![\"Obama](\"https:\/\/www.antiwar.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/08\/x610.jpg\")
Obama meets with Bahrain King Hamad Bin Isa al-Khalifa<\/p><\/div>\n
You might think, does it violate the law to protest? Yes, it does. The authoritarian government in Bahrain, which has brutally crushed genuine democratic uprisings for more than two years, banned all demonstrations. It is also illegal to “incite hatred” against the security forces (whatever that means), and people can be thrown in prison for calling the king a “dictator” on Twitter (something that has happened to at least eleven people<\/a>).<\/p>\n The regime uses the Western buzz word “terrorism” to describe anyone they want to suppress, as a list of tyrannical decrees in July showcased:<\/p>\n 2. Revoking the citizenship of those who carry out terrorist crimes and their instigators.<\/p>\n 3. Inflicting tough penalties on those who incite all forms of violence and terrorism.<\/p>\n 4. Inflicting severe punishment on all kinds and forms of violence and terror crimes.<\/p>\n 5. Drying up all sources of terrorist financing.<\/p>\n 6. Banning sit-ins, rallies and gatherings in the capital Manama.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n “The Bahraini regime’s repression\u00a0has not let up<\/a>,” I wrote<\/a> last month in the Huffington Post. “Human rights groups have documented killings,\u00a0beatings<\/a>,\u00a0torture<\/a>, arbitrary arrests, disappearances,\u00a0harassment<\/a>, the destruction of more than 40 Shia mosques… on and on.”<\/p>\n Since Barack Obama took office in 2009, the Bahraini regime has received almost $90 million in direct U.S. aid<\/a>, but the direct military equipment and training Washington provides exceeds that amount by leaps and bounds. America supports this dictatorship with anti-riot gear, small arms,\u00a0short-range\u00a0ballistic missiles, rocket-launchers, Blackhawk helicopters, air-to-air missiles,\u00a0Stinger shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile, on and on and on, worth billions and billions. “Approximately 250 Bahraini military students\u00a0attend U.S. military schools each year,” according to a Congressional Research Service report<\/a>.<\/p>\n In September 2011, seven months after the crackdown began,\u00a0the Obama administration announced\u00a0“a proposed sale of\u00a044 ‘Humvee’ (M115A1B2) armored vehicles and several hundred TOW missiles of various\u00a0models, of which 50 are to be ‘bunker busters,'” CRS reports. Months earlier, as\u00a0\u00a0Time magazine reported<\/a>\u00a0Cobra helicopters conducted “live ammunition air strikes” on protesters.<\/p>\n In FY2014, Bahrain is set to receive another $11 million in aid.<\/p>\n After succumbing to pressure to stop aiding Bahrain during its authoritarian repression, President Obama announced in May 2012, after a visit to the White House by Bahrain\u2019s Crown Prince Salman, “that, despite continuing concerns\u00a0about Bahrain\u2019s handling of the unrest, it would open up Bahrain to the purchase of additional\u00a0U.S. arms for the BDF, Bahrain\u2019s Coast Guard, and Bahrain\u2019s National Guard.”<\/p>\n