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US intentionally ignores Bahrain’s despotic actions: Academic

Saturday, 28 July 2018 5:53 AM [ Last Update: Saturday, 28 July 2018 6:18 AM ]

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis (C) is welcomed by Bahrain's Minister for Defense Affairs Yusuf bin Ahmed Al Jalahma (R) upon arriving at Manama airport on March 14, 2018. (Photo by AFP)

The United States is not going to criticize the Bahraini government for its despotic acts because Americans need their navy base in Manama, says a commentator.

“The American Fifth Fleet is based in Bahrain and the American Fifth Fleet is going to be needed for the upcoming American wars,” David Yaghoubian, professor of history at California State University, told Press TV on Saturday. "Therefore, the US neglects counter-democratic activities conducted by the Al Khalifah regime against its own citizens".

“There is simply no way that this American government certainly under [President] Donald Trump and neo-conservatives is going to complain at all about the despotic actions [by the Bahraini regime],” Yaghoubian said.

The United States has turned a blind eye on the Bahraini regime’s actions against “human rights and violations of international law” in the Shia-populated nation, the professor noted.

According to the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy (BIRD), Manama regime officials have stripped at least 738 nationals – 232 in 2018 alone – of their citizenship since 2012, rendering most of them stateless.

Manama has gone to great lengths to clamp down on any sign of dissent. On March 14, 2011, troops from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates were deployed to assist Bahrain in its crackdown. Scores of people have lost their lives and hundreds of others sustained injuries or arrested as a result of the Al Khalifah regime’s crackdown.