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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 15-Mar-2011
15-Mar-11 News -- Bahrain uprising becomes explosive as Saudi troops arrive

Web Log - March, 2011

15-Mar-11 News -- Bahrain uprising becomes explosive as Saudi troops arrive

Israel's army on high alert over Palestinian unity demonstrations

Bahrain uprising becomes explosive as Saudi troops arrive

Bahrain <font size=-2>(Source: CIA Fact Book)</font>

Bahrain (Source: CIA Fact Book)

The Bahrain uprising dramatically escalated on Monday, when 1,000 Saudi troops poured across the King Fahd Causeway into Bahrain to help quell protests by mainly Shia demonstrators, according to Reuters. Bahrain's population is 2/3 Shia, but the government is led by Sunni tribal leaders.

The Saudi intervention had been approved by the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which is dominated by Saudi Arabia. The GCC members are also part of the larger Arab League, which, on Saturday, approved international intervention in Libya. (See "13-Mar-11 News -- Arab League unanimously requests a no-fly zone over Libya.")

The Saudis are motivated by concern that their own Shia population, making up 15% of the total population, will be "infected" by the Bahrain protests and start protesting themselves.

Bahrain's responses to peaceful protests have been particularly violent, and have even shocked the international community. (See "18-Feb-11 News -- Bahrain's government chooses the massacre scenario.")

Now, once again, the international community is shocked by this new development. The entry of foreign troops into Bahrain has surprised the Pentagon, according to CNN. Both the Obama administration and the United Nations are calling for restraint, but those calls are obviously not being heeded.

The Generational Dynamics prediction, which I have been discussing for years, is that there will be a new Mideast war re-fighting the genocidal war that followed the partitioning of Palestine and the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. As usual, Generational Dynamics tells you what your destination will be, but doesn't tell you the scenario that will occur to get you there.

I had always assumed that the war would start in the "center" -- in Israel, the Palestinian territories, Jordan, perhaps Egypt -- and spread outward to the other Mideast countries. But now we see the opposite happening: The wars are starting on the periphery of the Mideast -- Bahrain, Yemen, Libya -- and presumably will spread toward the center. Either way, the level of tension and conflict across the Mideast is growing.

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Israel's armed forces (IDF) will be on high alert throughout the West Bank on Tuesday, as thousands of Palestinians are expected to participate in demonstrations against Israel and in support of Fatah-Hamas unity. Jerusalem Post

A new poll shows that Europeans are increasingly turning away from support for Israel towards support for the Palestinians. The article puts forth a variety of unconvincing explanations for the change in attitude, but I'll stick with the most obvious explanation, the generational one. The tremendous worldwide sympathy for Israel, and indeed the original impetus for the approval of the creation of Israel, was the reaction to the Nazi Holocaust. But today, with the survivors of World War II almost gone, the memory of the Holocaust has lost its power. Guardian

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 15-Mar-11 News -- Bahrain uprising becomes explosive as Saudi troops arrive thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (15-Mar-2011) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 15-Mar-2011 15-Mar-11 News -- Bahrain uprising becomes explosive as Saudi troops arrive

Bahrain uprising becomes explosive as Saudi troops arrive

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 15-Mar-2011
15-Mar-11 News -- Bahrain uprising becomes explosive as Saudi troops arrive