Exposed: The US-Saudi Libya deal

From Asia Times.

You invade Bahrain. We take out Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. This, in short, is the essence of a deal struck between the Barack Obama administration and the House of Saud. Two diplomatic sources at the United Nations independently confirmed that Washington, via Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, gave the go-ahead for Saudi Arabia to invade Bahrain and crush the pro-democracy movement in their neighbor in exchange for a "yes" vote by the Arab League for a no-fly zone over Libya - the main rationale that led to United Nations Security Council resolution 1973.

The revelation came from two different diplomats, a European and a member of the BRIC group, and was made separately to a US scholar and Asia Times Online. According to diplomatic protocol, their names cannot be disclosed. One of the diplomats said, "This is the reason why we could not support resolution 1973. We were arguing that Libya, Bahrain and Yemen were similar cases, and calling for a fact-finding mission. We maintain our official position that the resolution is not clear, and may be interpreted in a belligerent manner."

As Asia Times Online has reported, a full Arab League endorsement of a no-fly zone is a myth. Of the 22 full members, only 11 were present at the voting. Six of them were Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) members, the US-supported club of Gulf kingdoms/sheikhdoms, of which Saudi Arabia is the top dog. Syria and Algeria were against it. Saudi Arabia only had to "seduce" three other members to get the vote.

Translation: only nine out of 22 members of the Arab League voted for the no-fly zone. The vote was essentially a House of Saud-led operation, with Arab League secretary general Amr Moussa keen to polish his CV with Washington with an eye to become the next Egyptian President.

Thus, in the beginning, there was the great 2011 Arab revolt. Then, inexorably, came the US-Saudi counter-revolution.

Profiteers rejoice
Humanitarian imperialists will spin en masse this is a "conspiracy", as they have been spinning the bombing of Libya prevented a hypothetical massacre in Benghazi. They will be defending the House of Saud - saying it acted to squash Iranian subversion in the Gulf; obviously R2P - "responsibility to protect" does not apply to people in Bahrain. They will be heavily promoting post-Gaddafi Libya as a new - oily - human rights Mecca, complete with US intelligence assets, black ops, special forces and dodgy contractors...

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U.S. Ally Bahrain Mows Down Protesters, CNN Reporter Caught In Gunfire

From Prison Planet and CNN.

Graphic Videos Of Protester Killings In Middle East.

I believe this does have news value and so I am posting it for that reason only. The first video is of protesters being shot in Bahrain. The second of a boy shot in Libya. These videos and images bring home the reality of what is going on better then statistics can. One might also wonder, are these scenes the precursor to scenes we will soon see everywhere if the precarious western financial system continues to fall off of its hinges?

(Warning: graphic and violent content)

From Zerohedge

The Bahrain Army Just Started Firing Machine Guns Right Into The Protesters

From Business Insider


...the army in Abharain have started firing live ammo directly at protesters, who were marching towards a hospital, which housed other injured protesters.
It's clear that unlike in Egypt -- where for the most part the Army was not violent in one direction or another -- the Bahrain royal family has control of its military, and is using it to crack down on protesters, a situation that will make things potentially more bloody.
Of course, Bahrain is a big pivot point for the region. If it falls, Saudi Arabia could conceivably go, which is why they're panicking there...


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