Bahrain

According to WikiLeaks, Hezbollah trained the Bahraini Shiite opposition—i.e., the ‘democratic movement’ lauded by Obama, who leaned on the local monarch to stop shooting at them.

Meanwhile in Egypt, Yusuf Al-Qaradawi, the spiritual mentor of the Muslim Brotherhood gave a pro-democracy speech to a million-strong crowd in Tahrir Square. Incidentally, Qaradawi denies the Holocaust and offers religious justification for suicide bombings.

(Video: Bahrain riots)

Saudi Arabia has defiantly announced its all-out support for the Bahraini monarchy. This support includes money, riot control gear, weapons, and the last-resort possibility of direct Saudi military intervention.

Oddly, the White House has embarked on the opposite course and criticizes the Bahraini monarch, among other autocrats. If the popular revolt in Bahrain succeeds, the country’s Shiites will come to power and bring Bahrain into Iran’s orbit. At a minimum, the United States will lose its major naval base there.

In response to Obama’s criticism, Bahrain’s monarch allowed the leader of the largest and most extremist opposition party, Al Haq, to return from exile. Obama’s reason for radicalizing Bahrain, home to a US Navy base, eludes comprehension.

Meanwhile, the US is losing Egypt. Riots against military junta have erupted in several towns. If, as it seems likely, the army is unable to field a strong president, the Muslim Brotherhood is poised to win the next elections. The freezing of the Mubarak family’s assets by Egypt’s Attorney General confirms that the army is losing control.

Saudi troops and UAE police entered Bahrain to defend the local monarchy against Obama’s inexplicable call for political reforms in a state which hosts a US Navy base. Peaceful protesters, supported by Iran, opened fire on the troops.

The Saudi Navy intercepted and drove away two ships carrying humanitarian cargo from Iran to the Bahraini insurgents. The incident was hardly noticed and no condemnations ensued.