Bahrain unrest: Shia opposition rejects talks

[nadinbrzezinski]

Bahrain unrest: Shia opposition rejects talks

Troops opened fire on demonstrators after the funerals for protesters killed on Thursday
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Mid-East Unrest

Bahrain's main Shia opposition group has rejected King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa's offer of national dialogue.

Senior members of the Wefaq bloc said the government must resign first and troops should be withdrawn from the streets of the capital Manama.

Bahrain has been rocked by protests in recent days. Four protesters were killed by security forces on Thursday.

Troops again opened fire after their funerals on Friday, wounding at least 50 demonstrators.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12513606

Well, well, things are moving fast...

We have all those things moving fast, not just in our backyard. Pay attention to this.

[PufPuf23]

1. Today I went to the online CIA Factbook

to see the Sunni/Shia split in Bahrain and then looked at Saudi Arabia and other ME countries.

The CIA lists % muslims without regard to Sunni or Shia. Bahrain is a majority Shia but the royal family and favored class are Sunni, like Iraq under the Baathists (Saddam) and Saudi Arabia.

The USA has itself in a Catch-22 in the ME. CENTCOM is in Bahrain.

[nadinbrzezinski]

2. The HQ is actually in Florida, at McDill AFB

but Fifth Fleet is in bahrain...

http://www.centcom.mil/en/web-sites/centcom-hq-macdill-afb-links-web-mail.html

And yes, they are in a pickle. During the invasion of Iraq they moved operations to Bahrain... but sent OpCenter back to McDill about five years ago. Why I keep up with this trivia I got no fucking idea either.

:hi:

[Matariki]

3. The split between Sunni and Shi'ite is complex and bizarre -

as bizarre as European history of religious schisms that people fought and died over. It's hard to wrap one's head around it.