OPINION:
Maybe S. Rob Sobhani is right that no world leader “will come close to being a truer partner of Washington than King Hamad” — if being a true partner means heading a regime that respects neither human rights nor the rule of law (“Trump’s Bahrain Moment,” Web, Dec. 11). Hamad’s government expels U.S. diplomats who meet the with country’s peaceful opposition, refuses to allow members of Congress into the country, vilifies Washington’s ambassador to Manama, cozies up to Russian President Vladimir Putin and stokes regional sectarian tension that threatens U.S. assets, including the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet.
If this is what passes for the behavior of a “reliable and trustworthy” ally (and not that of a shaky, erratic despot), American foreign policy is in far more desperate danger than we ever imagined.
BRIAN DOOLEY
Director, Human Rights Defenders
Human Rights First
Washington
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