had decided to go into another country because it felt it was the right thing to do, what would the united states be saying? i know it s a hypothetical, but this appears to be pretty serious. well, again, i mean, i think you have to understand what we ve seen the reports that you re talking about. this is not an invasion of a country. we urge the government of bahrain, as we have repeatedly, as well as other gcc countries to exercise restraint. due to the ongoing unrest in bahrain, the u.s. state department said this morning that american citizens should defer travel to bahrain and suggested that americans there should leave. taking another step toward an expected run for the 2012 republican presidential nomination, mississippi governor hailey barbour took his economic message on the road yesterday, addressing the chicagoland chamber of commerce in president obama s own hometown. barbour blamed the president s economic policies for failing to revive the economy.
protesters? from what we can tell and as you know journalists are banned and we re relying on reports from human rights watch and other observers, there has been less violence, very little so far in tripoli. in benghazi and coastal areas we re very concerned about error of security forces firing on peaceful protests. let me ask you about bahrain. we look at some of the scenes out of that country just over the causeway from saudi arabia. also where the u.s. fifth fleet sits. the main center square and the capital, security forces have withdrawn from there. the united states has to be exerting a certain amount of influence to get the government there to step back and step away from a violent crackdown. we ve been very clear with our partners in bahrain that they taught exercise restraint, that there s no place for violence against peaceful protesters there or anywhere else and we ve condemned that violence. we had outreach from president obama, national security
moammar al gadhafi killing protesters? from what we can tell and as you know journalists are banned and we re relying on reports from human rights watch and other observers, there has been less violence, very little so far in tripoli. in benghazi and coastal areas we re very concerned about error of security forces firing on peaceful protests. let me ask you about bahrain. we look at some of the scenes out of that country just over the causeway from saudi arabia. also where the u.s. fifth fleet sits. the main center square and the capital, security forces have withdrawn from there. the united states has to be exerting a certain amount of influence to get the government there to step back and step away from a violent crackdown. we ve been very clear with our partners in bahrain that they taught exercise restraint, that there s no place for violence against peaceful protesters there or anywhere else and we ve condemned that violence. we had outreach from president
particularly as they unfold in bahrain. there are many egyptian think tanks in bahrain and we re told the interior minister is telling people to stay off the streets of the capitol, the military says that most of the capitol of manama is now under control but the situation remains very volatile. in a few hours time the foreign ministers from all the gulf arab states are expected to meet in bahrain to discuss the situation, u.s. is urging the government there to exercise restraint. as you mentioned just a moment ago, martha, there was some very dramatic moments this morning where the military moved in on an encampment of demonstrators, three people were killed, possibly as many as four, more than 200 people were injured, there are still dozens of people missing, the police fired tear gas, rubble bubets, and at this hour, we are told that the situation has improved somewhat, but remains extremely, extremely tense. many egyptians, again,
concern in military circles. armored vehicles through streets. top military officials were huddled in, of all places, the pentagon. it would be hard to ignore the fact this was going on, and it wasn t ignored. the high ranking officers cut short meetings with pentagon officials to rush back to egypt, but not before they urged them to handle protesters peacefully. it s key to exercise restraint, both on our part and the part of the egyptian military. the u.s. has leverage with its ally. every other year, up to 10,000 american troops train with rejipgs soldier egyptian soldiers, the largest in the region. they give $1 billion.