Protest Calls for Ouster of U.S. Navy From Bahrain
MANAMA, Bahrain -- Chanting "Death to America!" and "Death to Israel!" protesters here Friday night angrily called for Bahrain's government to oust the U.S. Navy from the base that serves as its regional headquarters in the Persian Gulf.
Initiated by the local Islamic political organization, the protest was the latest in a series of anti-U.S. demonstrations in recent months, including a rock-throwing march by several thousand people outside the U.S. Embassy in April that left a teenage protester dead after a skirmish with police. Two American sailors were beaten by a crowd a month later.
On Friday, more than 500 protesters rallied outside the United Nations complex along Embassy Row to urge the world body not to support any U.S. effort to topple Iraqi President Saddam Hussein. With several television stations broadcasting the protest across the Arab world, speakers called for the government of this Persian Gulf island nation to withdraw permission for the U.S. to continue its military presence, which began shortly after World War II. "No to American Bases in Islamic Bahrain," read one banner.
The U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet is headquartered here, and U.S. and British Royal Air Force planes use the international airport as a regional hub. Without the facilities here, the U.S. ability to project military power in the region would be undercut.
In exchange for use of the base, the U.S. provides security for Bahrain against Iraq. The U.S. is also helping Bahrain upgrade its military force with training and equipment.
During the Persian Gulf War, Iraq launched Scud missiles at Bahrain. Still, the protesters said the U.S. presence here is politically unacceptable and endangers Bahrain's sovereignty.
"This is the new colonialism," said one protester, Suhyla Safqr, a dentist. "Americans are the new savages. We have so much anger at them. We will stop at nothing to stop them if they attack an Arab country."
Arab intellectuals disagree on how a U.S. effort to topple Hussein would play in the region.
Mohammed Musfir, a political science lecturer, predicted an exponential growth in anti-U.S. sentiment and protests that could lead to governments asking the U.S. military to leave the bases it has used for decades.
"You will see demonstrations like never before in the Arab world," Musfir said. "The anger has built up because of U.S. support for Israel against the Palestinians. A war with Iraq will make the anger ignite."
