Our Freind Bahrain

When I think of Bahrain I think of a modern dynamic Middle Eastern country that supports our efforts against radical Islamofascists. While this might be the case that does not mean we have a Democratic country that grants what we Americans consider basic human rights such as free speech. Bahrain is a constitutional monarchy and Shaikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalifa, the King, has pushed for economic and political reforms. Nevertheless Bahrain is still no America, witnessed by the fact that they have attempted to stifle dissent by blocking several blogs. Chief amongst those is the reformist blog Mahmood's Den. At a time when knowledge of Islam and the countries that comprise the ME are paramount to our own survival the loss of such windows into that region are very troubling. Even more damaging is the loss of Mahmood’s voice to the people of Bahrain. Fortunately we can still get his blog and his countrymen can get it at a mirror site, but one wonders for how long. Go here to sign a petition to get it unblocked.

Update: We got the block removed.