Martial law declared in Bahrain

Martial law declared in Bahrain
Tue Mar 15, 2011 2:1PM
Interview with Ralph Schoenman, author and political commentator, Berkeley
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Following the deployment of armed mercenaries, confirmed use of nerve gas, and the compliance by al-Khalifa to allow Saudi and GCC troops and tanks to enter Bahrain in order to supposedly restore order, the Bahraini government has declared Martial law.


Press TV talks with Ralph Schoenman, author and political analyst, Berkeley who encapsulates events and al-Khalifa's war crime atrocities leading up to the Arab invasion of Bahrain and the most recent response to this by the people of Bahrain.

Press TV: Can you share with us your understanding of the most recent developments in Bahrain?

Ralph Shoenman: The peaceful demonstrators for democracy in Bahrain have continuously been assaulted by armed forces by live gunfire and in the mobilization in Refa the Royal court and in Manama where not only were they assaulted by over 100,000 mercenaries using posts, knives, clubs, swords and hatchets attacking people at random, but neurotoxins and nerve gas were confirmed and resulted in the paralysis and death of numerous people.

Nine doctors at Salmaniya hospital medical complex including Doctor Nigera who filed a report with Human Rights Watch verified independently the use of these neurotoxins that left people paralyzed and dead.

Doctors have attempted to treat people with atropine and described the symptoms of those assaulted as consistent with organophosphates characteristic of chemical and neurological weapons, which are specifically a war crime and in direct violation of the 1993 international convention against the use of poison gas and chemical weapons.

The visit of Secretary of Defense Robert Gates in Manama was followed by an invasion of an estimated 10,000 Saudi troops, over 600 troop carriers and tanks; joined by the sheikdoms of the Gulf Council (GCC) while the monarchy's parliament called for the imposition of martial law.

The reporting of this in the Western media has been diminimus, much more so in Britain than in the US although even in the US the commercial publications such as Trade Arabia and Construction Weekly have reported not only the response of the population and the invasion, but in particular the most dramatic development, which is the announcement of a general strike by the General Confederation of Trade Unions in Bahrain, and this call has been responded to immediately by 90% of the workforce shutting down the aluminum company and the petroleum company associated with Occidental Petroleum.

Clearly the declarations of Secretary of Defense Gates parachuting into Bahrain about wanting reform and then fleeing the country just in time for an invasion provide nothing more than protective pretentious cover for US imperialism.

The Saudi monarchy and its leaders won't go to the bathroom without consulting the CIA and the US ruling class.

SC/PKH

Source: presstv.ir