The tiny Gulf sheikhdom of Bahrain promised an even harsher crackdown on its internal oppoenents on the same day a premier international human rights organization decried the country’s imprisonment of “prisoners of conscience.” The latest episodes — emblematic of a continuing disconnect between the country’s Sunni leadership and the Shiite majority — mark a potential escalation between the government and protesters who rose up last February.

A close U.S. ally that hosts the Navy’s Fifth Fleet, Bahrain promised reforms after an independent commission last fall cited problems with the response to demonstrations. No tangible steps toward reforms, though, have been initiated. Talks between the government and the opposition failed to get underway, and this February, tens of thousands of demonstrators revived on-going robust protests. Now, the government appears to have had enough. A Bahraini government spokesman, Sheikh Abdulaziz bin Mubarak Al Khalifa, told the news agency Reuters:

Because of the escalation in violence, we are looking into the perpetrators and people who use print, broadcast and social media to encourage illegal protest and violence around the country.

If applying the law means tougher action, then so be it.

Al Khalifa’s accusations against protesters must resonate with human rights activist Nabeel Rajab, the head of the Bahrain Center for Human Rights. While few credible reports about the protests cite widespread violence against the government, Rajab’s case offers a window into other charges Al Khalifa levels against the movement. Rajab was already facing charges of participating in an “illegal” demonstration — meaning any demonstration at all in Bahrain — and was on Saturday arrested by authorities at the door of his airplane as he returned from foreign travel.

The new charges against Rajab? An active user of the social media platform with almost 150,000 followers, Rajab was arrested for sending “insulting tweets” about the government.

Today, Amnesty International declared Rajab a “prisoner of conscience.” Sanjeev Bery, Amnesty International USA’s Middle East & North Africa advocacy director, said:

It is utterly ridiculous that the Bahraini government would arrest human rights advocate Nabeel Rajab for sending tweets. Instead of attempting to silence critics, the Bahraini government needs to start listening to what they have to say about free speech and freedom of expression. Rajab is a prisoner of conscience being held solely for expressing his views. He must be released immediately.

The Bahrain Center for Human Rights itself warns that another activist — Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja — is in dire straits due to a two-month old hunger strike against his detention. Amnesty chimed in on that case, which involves another 20 activists, as well today, noting: “Amnesty International considers all those currently detained in the case as prisoners of conscience and is calling for their immediate and unconditional release.”

There were 6,350 reported cases of sexual assault in the military last year, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin E. Dempsey. While that number may sound staggering, it’s just a fraction of the predicted number of sexual assaults that went unreported.

Yesterday, the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the commandant of the Coast Guard released a letter with new instructions for how to deal with sexual assault among troops, outlining the seriousness of the problem. The letter follows a promise from Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that the military would change its reporting structure and handling of sexual assault cases.

In the newly-released instructions, titled, the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program (SAPR), stress the importance of reducing the number of cases of rape and sexual abuse. They establish five new “Lines of Effort” in dealing with assault: “Prevention, Investigation, Accountability, Advocacy and Assessment,” and establish how members of the military can play a role in each of these lines of effort.

The instructions also offer up a new definition of sexual assault, striking the usual sterile military language of “military sexual trauma,” which puts the onus on the victim, not the perpetrator. The instructions clarify the new definition:

In 2007, Congress amended the UCMJ to address a wide range of sexual assault offenses under a single article, Article 120, which has since been amended again and will take effect on June 28, 2012. These amendments reorganize, revise and simplify the Article into four distinct offenses: Rape, Sexual Assault, Aggravated Sexual Contact and Abusive Sexual Contact. These four distinct offenses, when coupled with Forcible Sodomy (Article 125, UCMJ) and Attempts to commit these offenses (Article 80, UCMJ), constitutes the category of sexual assault crimes within DoD’s SAPR Program.

The American Civil Liberties Union has requested more information through the Freedom of Information Act on the number of incidents that don’t make it into official reports. A judge has ruled that the military must hand over that information by May 15.

Yesterday, House Republicans moved legislation forward aimed at preventing any reductions in military spending, even if that means cutting much needed programs for the nation’s poorest. The House Armed Services Committee’s bill provides $554 billion for the Pentagon — $29 billion more than DOD had requested — while the GOP-led Budget Committee packaged six bills that would “slice $261 billion from food stamps, Medicaid, social services and other programs for struggling Americans.”

Last night on Fox News, House Majoriy Whip Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) claimed that the Republicans were just trimming the fat from the budget and getting rid of wasteful spending:

VAN SUSTEREN: But these cuts — I mean, these cuts — I mean, some of the cuts, I mean, just — you know, there are — there’s money sitting in our government. There’s some fat that we can.. some of these cuts. I mean — the fat is incredible!

MCCARTHY: Then you would support what we’re doing. That’s we’re doing committee by committee!

Watch the clip:

So what do McCarthy and the GOP consider budget fat? The New York Times today offered some details:

The Congressional Budget Office estimated that the bill would push 1.8 million people off food stamps and could cost 280,000 children their school lunch subsidies and 300,000 children their health insurance coverage through the federal and state Children’s Health Insurance Program. Elimination of the social services block grant to state and local governments would hit child abuse prevention programs, Meals on Wheels and child care.

A further 23 million would be affected by the repeal of the Social Services Block Grant, which helps fund child care and disability assistance to low-income Americans.

In fact, eliminating the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans would more than provide the savings the Republicans are seeking, twice over.

But not only are House Republicans protecting “largely useless” weapons systems and programs by cutting needed social services, their motivation stems from trying to prevent military spending cuts of nearly $500 billion over ten years because of the Budget Control Act’s sequestration trigger. Luckily for the GOP, the Center for American Progress has found more than $500 billion in Pentagon cuts — i.e. the real budget fat — that could be implemented over the next decade while still maintaining our vast military superiority.

While GOP plan has no chance of passing the Democratic-controlled Senate, the AP noted yesterday that it is “likely just a sample of what’s in store next year from Republicans if Mitt Romney wins the White House and the GOP takes back the Senate.”