I am following the continuing unrest in Bahrain in the media and it makes me a little sad. I worked on the island country for almost two and a half years. I was there working with Bahraini Air Force personnel. My job as English instructor came about, basically, through kickback funds from the sale of F15 fighters by Texas based, General Dynamics Corp.
Although I started working well before, our time there included the months of the first Gulf War. I do have to admit that Bahrain was one of the places I most enjoyed in the Gulf. The people were nice and the country poorer but more open honest and down to earth.
The simmering troubles there are nothing new. During our time, I could never believe how out-of-touch diplomatic circles were to the real opinions and aspirations of many of the island's citizens. It wasn't as if the things were secret, it's just that many in power turned a blind eye. If I were kind, I'd say they had advisors who simply didn't know the situation on the ground.
For one thing, the real world is immensely complicated. This is something that zealots who dress themselves up as true patriots often forget. Things are not as black and white as many pretend. Ignorance hardly seems an excuse, but is often the only thing protecting the status quo. If the US military and foreign policy advisors had used their influence to force friendly regimes towards democracy twenty years ago, then the region would look a lot different today. I guess it wasn't in their interest at the time, or even today for that matter.
