<div dir="ltr"><div class="gmail_quote"><div dir="ltr"><p style="padding-right:0px;padding-left:0px;padding-top:0px;text-align:left;font:normal normal normal 13px/1.4 Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-bottom:1em;padding-bottom:0px;margin-right:0px;line-height:18px;color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:13px;margin-left:0px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-top:1em">
Bahrain International Airport - When I came to Bahrain, it certainly wasn't with the intention of spending my whole time in the country in the airport. I wanted to see what was going on in the country, not to see what was going on in the airport.</p>

<p style="padding-right:0px;padding-left:0px;padding-top:0px;text-align:left;font:normal normal normal 13px/1.4 Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-bottom:1em;padding-bottom:0px;margin-right:0px;line-height:18px;color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:13px;margin-left:0px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-top:1em">

But the Bahrain authorities would not let me enter the country.</p><p style="padding-right:0px;padding-left:0px;padding-top:0px;text-align:left;font:normal normal normal 13px/1.4 Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-bottom:1em;padding-bottom:0px;margin-right:0px;line-height:18px;color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:13px;margin-left:0px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-top:1em">

[...]</p><p style="padding-right:0px;padding-left:0px;padding-top:0px;text-align:left;font:normal normal normal 13px/1.4 Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-bottom:1em;padding-bottom:0px;margin-right:0px;line-height:18px;color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:13px;margin-left:0px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-top:1em">

Other observers managed to get in, and you can see their reports at <a href="http://witnessbahrain.org/" style="margin-top:0px;margin-right:0px;margin-bottom:0px;margin-left:0px;padding-top:0px;padding-right:0px;padding-bottom:0px;padding-left:0px;color:rgb(124,71,12);text-decoration:none;font-weight:bold" target="_blank">Witness Bahrain</a>. [You can't see that website if you live in Bahrain though - it's blocked here by the Bahrain authorities.] But if you're in the U.S., you can read reports on Witness Bahrain on the protests marking the first anniversary of the uprising for democracy, and the Bahrain government's response to those protests.
</p><p style="padding-right:0px;padding-left:0px;padding-top:0px;text-align:left;font:normal normal normal 13px/1.4 Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-bottom:1em;padding-bottom:0px;margin-right:0px;line-height:18px;color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:13px;margin-left:0px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-top:1em">

[...]</p><div><p style="padding-right:0px;padding-left:0px;padding-top:0px;text-align:left;font:normal normal normal 13px/1.4 Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-bottom:1em;padding-bottom:0px;margin-right:0px;line-height:18px;color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:13px;margin-left:0px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-top:1em">

However, I did learn something useful, sitting in the airport, waiting with a bunch of other foreigners for permission to enter the country.</p><p style="padding-right:0px;padding-left:0px;padding-top:0px;text-align:left;font:normal normal normal 13px/1.4 Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-bottom:1em;padding-bottom:0px;margin-right:0px;line-height:18px;color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:13px;margin-left:0px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-top:1em">

I learned that the government of Bahrain is starting to pay a real price for its efforts to shield its actions towards peaceful protesters from international scrutiny.</p><p style="padding-right:0px;padding-left:0px;padding-top:0px;text-align:left;font:normal normal normal 13px/1.4 Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-bottom:1em;padding-bottom:0px;margin-right:0px;line-height:18px;color:rgb(36,36,36);font-size:13px;margin-left:0px;font-family:Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,sans-serif;margin-top:1em">

<a href="http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/13/1064338/-What-I-Learned-at-the-Airport-in-Bahrain" target="_blank">http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/02/13/1064338/-What-I-Learned-at-the-Airport-in-Bahrain</a><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888">
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<br></p></font></span></div><span class="HOEnZb"><font color="#888888"><div><br></div>-- <br>Robert Naiman<br>Policy Director<br>Just Foreign Policy<br><a href="http://www.justforeignpolicy.org" target="_blank">www.justforeignpolicy.org</a><br>
<a href="mailto:naiman@justforeignpolicy.org" target="_blank">naiman@justforeignpolicy.org</a><br>
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