US Fleet Commander Met Head of Bahrain Defense Forces Before Crackdown; Opposition Leaders Arrested http://firedoglake.com/2011/03/17/us-fleet-commander-met-head-of-bahrain-defense-forces-before-crackdown-opposition-leaders-arrested/

This claim continues to ring ever-so-hollow given the visit from Sec. Defense Gates just two days beforehand, but there was another visit which has gone unnoticed in the American press that appears to make it even more unlikely. If you follow the Bahrain News Service (a state run operation), you would have read on Monday–the same day the Saudis crossed the causeway–that:Manama – Mar 14 (BNA) — BDF Commander-in-Chief Marshal Shaikh Khalifa bin Ahmed Al-Khalifa has today received US 5th Fleet Commander General Mark Fox, who arrived on visit to Bahrain, and discussed bilateral ties and growing relations, particularly military coordination and defence cooperation. Issues of joint interest also came under the spotlight. BDF General Command Court director Major General Yusuf Ahmed Al Jalahma attended the audience.