‘Al Khalifa regime downfall inevitable’

Press TV has conducted an interview with Colin Cavell, a former lecturer with the University of Bahrain from West Virginia, to discuss the Bahraini regime’s crackdown on protesters.

What follows is an approximate transcript of the interview.

Press TV: Mr. Cavell, as we have just mentioned 38 Shia religious sites have been attacked by the regime forces in Bahrain since 2011. Why do you think that they are using this mechanism in order to suppress the uprising there?

Cavell: The reason that the regime is attacking the Shia shrines in Askar is because it is isolated, it is threatened by the large majority of the population, which is against them, who are primarily Shia and so when they do not like the results that three quarters of the population are against them, they start to attack their beliefs and everything that represents their beliefs.

Press TV: Well, as we have discussed this many times, this situation right now in Bahrain is not sustainable, someone has to give in. How do you see this unfolding in the coming weeks and months?

Cavell: Well, the much larger picture is that what is going on in the entire Middle East and that is that Saudi Arabia is now isolated; primarily by its own actions, but what they are trying to do now is that they are trying to play the hegemon in the Middle East by itself and they are incurring the wrath of a number of governments and more particularity they will incur the wrath of Russia because Bandar Bin Sultan has been sponsoring a series of bomb attacks in Volgograd and has threatened to disrupt the upcoming Sochi Olympics.

So as the regime, the monarchical regimes in the Persian Gulf isolate themselves from the international community, from the world body politic, they will find themselves at odds with the great majority of the world.

They are already at odds with the majority of people in the region and their days are numbered, they know it and it is like the dying King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia it is just dying and that is what happening.

They are dying and they know that they are dying.

Press TV: But they do have that confidence that with the US’ backing, they will be able to clinch to their power base, so to speak, and we do know that US’ fifth fleet is stationed in Bahrain and it is now expanding.

So do you think that the US will even allow such a scenario to take place?

Cavell: Well, the United States is interested in maintaining its presence, its military presence, footprint so to speak, in the Middle East but they should not count on the US’ loyalty to their particular regime.

The US for reasons of state will ally with whoever the de facto power is, and the Bahraini people will oust the Khalifa, it is inevitable in my opinion and then the US will have to deal with the new representatives of the Bahraini people.