Topic: U.S. Fifth Fleet
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Iran fires at US drone: the top 3 pressing questions
Iranian military forces fired at a US Predator drone for the first time ever earlier this month, the Pentagon acknowledged this week. It’s a revelation that has raised a host of questions for the US military. Here are the top three.
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Getting the Strait of Hormuz straight: an FAQ
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Palestinian statehood: why Arabs have turned on Obama
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WikiLeaks reveals 5 Arab countries concerned about Iran
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In Pictures: Somali pirates
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Bahrain commission issues brutal critique of Arab Spring crackdown
An independent commission presented its findings to Bahrain's king, offering the tiny Gulf country a road map for moving beyond the violence of recent months and repairing relations with the US.
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The Monitor's View: In Arab Spring, mercy is as mercy does
When Obama promises to support the Arab Spring, he can't then sell weapons to Bahrain, even as that dictatorship gives harsh sentences to doctors who treat wounded protesters.
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Palestinian statehood: why Arabs have turned on Obama
A year ago, President Obama wowed the United Nations General Assembly by announcing that he looked forward to welcoming an independent Palestine into the community of nations in 12 months. Yet there he was last week, explaining why he would veto a Palestinian statehood bid in the UN Security Council. Mr. Obama, who made Israeli-Palestinian peace a priority from the outset of his administration, is now the US leader with incongruously bad relations with the Arab world. Here are three key causes of the deterioration in relations – and three steps that the United States can take to mend ties.
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Bahrain opposition on verge of pulling out of government talks
Al Wefaq, Bahrain's main Shiite political party, is close to pulling out of the national dialogue to discuss reform, arguing it's only a fig leaf for continued autocracy.
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Bahrain sentences eight Shiite dissenters to life in prison
The sentences, issued by Bahrain's military tribunal, call into question talks between the government and opposition that were due to start July 1.
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Bahrain stages trials of opponents, despite new US criticism
Five of the six trials were held before a military tribunal. The US last week added Bahrain to its list of human rights abusers, which the kingdom called a regrettable 'rush to judgment.'
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Sanctions for Syria. But in Bahrain, it's bring on the Grand Prix!
Pay no attention to the human rights violations behind the curtain, Mr. Ecclestone.
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Bahrain protests and Obama's 'drop by' diplomacy
President Obama just happened to 'drop by' a White House meeting with Bahrain's crown prince today even as the government brutally suppresses protests. Why the secrecy?
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The House of Saud strikes back
Saudi Arabia isn't taking this whole democracy thing lying down. It's putting down uprisings, beefing up alliances with fellow autocrats, and distancing itself from the US.
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Bahrain's abuse of dissenters: four detailed cases
A pattern of widespread abuse emerges from these cases, including detention without trial, beatings, and lack of access to lawyers and family.
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Obama's Middle East goal: Tie US policy closer to American values
Obama's insistence that US policy in the Middle East support, rather than thwart, popular yearnings for self-rule is a warning to autocrats in the region – and marks an 'update' since his Cairo speech.
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In Obama's Middle East Speech, a little something for everyone to hate
President Barack Obama may have impressed much of the Arab world with his 2009 Cairo speech. But today's effort won't be remembered nearly as fondly.
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Bahrain rights activist's wife details torture, unfair trial
Bahrain's crackdown on the pro-democracy uprising has shifted from the streets to courtrooms, workplaces, and schools. One prisoner's wife describes sexual assault and psychological abuse.
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Bahrain indifferent to international criticism
In just one example, Bahrain's government failed to respond to a scathing report accusing authorities of detaining wounded protesters rather than allowing them to get treatment.
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Bahrain's Sunni rulers target Shiite mosques
The Bahraini regime has bulldozed dozens of Shiite mosques or other religious structures in the crackdown on a mainly Shiite opposition movement.
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Bahrain backs off plan to ban opposition after US criticism
The abrupt U-turn suggests that the US, which has been largely silent over the past month, still wields influence over the tiny kingdom despite its acquiescence to Saudi interests there.
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Why US silence on Bahrain's crackdown could backfire
For the fourth time in two weeks, a detainee died in police custody. Witnesses say his body, like the others, bore signs of abuse.
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US human rights report looks at China with concern
The State Department's annual human rights report highlights some 'very positive' trends, but also suggests that China is spearheading trends in global repression.
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Bahrain's calculated campaign of intimidation
Bahraini activists and locals describe midnight arrests, disappearances, beatings at checkpoints, and denial of medical care – all aimed at deflating the country's pro-democracy protest movement.
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Clinton, rebuffed in Egypt, faces tough task on Arab upheaval
In Cairo today, Hillary Clinton announced $2 billion in aid to help the country rebound. But many see it as too little too late – a lesson some say the US should take to heart in Bahrain and Yemen.
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Iran condemns Saudi troops' arrival in Bahrain
Iran's decision to get involved threatens to change the situation from a local dispute into a regional standoff between Sunni Saudi Arabia and Shiite Iran, with Bahrain as the proxy.
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Saudi troops arrive in Bahrain as protests escalate
Amid concerns of a Shiite uprising in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia sent troops to support the Sunni monarchy. Bahrain's opposition denounced the move as an 'occupation.'
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US military assistance for foreign forces: a wise investment?
The US military dispenses billions of dollars to foreign forces each year. Pentagon says the investment boosts diplomatic leverage, citing the Egypt crisis. Critics say it does little to advance US goals.
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US faces difficult situation in Bahrain, home to US Fifth Fleet
The US has important strategic interests in Bahrain, including the US Navy's Fifth Fleet – patrolling oil shipping lanes, keeping an eye on Iran, and involved with the war in Afghanistan. But US officials also worry about Bahrain's violent response to pro-democracy demonstrators.
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From Libya to Bahrain, Mideast autocracy under fire
After Egypt set Arab imaginations alight, autocrats from Qaddafi to the Khalifa dynasty face an assault unparalleled since the post-World War II revolutions that brought independence.
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