Bahrain, an American client, has withdrawn its army from the streets. Demonstrators, accordingly, poured back in to bring down the monarchy. Bahrain hosts a US Navy base, which will certainly be evicted if the protesters triumph. Nevertheless, Obama harshly criticized the monarchy for killing a few rioters.
In Libya and Algeria, government troops killed scores of protesters, which drew only rhetorical condemnations from the White House. Syria, too, cracked down brutally on its demonstrators. Overall, the Obama administration treats anti-American regimes much better than its allies.
