U.S. To Sell Bahrain New Arms Package

Despite the delay in a $53 million arms sale due to strong opposition from members of Congress, President Barack Obama‘s administration has decided to move forward with a sale of other military arms and services to Bahrain. In what some Congressional aides perceive to be a “legal loophole,” the administration is releasing items below the value of $1 million, which means no formal notification to Congress or the public is necessary to approve the sale. According to Josh Rogin at The Cable, “State [Department] is keeping the exact items in the sale secret, but is claiming they are for Bahrain’s “external defense” and therefore couldn’t be used against protesters.”

The U.S. State Department issued a statement that officials “are maintaining a pause on most security assistance for Bahrain pending further progress on reform.”  The sale will include “some previously notified equipment needed for Bahrain’s external defense and support of Fifth Fleet operations. This includes spare parts and maintenance of equipment. None of these items can be used against protestors.”  The statement added this ”isn’t a new sale nor [the use of] a legal loophole.”

Maryam al-Khawaja, the head of the foreign relations office at the Bahrain Center for Human Rights, said, “This message of ‘business as usual’ will only strengthen the regime’s belief that there will continue to be lack of consequences to their human rights violations internationally. At a time when the United States is already being criticized for practicing double standards when it comes to the so-called Arab spring, to the protesters in Bahrain, the U.S. selling any arms to the government of Bahrain is exactly like Russia selling arms to Syria.”  Amnesty International aso released a statement condemning the possible sale of arms.  ”Because the details are secret, it is difficult to independently determine whether the US government is providing the kinds of weapons, ammunition, and/or equipment that Bahraini security forces could use in the commission of further human rights violations.”