force rather than dialogue” End Quote Losing the Sunni monarchy in its neighbour is a red line – that’s why it took the unprecedented step of sending 1000 troops over the border into Bahrain, after which the crackdown began. But what happened to the “universal values” US President Barack Obama cited when he eventually backed protesters in Egypt? His decision to abandon an old US ally there – Mr Mubarak – gave some the impression he was preparing to apply those values universally and to break with the past US policy of cosying up to other Middle Eastern regimes. Critics say it was a dangerous impression, raising protesters’ expectations as well as Gulf monarchs’ blood pressure. ‘Interests come first’ “The US always …
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