No. 14: What happens in Bahrain ... just don’t seem to stay in Bahrain anymore

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Wednesday, July 20, 2011 - 10:49 AM Share

We now have our second Navy command relief in recent days related to Bahrain.

This one, the commander of an EA-18 squadron, didn't hit a buoy, brave boys. He hit a bottle, allegedly.

Naval History and Heritage Command

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WHISKEYPAPA

5:26 PM ET

July 20, 2011

Buffalo

There's that F2A Brewster Buffalo again.

Walt

GOLD STAR FATHER

5:56 PM ET

July 20, 2011

Actually

That's CDR Pugh's new office.

BILL KELLER

11:35 AM ET

July 21, 2011

Haircutting the officer corps...

It is time to use any cause to reject especially as we can no longer afford armadas which exist solely as foundations for medieval autocracies.

RUBBER DUCKY

1:54 PM ET

July 21, 2011

Horsehockey

Silly thesis. Standards are standards. Navy has ample mechanisms to reduce manning levels without backdoor devices,

And the reason there is a United States Navy is because it is constitutionally required. Article 1, Section 8: "To provide and maintain a Navy"

BILL KELLER

10:44 PM ET

July 21, 2011

But the cost to provide and maintain...

should be driven by the needs of the nation, not the needs of the service to fill a toy box for an inflated staff and shipbuilding industry. Horsehockey...how retro indeed.

BILL KELLER

10:44 PM ET

July 21, 2011

But the cost to provide and maintain...

should be driven by the needs of the nation, not the needs of the service to fill a toy box for an inflated staff and shipbuilding industry. Horsehockey...how retro indeed.

JELLY_DOUGHNUT

12:03 PM ET

July 22, 2011

Bahrain is target practice for NCIS

Let me guess: an NCIS agent observed this behavior and reported it. Not the first time, but it's great we have agents out prowling Manama looking for sailors letting loose on liberty.

TRAVELING2011

5:05 PM ET

August 17, 2011

Standards are standards. Navy

Standards are standards. Navy has ample traveling2011 mechanisms to reduce manning levels without backdoor devices,

AIKO LANFOR

2:04 AM ET

August 18, 2011

What happens in Bahrain could unleash calls for change in Saudi

Even as mainly Shiite Muslim protesters camp out in Pearl Square demanding major reforms, the deciding factor in the outcome for Bahrain could be neighbouring Saudi Arabia. Behind the scenes and away from the streets, Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally and top oil supplier, is seeking to return to the status quo in , or at least to slow down calls for change. That Bahrain’s Shiite majority could gain more rights and powers from the ruling Sunni kacey jordan Muslims, Saudis think, could lead to unrest among their own Shiites, who live in Saudi Arabia’s oil-rich Eastern Province. In that case, reforms and economic incentives might not be enough to stop a movement from spreading there. Bahrain is the first Persian Gulf country to be hit by the unrest that’s sweeping the Middle East and Saudi Arabia is one of the last U.S. allies in the region since the regimes in Egypt and Tunisia fell. Although Bahrain is a tiny island of less than a million, what happens here could unleash calls for change in the much larger and powerful Saudi Arabia. It’s a case of Goliath fearing David’s .

AXELBROOK

10:55 AM ET

August 19, 2011

I don't think we have lost on

I don't think we have lost on either. We deposed an cruel tyrant, attacked a terrorist group that murdered 3000 innocent people. RIO Far as human rights is concerned in previous conflicts people like the terrorists we captured would have been tried by military tribunal and if found guilty executed..