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Bahrain – Features

Conflict in thailand may lead to civil war

By Dr Firoz Osman – Secretary General, Media Review Network

The likelihood of violence spiralling out of control in Bangkok, Thailand, has increased with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s threat of using live ammunition against the ‘red shirt’ protestors, killing and wounding scores of protestors.

The image of this country as a passive, non-violent Bhuddist nation has long been belied by it’s brutal decades-long campaign against the Muslims in the south of the country.

The Thai government, which placed Bangkok and surrounding provinces under emergency law in April 2010, moved to enforce the decree by sending troops to clear  the supporters of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) from Phan Fa Bridge. The move sparked bloody clashes as the protesters refused to budge and fought back with sticks, Molotov cocktails, grenades and rifles.

Read More »Conflict in thailand may lead to civil war

No woodshed for netanyahu

By Patrick Cockburn

(source: VOC fm Online / Counterpunch)

Meetings between US presidents and Israeli prime ministers are usually preceded by speculation that the US leader will finally demand that Israel stop expanding settlements in the West Bank, displacing Palestinians in East Jerusalem and embarrassing the US by misjudged military actions.

Before yesterday’s White House encounter there were particularly loud criticisms of Israel from the US security establishment. The influential commentator Dr Anthony Cordesman of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies said that America’s commitment to Israel’s security "does not justify or excuse actions by an Israeli government that unnecessarily makes Israel a strategic liability when it should remain an asset".

Dr Cordesman said that Israel should be more careful about the extent to which it tests the limits of US patience and exploits the support of American Jews. He warned Israel against launching an attack on Iran in the face of a US "red light". The US is particularly sensitive to the negative fallout of Israeli actions in the Middle East because America’s strength in the region has been reduced by the failure of its military intervention in Afghanistan and Iraq to achieve their objectives.

Read More »No woodshed for netanyahu