Bahrain.

This is coolbert:

Thanks to the DEBKAfile some updates on the situation in Bahrain. As events unfold in Libya, let us not ignore what is occurring in Bahrain. Also vital - - the population very restive - - the government now taking draconian measures, a crackdown underway as we speak?

[again, the noted blogger David P. Goldman rates DEBKAfile as totally unreliable under all circumstances!]

1. "Two Saudi brigades of 3,500 troops plus tank battalion in Bahrain"

"15 March. The Saudi force that went into Bahrain Monday, March 14, along with UAE and Kuwaiti units, to stabilize the royal regime is larger than reported, consisting of a National Guard brigade, a mechanized brigade of the Saudi army and a tank battalion – altogether 3,500 men."

2. "Tehran warns of dangerous consequences for Saudi intervention in Bahrain"

"16 March. The contest between Iran and Saudi Arabia and the Sunni-Shiite split in the Arab world were ramped up Wednesday March 16 by the crackdown Bahraini security forces launched with tanks and helicopters to drive the mostly Shiite protesters off the main square and key points of the island-state while Saudi troops guarded strategic points."

Outside forces have NOW intervened in Bahrain? Bahrain is where the headquarters of the U.S. Fifth Fleet is located. A fleet vital to maintaining the status quo in the Persian Gulf and the Strait of Hormuz. The free flow of oil must not be impeded.

Military units of the Saudi, Kuwaiti, and United Arab Emirates all active now in Bahrain.

There is a religious and cultural factor at work here? The folks in Bahrain are predominantly Shia. As opposed to the Sunni of Saudi, Kuwait and UAE. Intervention by the Iranians is fear, sub rosa or otherwise?

90 % of the oil as pumped by the Saudi comes from areas where the Shia are predominant too. This was a surprise to me. The Saudi have always been seen as almost 100 % Sunni, but this is not so.

Hold on to your hats? Libya will become a side-show if the Gulf region goes up for grabs.

coolbert.