SPY EYES

Despite oceans of oil beneath it's sands, there is not a single river or lake in Saudi Arabia! Water is the most scarce commodity in that rich desert country. Therefore, Saudi leaders embarked on the largest water desalination program in human history. Saudi Arabia produce 37% of the global output of desalinated water in order to meet the needs of it's 28 million citizens and residents.

The security of the water desalination plants in Saudi Arabia is the "National Security Priority Number 1" and any threat to such strategic resource will be met with swift retaliation.

This is the equation which the Iranian backed opposition in Bahrain - and the international media - totally ignored when the uprising began in Bahrain.

As we have illustrated in our photo album presentation "Why Saudi sent troops into Bahrain", the proximity of Bahrain to Saudi's largest desalination plants in the Eastern province put them within range of Iranian short range missiles if they were placed on that island.

Given Bahraini opposition's links to Iran - see photo albums for more info - and given Iran's history in placing thousands of short range missiles in other countries, Lebanon is a good example, all of these facts compelled Saudi Arabia into protecting it's strategic national interest in preventing Bahrain from becoming an Iranian Satellite state.

When the Soviet Union attempted to place MRBM missiles in Cuba in 1962 - which led to what later became known as the "Cuban Missile Crisis" - the United States threatened to invade Cuba and the world was so close to a global nuclear annihilation, until the Soviets blinked first and withdrew their missiles from Cuba.

History has taught us that appeasement of aggressive tyrants only encourages them to commit further aggression, the Saudis did the right thing by standing up to Iran and preventing the ideologically driven Ayatollahs from gaining a strategic foothold in Bahrain to threaten and blackmail Saudi's strategic water security.

What the opposition in Bahrain - and the international media - need to take into account if and when protests start again after lifting of emergency law in Bahrain this evening, is that Bahrain is part of a bigger equation, and it cannot be viewed as an isolated number.

We at the BAMW would like to extend an honest advice to the opposition in Bahrain and to the international media to go back to school and learn maths .. It will help them analyse accurately the real reasons behind the steps taken by the GCC countries to safeguard their strategic national security.