Tanks roll: State of emergency declared in Bahrain

Hours later, tanks rumbled into Manama as Apache helicopters flew overhead. Military vehicles and police blocked roads, and some areas were cordoned off with barbed wire. In what longtime observers said was turning into an unusually severe crackdown here, the Bahraini national security council met and declared a state of emergency.

The authorities declared the emergency “just to clear them, to force them to go back to their houses,” a Bahraini government official said, referring to the protesters. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter…

“The Bahrain authorities have taken the tough option. It might also prove the foolish option,” said Simon Henderson, a Persian Gulf specialist at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy.