The Bahraini regime will not yield peaceably before protest, as Hosni Mubarak did. This
morning, Bahraini police opened fire on demonstrators with live rounds; four people were killed. There were also reports that Saudi Arabian troops were involved, which would mark a clear change in
the Arab establishment’s tactics following Mubarak’s fall. In the uncertain atmosphere, Twitter resounded to claims that Shiites were seeking reprisals and that the military was ‘taking
control of parts of the capital’. The agony of choice: a military coup or a religious massacre?
This morning’s news has forced Western powers to drop their hesitant approach. The British government responded immediately: condemning the Bahraini authorities’ use of violence and urging that ‘essential steps to reform’ are taken. Many will decry the intervention, but the government is right to denounce a ‘Peterloo moment’.
Western eyes are now turning to their other allies in the region.
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