( CNN ) -- My family moved to Bahrain in the late eighties when I was only three years old . Like many Western expats who grew up in Bahrain , I was fairly insulated from local politics . None of my friends or their parents talked politics , and most Western expatriates like myself lived in safe , walled compounds , segregated and separate from Bahrain 's villages . Read more : Bahrain enacts stiff laws against 'terrorism ' before opposition protests . Even during the 1990s intifada in Bahrain , I do not remember witnessing much trouble . I heard the odd skirmish , and the occasional siren , but as a child you tend to think that the police are the good guys and anyone giving them trouble are `` the bad guys . '' Sometimes people would discuss `` trouble in the villages , '' but other than that , my ignorance of the situation was the result of youthful indifference cultivated by an informal apartheid . Fast forward to 2013 , and my youthful ignorance serves as a useful metaphor for the alarming extent of apparent Western indifference to the ongoing political crisis in Bahrain . Zakaria : Bahrain will pay heavy price for crackdown . Despite a lack of media coverage , state sponsored repression has been going on for the past two years . Skirmishes in villages between groups of youths and the riot police occur almost daily , and while the former burn tires and throw Molotov cocktails , the latter fumigate the villages with tear gas , a tactic so virulent that one NGO accused the Bahrain authorities of `` weaponizing toxic chemical agents . '' The skirmishes in the villages are symptomatic of over two years of repression by the Bahraini authorities . Peaceful demands for political reform put forward by thousands of Bahrainis in early 2011 have been ignored , and legitimate attempts to protest have been brutally repressed . Renewed calls for demonstrations on August 14 have prompted the government to initiate a fresh swathe of repressive measures . Bahrain 's opposition-less parliament recently passed reactionary laws banning peaceful gatherings in Bahrain 's capital city and checkpoints , roadblocks and barbed wire fences have been erected around villages to stop people getting to protests . Keen to censor any criticism , the Bahraini authorities have also arrested a number of activists and journalists , while some foreign observers have been denied entry . A lawyer representing a citizen journalist was even arrested for tweeting about the fact his client was tortured by police -- as if the message was not clear enough . The prime minister declared that Bahrain would `` burn to a cinder all those who seek to tamper with its security and stability , '' It is unlikely that these `` Tamorrod '' protests will amount to anything , especially as the Bahraini authorities have spent the past two years breaking the back of the opposition movement . In 2011 , thousands were arrested , tens killed , and dozens tortured . Doctors who bore witness to the gross excesses of the security forces were tortured and imprisoned on spurious charges . Leaders of several political societies were arrested , tortured , and put in jail , where they still remain . Thousands were fired from their jobs for participating in legal strikes . The state media spewed out sectarian hatred , and Sunni and secular support for the populist movement was tempered by government propaganda that claimed , despite there being no evidence , that the pro-democracy movement was an Iranian-backed attempt to install a Shia theocratic state . The government also demolished a number of Shia religious structures in order to anger Shia protesters and encourage them to become violent , and thus lessen moderate support for the movement . In an attempt to reduce popular sympathy for the pro-democracy movement , the government portrayed the movement as xenophobic and intolerant by exaggerating protesters ' attacks on expats . A government spokesman implied that 12 expats had been killed by protesters in 2011 . In actual fact , two expats were killed by civilians , while one was shot by the Bahrain Defence Force . Expats who publicly express sympathy for the opposition risk deportation . Recently an American teacher was kicked out of Bahrain for writing articles critical of the government . Between the blatant repression of 2011 and the recent reactionary measures ahead of August 14 , there has also been an insidious attack on freedom of expression and due process in Bahrain . Insulting the King on Twitter or `` inciting hatred '' against the security forces will land you in jail , while activists are spending months in detention before trial -- often without access to a lawyer . Torture and forced confessions are reportedly still ongoing , and no one has been held accountable for any of the alleged state crimes perpetrated over the past two years . On the contrary , Bahrain 's prime minister was recently filmed thanking a suspected torturer for his services and promising his supporters impunity . The prospects for Bahrain 's pro-democracy movement are bleak , especially without Western support . Obama 's recent call for meaningful reform in Bahrain was disconcertingly vague , and in his September 2012 address to the U.N. , Obama failed to mention Bahrain despite expressing the need to support freedom elsewhere in the Arab world . The unrest in Bahrain has also provided many commercial opportunities for Western companies and individuals . U.S. arms sales to Bahrain since the year 2000 have totalled $ 1.4 billion , and the Bahraini government have paid more than $ 32 million to Washington and London-based public relations companies to help whitewash human rights abuses . In 2011 , the Bahraini authorities used U.S.-made tear gas on protesters , and ex-Miami police chief John Timoney went to Bahrain to help `` reform '' the police . Some of the Bahraini police have even received training from the U.S. military . The current U.S. position can be explained by the fact the Bahraini government allows the U.S. to keep a naval base on the island -- and as long as U.S.-Iranian tensions continue , Bahrain 's strategic value will remain high . Unfortunately for Bahrain 's pro-democracy movement , the U.S. are not going to risk upsetting the Bahraini government by pressuring for too much `` meaningful '' political reform . This continued U.S. support for a brutal regime is leading to increased resentment towards the American government by many Bahrainis , who feel let down by a nation that claims to support those who aspire to greater freedom , democracy , and liberty . The opinions expressed in this commentary are solely those of Marc Owen Jones .
State sponsored repression has been going on for the past two years , Marc Owen Jones writes . The prospects for pro-democracy movement are bleak , especially without Western support , he says . Jones : Extent of Western indifference to ongoing political crisis in Bahrain is alarming .