Bahrain's Unrest

[Dayuhan]

Yes indeed... and it is the same thing we try to teach kids when we tell them that at times it takes moral courage to stand up against the flow and do what is right.

What exactly would you want us to "do" in Bahrain?

In the case of Libya the French and the British have taken a half step forward while the US dithers - not saying yes or no but just a big maybe and the Germans kiss the Bear's ass. It doesn't come more pathetic than this.

The US is overcommitted elsewhere and is not in a position to take on another bite, especially where no direct US interest is involved. Those other commitments may or may not have been wise, but they exist and while they exist they are major constraints on new action.

If there is going to be action in Libya somebody else will have to lead it. The US may be able to help but it is neither practical nor reasonable to expect the US to solve everybody else's problems, everywhere.

The Libyan opposition are asking "where is NATO", "where is the West" and instead of telling them "we are not coming" the message is that "we are thinking about it so do try to die well in the meantime".

Did anyone ever promise them that they'd be bailed out if they bit off more than they could chew?

If we don't have the balls to stand up for the western democratic principles we supposedly hold so dear then at least try to summon up the courage to admit it.

Our principles apply to us. We are supposed to preserve them in our own countries. There is nothing in those principles that requires or advises us to export or impose those principles elsewhere.

This is about Bahrain; there's another thread for Libya... so I'll repeat the simple question:

What exactly would you want us to "do" in Bahrain?

[Granite_State]

Our principles apply to us. We are supposed to preserve them in our own countries. There is nothing in those principles that requires or advises us to export or impose those principles elsewhere.

America does not go abroad in search of monsters to destroy. She is the well-wisher to freedom and independence of all. She is the champion and vindicator only of her own. - John Quincy Adams