Bahrain Propaganda 101: How the Gulf Daily News "Stitched Up" the US Ambassador

"Stitch up" (v.) --- Placing someone in a position in which he/she will be wrongly blamed for something, or of manipulating a situation to one’s advantage

We noted on Sunday how the regime-linked Gulf Daily News used an interview with US Ambassador Thomas Krajeski to build up the narrative of the "Iran threat" to the Kingdom.

That, however, is only part of the story. The newspaper used Krajeski to put out no less than five articles setting out its narrative:

US Ambassador to Bahrain Thomas Krajeski has spoken out against street violence that he says threatens prospects for dialogue between Bahrain's government and opposition groups....US Ambassador Thomas Krajeski said America had a strategic vision for the region, which included the proposed missile defence shield to defend Gulf countries against threats - including Iran....He welcomed proposals for a Gulf union and said this would benefit individual countries in several areas such as economic policies, commercial licensing, customs and taxation --- as well as security....CLAIMS that the US assured jailed opposition activist Abdulhadi Al Khawaja that it supported opposition protests last year have been denied by American Ambassador Thomas Krajeski....US Ambassador Thomas Krajeski has issued a stark call to Syrian President Bashar Al Assad to step down and leave the country.

There is no transcript of the interview to test these summaries, but clues that the Gulf Daily News put words in Krajeski's mouth comes from Al Watan, to whom the US Ambassador also gave an interview. That site does publish its record of the discussion, and in it Krajeski criticises not only the violence of the protesters but also over-reaction from the security forces. He also repeats Washington's call for the regime to implement reforms.

Then there is Krajeski's supposed implication of Iranian involvement in Bahrain's affairs. He told Al Watan, "So far, I'm not convinced that Iran is interfering in the internal affairs of the GCC countries."

Given this, how did the US Ambassador allow himself to be manipulated by the Gulf Daily News?

The answer probably lies in last week's regime upset that Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner had expressed Washington's "deep disappointment" at the renewed, if reduced, sentences on 11 medics last week. Some regime figures, including the Minister of Defense, have accused the US of trying to undermine the monarchy, and Posner's statemet led to headlines like "US Double Standards in Human Rights Criteria Are Rejected by the Bahraini Community".

However, the response appears to have only magnified the problem for US officials, in Manama and in Washington. Do they let the Gulf Daily News accounts of Krajeski's interview stand, giving a portrayal of the American position which may be distorted? Or do they try to "correct" and risk further tension with the Bahraini leadership?