From Zero Hedge:
Those seeking the spark that will set off the next middle east conflagration can finally rest easy. Reuters reports that Shi’ite-ruled Iran sent a flotilla to Bahrain on Monday to show solidarity with mainly Shi’ite Muslim protesters, escalating tensions with the island kingdom that is home to the U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet. As a reminder, Barhain is the nation that imposed a total and complete media blackout, going so far as to expel a Reuters correspondent, while most likely continuing its atrocities against protesting Shi’ites, which has raised the specter of a possible war erupting on the tiny island home, so critical to the US navy, and situated only 60 miles away from the world’s largest Gwahar oil field…
And now you know why everyone wants to keep a lid on this – why no one seems to be really reporting on it. We’ve got pretty good coverage of Libya; coverage of Syria is regular; even Yemen gets a lot of news….but not so much about Bahrain…because there the trouble is not just about having a ruling class tossed out, but having an Iranian-backed ruling class move in…and right on the border with Saudi Arabia…and right next to some of Saudi Arabia’s biggest oil fields, which seem to be in a heavily Shiite area of the country.
This could get very dicey…and the bad news is that Obama will handling whatever American response might prove necessary.