Bahrain GP situation: postponed, reinstated, cancelled

[ringo]

The FiA should know better than trying to stage a race in a country that effectively is a bloody murderous dictatorship.

I am sure more minorities get killed in the US from police brutality.
I can browse youtube and put up some videos, but you know already. These people aren't revolutionaries or anything and they still get killed.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BgQl7D7DXAo[/youtube]
this is the US. No government protest or anything, just a handicapped black guy sitting in a wheel chair; or that's what Ali G says.

Bahrain is not Europe. When people protest they don't walk with placcards and chain themselves to gates and sing coombayah.
They use ak47s, stones, and explosives to protest. The only defense the police have is to shoot anything that run towards them chanting last prayers, or holding an Ak 47.

It's not Europe white blue. You can't apply certain rules to these places.

In my country, there is no such thing as rubber bullets or sheilds. You want to protest, you do so peacefully without wielding any guns or explosives. Try anything stupid and you get tear gassed then shot.

I'll go with Buemi's uncle. Just a small protest being overblown. It's happened in my country last year, and i know what it feels like to be misrepresented by the CNN and BBC.

[Giblet]

When people protest they don't walk with placcards and chain themselves to gates and sing coombayah.
They use ak47s, stones, and explosives to protest. The only defense the police have is to shoot anything that run towards them chanting last prayers, or holding an Ak 47.

I think this shows some pretty deep misunderstandings and ignorance of the Arab Emirates. This is not a country where Jeeps full of people firing machine guns into the air is common place. The protesters were unarmed, peaceful, and carrying nothing but flags.

[myurr]

When people protest they don't walk with placcards and chain themselves to gates and sing coombayah.
They use ak47s, stones, and explosives to protest. The only defense the police have is to shoot anything that run towards them chanting last prayers, or holding an Ak 47.

I think this shows some pretty deep misunderstandings and ignorance of the Arab Emirates. This is not a country where Jeeps full of people firing machine guns into the air is common place. The protesters were unarmed, peaceful, and carrying nothing but flags.

That is not 100% true. Whilst the majority of protesters were unarmed, a minority were carrying guns and were violent (well as reported by some media outlets).

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

I think we need to isolate this before we try and solve the ills of the world.

This is about Bahrain, and what happened there. We should not look at India, China or other countries as each deserve to be looked at in their own right rather than turn it into a big cock fight.

We are all agreed what happened there was reprehensible. We are all pretty surprised this is going ahead now too.

Should Formula 1 be in Bahrain in 2011? The unequivocal JohnsonsEvilTwin opinion is that NO, F1 really should not be there in a country still dealing with turmoil and unrest. That is for what it's worth of course....

[axle]

Ignoring the morals for a moment - the actual issue for F1 is money.
The FIA and FOM agree to go so they arn't liable to the Bahrain organisers for loss of income/costs.

The FIA/FOM don't mind if the teams don't turn up, as they don't lose out financially that way.

Going back to the morality issue, F1/Soccer/Tennis etc should not go somewhere if it's presence is likely to be a catalyst for violence and suffering. If they go, there will be many attempts by local protesters to stop it. A global sport with millions of $£€ on the line for the sponsors etc should not put it's head in the lions mouth so quickly.

[Giblet]

The question that will matter most I think what the GPDA decides. No drivers, no race.

Will the race go ahead? What do you think? It really comes down the drivers.

I wonder how the concerns of the drivers will be appeased. Will GPDA divide? Rubens can afford to miss a GP as his career is winding down. Other drivers that need to prove themselves still would hate the opportunity of missing a grand prix, especially one like Bahrain where many junior drivers have raced and/or tested in years past.

[WhiteBlue]

The FiA should know better than trying to stage a race in a country that effectively is a bloody murderous dictatorship.

Bahrain is not Europe. When people protest they don't walk with placcards and chain themselves to gates and sing coombayah.
They use ak47s, stones, and explosives to protest. The only defense the police have is to shoot anything that run towards them chanting last prayers, or holding an Ak 47.

You are obviously ignorant of the circumstances of the Bahrain movement and the suppression by the military. The people of Bahrain have been entirely peaceful without weapons and explosives. It was quite different to ll other near Eastern movements.

All the violence came entirely from the ruling royal family, the Saudi military forces and the foreign police and secret agents they brought into the country in spring.

You would know this if you had followed the international reporting on CNN, BBC and other services.

[myurr]

WhiteBlue, you honestly consider CNN or the BBC to be unbiased accurate news reporting organisations without their own agendas? The BBC, for instance, have a very left wing outlook on the world, are widely acknowledged in the UK as being sensationalist and promoting their own political agenda, and have a history of taking a very pro-islamist anti-Israel and Arab outlook on events. There's even a website dedicated to pointing out their bias! http://biased-bbc.blogspot.com/

This would be the same BBC that widely reported massive devastation and destruction during the 2008/9 Israeli invasion of Gaza, with reporters unquestioningly repeating Hamas propaganda, and claiming that their reporters on the ground had seen hundreds of civilians killed by the Israeli forces and that much of the region had been destroyed. Later they were forced to admit that many of the civilian bodies had been taken there from the morgue and placed in the damaged buildings by Hamas, and that many of the photos had been staged by Hamas (a few of the photos were of the same government official in different locations carrying the same dead child out of different destroyed buildings for example). Aerial maps also showed that the damage only affected a few buildings within a couple of blocks, so it was pretty localised.

I know you're not from the UK, but as a UK resident I can safely say that the BBC is not free from bias and inaccurate reporting.

[strad]

Bad pick Ringo...While shìt does happen, In the vid you posted, the guy had a knife,,had threatened officers with it and they thought he could walk and was faking.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Myurr

You are spot on in using the BBC's bias towards Palestinian cause. I have many Jewish friends who ask me what the UK view on the matter is, and it is tainted by the BBC's portrayal of the palestinians as saints and the Israelis as warmongers.

Unbiased they are not.

However, they are the most unbiased news agency I can think of outside of Reuters(who also report on behalf of the Beeb on occasion).

The Media game is now the game of hearts and minds, and inside this game resides the influence of powerful heads of state. It could even be an tool for creating instability in other countries, the Arab Spring certainly had some Media fueling its drive across North Africa and the peninsula.

[PlatinumZealot]

OK guys lemme ask ONE QUESTION.

what do you think of Bahrain 2012 or 2013 what is the difference?

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

If(when) the race takes place in 2012, and 2013 for that matter, it really should be raced under the premise of unity and peace.

Something symbolic that has deep resonance with both factions. I would liken it to a big sporting event that happened in my home country South Africa.
The Rugby World Cup of 1995 brought my country closer even though it was a predominantly white sport. It was palyed for all of South Africa and was a triumph of sport over politics.

I can only hope Bahrain achieves 1/10th of that tidal wave of emotion.

[andrew]

The FiA should know better than trying to stage a race in a country that effectively is a bloody murderous dictatorship.

Bahrain is not Europe. When people protest they don't walk with placcards and chain themselves to gates and sing coombayah.
They use ak47s, stones, and explosives to protest. The only defense the police have is to shoot anything that run towards them chanting last prayers, or holding an Ak 47.

You are obviously ignorant of the circumstances of the Bahrain movement and the suppression by the military. The people of Bahrain have been entirely peaceful without weapons and explosives. It was quite different to ll other near Eastern movements.

All the violence came entirely from the ruling royal family, the Saudi military forces and the foreign police and secret agents they brought into the country in spring.

You would know this if you had followed the international reporting on CNN, BBC and other services.

Have you been to Bahrain? I suspect not.

Whilst I have not seen any of the CNN coverage and as such cannot comment, I have seen plenty of the BBC coverage on this and it comes accross as very one sided. The BBC paints a picture of it being the gvernment had a meeting ne day and decided to kill a few protestors for sh*ts and giggles. This may well be the actual truth but it is impossible to say.

Before any conlusion can be reached by anyone on the outside, the voices of both sides (i.e. the protestors and the government) need to be fairly heard. To my mind this has not happened, on the BBC at least.

Myurr

You are spot on in using the BBC's bias towards Palestinian cause. I have many Jewish friends who ask me what the UK view on the matter is, and it is tainted by the BBC's portrayal of the palestinians as saints and the Israelis as warmongers.

Unbiased they are not.....

Really? I always took the bias to be the other way round with the Palestinians being portrayed as the terrorists (all they want is their land back, haredly an unreasonable request). One side is guilty of illegal land grabbing, but neither side started it. If my history is correct you can thank the UK and the US for this mess.

Either way, you are correct about the BBC being biased. Channel 4 is pretty good at being unbiased and giving both sides a fair hearing and allow the view to arrive at thier own conclusion.

OK guys lemme ask ONE QUESTION.

what do you think of Bahrain 2012 or 2013 what is the difference?

The difference is that if the country remains peaceful, most people will forget about the troubles and will be back to supporting the race.

[ringo]

The FiA should know better than trying to stage a race in a country that effectively is a bloody murderous dictatorship.

Bahrain is not Europe. When people protest they don't walk with placcards and chain themselves to gates and sing coombayah.
They use ak47s, stones, and explosives to protest. The only defense the police have is to shoot anything that run towards them chanting last prayers, or holding an Ak 47.

You are obviously ignorant of the circumstances of the Bahrain movement and the suppression by the military. The people of Bahrain have been entirely peaceful without weapons and explosives. It was quite different to ll other near Eastern movements.

All the violence came entirely from the ruling royal family, the Saudi military forces and the foreign police and secret agents they brought into the country in spring.

You would know this if you had followed the international reporting on CNN, BBC and other services.

You are ignorant to what happens outside the first world.

CNN and BBC are just like any other TV channel, it needs ratings and panders to politics. They can turn a corner store robbery into nationwide unrest.

Some of those protesters are gun men and extremists, simple.
As i said, it is not Europe, your policing ethics don't apply there.

[Giblet]

When Bahrain's contract is up, if there is a viable alternative that can:

A - Have actual people from the host country come to the race
B - Behave in a such a way to attract foreigners to watch, not scare them away
C - Refrain from murdering it's citizens

.. then that alternative will look quite promising.