Washington calls for political talks in Bahrain

Once again, the Obama administration has urged the ruling family of Bahrain to hold dialogues with opposition leaders. US State Secretary Hillary Clinton is on record as describing the deployment of Saudi-led foreign troops to Bahrain to quell domestic unrest as a "wrong" move. It seems that, with the 'solidarity' of Saudi Arabia and its global Sunni alliance, Bahrain's ruling family now feels emboldened enough to defy America and confront Iran simultaneously for its own regime survival. Saudi Arabia' s ruling family, while still an American ally vis-a-vis Iran and 'radical' Islamism, is already known to be unhappy with America's liberal attitude or position on public protests as well as its inability or unwillingness to protect Mubarak during the recent upheaval in Egypt.