Ethan Bronner in Bahrain: he thinks Shi`ites there constitute a separate ethnicity

Why is Ethan Bronner reporting from Bahrain? What does he know about Bahrain or the Arab world? Is his specialty not serving Israeli military and propaganda interests?  And notice how his take serves the Saudi-Israeli alliance and notice that he thinks that Shi`ites in Bahrain forms a separate ethnicity:  "This means that the dispute is over ethnicity and class as well as over governance, but also that outside forces have a keen interest. Iran, the center of Shiism, and which sometimes refers to Bahrain as one of its provinces, supports the majority population here. It has condemned the actions of the king, and labeled the Saudi military intervention an occupation. Saudi Arabia, which has a Shiite minority of its own to contend with, firmly backs the government and fears growing Iranian influence."