I wonder if we gave the orders to suppress this demonstration in Bahrain, now that Obobo has called for the Saudis to ship arms to the Libyan rebels, effectively putting us in a proxy war with Libya!

Protesters shot dead during peaceful march

In their part of the world that is called law enforcement.

Many on this board were stridently, almost hysterically calling for the U.S. to jump in with jets, artillery, and aid to 'the rebels' even though we barely know who or how extreme they are.

Non-intervention is, of course, the best way to go in this case, but calling for the Saudi's to aid the rebels doesn't involve us in a proxy war with Lybia.  It's ridiculous to draw that conclusion and unhelpful when rational analysis is what we sorely lack.

Those 'peaceful' protestors were walking towards a military blockade protecting a sensitive area. There were multiple signs in that area telling them they were not allowed in that area (the protesters were burning buildings). The military issued multiple verbal notices to the group they would fire , I guess in Arabic, that group is telling them to shoot.............So they did.

Well, it's a start.

And the Arab states calling for us (US) to enact a no-fly zone.

Does anyone else find this ironic on at least three levels?

First, they (Arab nations) have a ton of weapons and systems they could supply whomever they want to "win".

2nd, they have plenty of modern (enough) anti-missile systems and aircraft to establish a no-fly zone on their own.

3rd, we'll see how fast they scream for "arms to the rebels" and a no-fly zone when THEIR people ultimately revolt.

nvm

Nor is the oxymoron you put forth helpful. The rebels appear unale to do anything but engage in a long civil war so we tell the Saudis to send them arms that we sold to them. Ask Qadaffi if he thinks he is fighting America. Gee, what would he think? He just watched the United States endorse the overthrowing of Mubarak, who was a brutal dictator who had few other options when he was trying to contain the Muslim Brotherhood who has tried to takeover the country and use it as a launching pad for terrorism since at least the 1960s.

We want "non-intervention", you claim (an absurd view of our actions and "unhelpful" to believe so), yet we started the whole damn thing in the Middle East going back at least 2 years with our talks with terrorists and apparent beliefs that they would rule as moderates in peace because they told us so. Try rectifying that statement of yours with the reality of the situation now in the Middle East. Obama has said Qaddafi must go. We are in it up to our neck is what our current position is and you can select gross stupidity on Obama's part as to the outcome, or a desire to free Muslims to rule as they chose as the far worse of the two as they widely want Jihad after freedom from oppression. The 45,000+ madrases in Pakistan teach the Koran and Jihad almost exclusively. We have our own Palestinian Youth, modeled after the Hitler Youth, coming of age against the West. And demographics say they will eventually win. And all Obama has done is help speed the growth and process.

2 Rules:
1- never fight a land war in Asia!
2- Never elect a US president named Hussein!

We want (the administration) to see Qaddafi overthrown. The rebels apparently do not have the strength to do so. So we ask the Saudis to give weapons, that they bought from us, to the rebels. A variation of the Boland Amendment would have made for hearings right now a la Iran-Contra. But at least the Contras were fighting the Sandinista who were backed by both Cuba and the Eastern Bloc and in our backyard. That would be called a proxy also, and not at all "ridiculous" as you so claim about the Saudis sending arms to Libyan rebels at our request/demand. The Saudis and Tehran are already fighting a proxy war in Bahrain, which houses the US 5th Fleet, and the House of Saud will do as America wishes after seeing Obama turn America's back to a former ally in Egypt.

The Saudis will do everything they can to not see Bahrain fall. And you won't hear a word from Obama condemning the harsh methods, of which I really have no interest because after their "peaceful march" they will align with the Muslim Brotherhood. It is ironic, as well as sickening, that we forced a Border Agent to shoot a bean bag at an assailant while he fired rifle we supplied to him in Mexico that took his life, yet we tell the Saudis to start arming Libyan rebels.

"Non-intervention is the best way to go"? You might wish to go back and look at every administration to at least Carter. All have played the cards we were dealt (and dealt from the bottom of the deck when we could) and took action, even if disingenuous at times, to allow procurement of that which the US requires for its economy to run - OIL - while capping every new well here by limiting drilling and refusing to engage in shale oil research and usage, which we once did and which, I believe the Nazis perfected.

I guess I'm just used to water cannons and rubber bullets and the rules of the escalation of force drilled into my head. The reason I found it interesting is that we have a vital interest in Bahrain, so we have said nothing that I have heard, yet we back the rebels against Egypt, a 30 year ally until Obama came along, and now Obama states Gadaffi has lost the legitimacy to lead and he supports the rebels. I wonder if John Locke would see the two as any different:

"This list of grievances is carefully fashioned to invoke
the five criteria given by John Locke to demonstrate that a
government is tyrannical and revolution is justified" - A
History of Freedom taught by Rufus J, Fears, U of Oklahoma:

1- It substitutes arbitrary will for law

2- It hinders the legislative powers from assembling in good time or from acting freely

3- It alters the mode of electing the legislative body

4- It delivers the people into the jurisdiction of a foreign power

5- It abandons the trust to govern the people

most of those rounds must have been fired overhead, because only looked to be one fatality and two gsws

Looks like those Bahrainis were just protesting the presence of that traffic circle.  I don't blame them, Arab traffic circles suck.