Director of Christians against Nato aggression, William Spring analyzed the regional situation in an interview with IRNA, highlighting the major Western role in the Saudi invasion to Bahrain and the case in Syria.
Director of Christians against Nato aggression (CANAUK) William Spring said that US Defense Minister Robert Gates had pressured the Bahraini ruling family to go along with the Saudi invasion, for the public movement in Bahrain was regarded in the first period as part of the Arab Spring.
In an interview with the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Spring indicated that the protest has been “interpreted as threat, an attack on vital US strategic interests, as Bahrain is headquarters of the US Fifth Fleet”, pointing out that before the US intervention and the Saudi invasion “the protesters were divided, and not all of them wanted to get rid of The Bahrain Monarchy, what some wanted was a constitutional arrangement.”
Regarding the situation in Libya, Spring said it was “evident that the western powers have sought to take over and control the insurrectionary movements in Libya for their own purposes… but NATO has now got the worst of all worlds: belligerents in the war against Gadaffi, they aren't willing to do what it takes (mass invasion of the country by ground troops) to overthrow him decisively - so the regime is kept in power, a civil war maintained and protracted.”
On the Syrian level, the peace activist told IRNA that “this is part of the regional conflict and it is hard to avoid the conclusion that Israel, if not exactly originating the protests, is influencing them in some way… as it desperately wants to end President Bashar Al Assad’s regime”.
Spring pointed out that the Syrian situation differs from that of Egypt, as “the Coptic Christians in Egypt welcomed the revolution against former president Hosni Mubarak, but in Syria the Church has spoken out in favor of Assad … who is willing to enter into dialogue, but not with parties aiming to disrupt the state in the interests of Israel, or of parties seeking only violent solutions”.
