Protesters Set The Streets On Fire In Bahrain After Saudis Kill Top Shiite Cleric

Earlier today, we documented Saudi Arabia’s largest mass execution in 25 years. 

In what was billed as an effort to rid the world of 47 “terrorists”, the Saudis killed dozens of al-Qaeda affiliates and four Shiites who stood accused of shooting policemen in the anti-government protests which broke out during the Arab Spring.

Among the Shiites killed was prominent cleric Nimr al-Nimr. The Sheikh was an outspoken supporter of the anti-government movement and his death drew sharp condemnation from Iran, Hezbollah, and the Houthis on Saturday.

In the wake of the execution, “scores marched through Nimr's home district of Qatif shouting ‘down with the Al Saud’ and, in neighboring Bahrain, police fired tear gas at several dozen people who gathered to protest the news,” AP reported.

"Bahrain's Saudi-backed Sunni authorities crushed protests led by its majority Shia shortly after they erupted on February 14, 2011, taking their cue from Arab Spring uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa," al-Jazeera wrote back in February when hundreds took to the streets of Manama to commemorate the anniversary of the Arab Spring uprising. "Tensions are running high in the kingdom where a sectarian divide is deepening and there is a growing gap between the Sunni minority government and the Island’s Shia majority."

Below, find the searing (literally) images from Bahrain where police fired tear gas at protesters to disperse the crowds.

Are the days of the Gulf monarchies numbered?

Comments

[nevertheless]

how about a US drone strike from O-bomb-ya, from a few miles away because the guy "walked" like a terrorist?

Or how about our supplying weapons to any number of terrorists around the world because they are OUR terrorists, like ISIS...

Or our support for leaders, not because they are good men, but because they back our wants, like the Nazis in Kiev. 

there is lots to see here, just many racists don't want to look.

[TheFutureIsThePast]

They're not necessarily "racist", just unwilling or unable to accept the truth that they were lied to since birth about America and its goals.

Remember: America fights for freedom, 9/11 was done by Arab terrorists and Iraq was building nukes. They hate us for our freedom!

[G.O.O.D]

Wow stevo that is one hellova cumshot you have on your face.

You friends with Peter North?

[Soul Glow]

The world is burning.

[Xredsx]

The world as been burning since it starting turning, it's just we been pampered by the libs and their alternative reality media for so long.

[nevertheless]

"Liberal media", so, who exactly owns the "liberal media"?

There is no such thing as "liberal media", its zionist, its neo-liberal, its corporate, politically correct, but NOTHING makes it remotely liberal. 

US media is pure propaganda, pro war, pro open borders pro-free trade, and while you and many others may believe that constitutes liberal, that is just more zionist propaganda. 

The media loves conflict, because the media no longer cares for the public good, now its about profit and propaganda. Divide the people, black against white, women against men, north vs south...and if you fall for it, you are just doing their job for them. 

[The Wedge]

The vast majority of media professionals identify as liberal. A fact difficult to spin.

[tsuki]

How you self-identify has less to do with what you really are, and more to do with propaganda.  I see very few liberals and very few conservatives in the media.  I see a lot of NeoCultists like Fred Hiatt of the WaPo. 

[trader1]

and our culture is turning to steam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdmhNPwxGuk

[PrimalScream]

Absolutely.  There is no other way to describe it.

[Rockwell]

Where's the video?

[Element]

It's like the director's lost cut scenes from Team America!

"... Dirka Dirka? .... Dirka Dirka Dirka! ... argh!! Dirka Diiiirkaaaaaa!! ... Dirka Dirka Dirka Dirka!!! ..."

And so on.

[surf@jm]

LOL!...35 dollar oil causes Saudi welfare checks to bounce.......

[Herdee]

I hate head-choppers and the stoning of women.These Wahhabis are barbarians.They even put Attila The Hun to shame.

http://www.ancient.eu/Attila_the_Hun/

[ThrowAwayYourTV]

How come its ok for the goobermint to kill people?

[The Wedge]

I imagine a goober-mint presents a choking hazard.

[Panic Mode]

He only published critisim of Saudi gov on social media. Right? How that makes him a terrorist? Now who is more terrorist.

[James TraffiCan't]

Those silly Islamic Muslim Arabs...what will they do next for attention?

Beam me up!

[Seasmoke]

Oh. So this is what Seinfeld and Obama were laughing about. 

[RopeADope]

Clearly Saudi Arabia is committing genocide against its people and we must bring democracy to that country.

[Savyindallas]

clearly- we need to fight the Wahhibists in their own country before they are beheading and killing us over here. 

[G.O.O.D]

But I cant afford to go over there , so the only way I can get a shot at them is for them to come here.

[Spiritof42]

Looking forward to the day when the Saudi princes get guillotined.

[August]

A few of the less influential and less infornmed Saudi "royals" may get the earthly justice they deserve, but the heavy hitters will live out their lives in luxury as honored guests in the South of France. 

But if things go really bad, they may have to seek refuge on La Estancia Bush; neither the Bush family nor the Paraguyan government is all that picky.

[HowdyDoody]

The Qatari crew seemed to have scarpered en masse to Switzerland. Apparently the Big Cheese has borked a leg.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/switzerland/12072595/Qa...

Convenient timing!

[Spiritof42]

If they do that, they would risk the new Saudi government cutting off their oil. One can only hope.

Then there is also the Trosky solution.

[Paracelsus]

The Saudis manipulate the market of oil and banking (The Petrodollar).The Saudi recycle these profits into

Western Defense equipment,subsidizing the blue chip stocks which would crater otherwise. Win/Win....

The Saudis policy is to export extremism,but now with the Syria and Yemen pots boiling over....

The plus and minus of the Saudi state is that Mecca is the site of pilgrimage.

With the price of oil forced downwards they have really pissed off Putin.The Eastern Med is looking like

a warship parking lot.The Shias are a much tougher bunch.Anyhow,the US should stay the f@@K out of this one.

[22winmag]

Regime change is coming at home and abroad.

It just never works out the way you'd expect.

[PrimalScream]

This is the start of a major Cold War - and maybe a Hot War - between Sunnis and Shiites in the Middle East.  That battle has been raging "behind the scenes" for a few years.  But it is coming out into the open now.  Saudi Arabia versus Iran & Iraq.  Ironically, this execution of al-Nimr drives the Iraqi's directly into the hands of Tehran - which is exactly the wrong outcome for the Sunnis.

MUCH more violence and terrorism will be coming in 2016. 

Last year was a cakewalk, compared to where we are headed now.

It is very easy for the Superpowers to exploit this tension in the Middle East ... sell a lot of expensive weapons and run a lot of covert power plays. 

The Middle East is disintegrating.

[FedFunnyMoney]

i hope Saudi Arabia's majority Shi'a Eastern province goes up in flames.

[Element]

Expert: Iran likely to seek more confrontations in 2016 with U.S. Navy
 
By Meghann Myers, Staff writer 6:35 p.m. EST December 30, 2015
 
(Photo: MC3 J.M. Tolbert/Navy)
 
U.S. Central Command officials have called Iran's firing rockets within a mile of the carrier Harry S. Truman on Saturday a "dangerous" and "unprofessional" stunt, but these sorts of provocative run-ins are likely to continue in 2016 as hard-line forces in Iran exploit uneasy relations with the West, one expert warns.
 
The provocative test firing by Iranian paramilitary forces near the Truman as it passed through the Strait of Hormuz was likely ordered by senior leaders, although it's unclear whether that was approved by the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, the Iranian military or the highest rungs of Iran's government, said the Iran expert.
 
"Anything can happen, but it’s very unlikely somebody’s going to fire a missile or do anything like this without it being something known to the senior command," said Anthony Cordesman, a national security expert at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, in a Wednesday phone interview.
 
IRGC vessels fired "several unguided rockets" about 1,370 meters from the Truman, the destroyer Bulkeley and French frigate FS Provence, said Cmdr. Kyle Raines, a CENTCOM spokesman, adding that while commercial sea traffic also was nearby, the missiles weren't fired in the direction of any ships.
 
“These actions were highly provocative, unsafe, and unprofessional and call into question Iran's commitment to the security of a waterway vital to international commerce,” Raines said in an email. “While most interactions between Iranian forces and the U.S. Navy are professional, safe, and routine, this event was not and runs contrary to efforts to ensure freedom of navigation and maritime safety in the global commons.”
 
The rockets were likely glorified rocket-propelled grenades, Cordesman said, as many revolutionary guard ships carry light armament.
 
The behavior is not out of character for the revolutionary guard, he said. The guard has a monopoly on operations within the Persian Gulf, while the Iranian navy has primary authority outside of it; the IRGCN is a paramilitary force that often seeks provocations with Western forces. In 2007, the IRGCN took 15 British sailors and Marines hostage in a high-stakes stand-off that ended two weeks later when they were released unharmed.
 
Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard provoke confrontations with Western forces and showcase their prowess in high-profile exercises, as in this 2010 drill where go-fasts attacked a target vessel. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
 
"There have been cases in the gulf, where normally there is relatively tight supervision and both sides cooperate — at least in ignoring each other properly — but there have been cases where the guards have deliberately acted out," he said.
 
And in some cases, he added, officers responsible have been promoted later, "sort of as an award for obeying orders, showing initiative or being symbol of the guard’s independence from the rest of the structure in Iran."
 
That's not to say that those actions would be endorsed outside of the service.
 
"It’s unlikely given the levels of tension involved between the conservatives and the more moderate factions in Iran, that this is the sort of thing that the Supreme Leader [Ayatollah Ali Khamenei] would endorse," he said.
 
On top of that, the rocket test firing doesn't suggest a larger plot by the Iranian national security council, ministry of foreign affairs or President Hassan Rouhani.
 
"At the same time it seems unlikely that any given officer would do this, and almost impossible to believe that they didn’t realize what the political effect would be," Cordesman said.
 
The climate is tense following the signing of a nuclear deal earlier this year, as the terms continue to be carried out. Iran recently transferred a large amount of enriched uranium to Russia, but Cordesman said that wasn't necessarily a reason for the guard to show force.
 
It is possible, however, that these stunts could continue — or even spark larger tensions.
 
"It is a very uncertain time, and it’s further unlikely that the revolutionary guards are not going to find ways to assert hard-line positions and occasionally protest the U.S.," he said. "It’s unclear that the Supreme Leader would choose to stop them, simply because even though he’s allowed the terms of the nuclear agreement to move forward, his statements have often been very hard-line."
 
Iran will be as big of a problem in 2016 as the Islamic State group, Cordesman said, "and at least as serious a threat."
 
http://www.navytimes.com/story/military/2015/12/30/iran-us-navy-2016-per...

-----

Ah, ... the last sentence ... all lumped in together ... makes sense!

Are the Iranians actually attacking the West anywhere, like in Europe for instance, as ISIL does? No?

But they compare Iran to being at least equivalent to ISIL, as a threat?

If so, why aren't they bombing? Oh, you mean Iran isn't doing anything bomb-able yet? Damn!

The guy saying that stuff just happens to be Jewish and a former Georgetown Prof. Nope, no ulterior duel-citizen motivation or questionable allegiance there!

Anthony H. Cordesman

http://normanfinkelstein.com/2009/02/19/anthony-cordesman-war-whore/

[BiPolarFrenchman]

Good comment, Element.

[HowdyDoody]

The Iranians also deny the missile launch. Gulf of Tonkin incident all over again? God, the USG really does love its playbook.

These days I am more inclined to believe the Iranians rather than the USG. How the mighty have fallen.

[TheFutureIsThePast]

No reason to change the playbook when it keeps working on the idiot public.

I'd stay away from any steel skyscrapers in the US.

[August]

Mr. Cordesman certainly has refined tastes in the world of audio:

Golden Ear Awards 2015: Anthony H. Cordesman

Boulder 2150 Monoblock Power Amplifier and 2110 Preamplifier
$98,000 and $54,000
These two components are further demonstrations of just how good high-end electronics have now become—and of the fact that solid-state units can provide superb sound quality.

Doing well... by doing good!

[Victory_Garden]

Hummmmk...al-CIA-duh/mosad/bankster distraction #33.3.099/a>< boo-daddda plan to distract the world away from the purposely made to happen world economic crash...yaddi...yadda...bees wax and jelly beans a la la....do dah!

Darn, aren’t ya gettin tired of this horsepiss and pig slop that is being perpetuated in countries across the world for who's benefit? For WHO'S Gain? Could it be...ahh...babylon? The zookeeper of the money-god?

Naw, say it ain't so, Joe. Just because the world's people have invited satan in all the various forms of evil faces called politicians into their countries, churches, and homes world-wide, doesn’t mean that evil satan is not going to try to kill you all eventually in some sort of way, or by using a distraction from babylon's box of evil tricks from hell.

It's the same old story and all one has to do is look in the mirror to see WHO is to blame for falling asleep at the wheel of spiritual consciousness and allowing this evil into your countries, churches, politics, energy, and homes. To be simple, if you invite the rattleSNAKE into your home and pet it, chances are it will eventually bite you and you WILL DIE. You the body that is. Your spirit will have another price to pay for being so darn spiritually ignorant in refusing to see and hear what you see with your own eyes, and your own ears. There are none so blind, as those who refuse to see the Light within when it is the loudest voice you hear.

All ahead...Full Bless'ed Love.

Carry on.

[G.O.O.D]

Popcorn, Hot-dogs, Cotton Candy. Get them here while you watch the hit classic "as the world burns."

Remember kids, don't try this at home.

[beemasters]

When individuals/entities/nations/corporations become too rich, they tend to abuse their power.

[Moccasin]

Good times, get the popcorn. The Iranians just busted down the doors of the Saudi embassy in Tehran.

[G.O.O.D]

Ho LEe Phuk!

And in the immortal words of Jackie Mutherfvkin Gleason "and away we go."

[PacOps]

And set it on fire ...

[Coletrane]

wtf ?

set the OIL on fire if you want their attention

[shovelhead]

"Leettttt's get ready for a Dune Coon dustup...

The Wrecker in Mecca...

IRAN VS. SAUDI ARABIAAAAA ..."

Yemen is just the opening act.

[Flankspeed60]

I upvoted you - 'Dune Coon' is a hilarious keeper...........

[PrimalScream]

Pretty good bet that Hardliners will take over power in Riyadh and Tehran.  There will be a political swing away from moderates - and a strong power shift to hardliners.  With an increase in repressive policies ... and many more executions.  Both countries.

[shovelhead]

Because nothing says moderate government better than an afternoon chopping off 47 heads.

What? The hard-liners would toss in a camel race as a warm-up act?

[logical-different]

Not much to report here.  Heil OBAMA stated nothing upon these killings.  Can someone please go over to the golf course and tell OBAMA what is going on.

Also, tell him that Saudia Arabia called and wanted to talk to their puppet president.  

[gwar5]

Or, as Hillary would say, "They're rioting because somebody insulted islam."

[gwar5]

Or, as Hillary would say, "They're rioting because somebody insulted islam."

[Really20]

Hillary's a warmonger in bed with the Saudi leadership. As is Obama. Americans, and all people who value liberty and justice, ought to rise up against our continued relations with the Al Saud "royal family". Unfortunately, the SJWs who are dominant in public discourse nowadays would probably point to all criticisms of Saudi Arabia as "Islamophobic" and "insulting their culture", playing into the hands of the wealthy elite of the US and Saudi Arabia/Gulf emirates.