Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
Brian M Downing The US has begun airstrikes on the Houthis of N Yemen. The effort isn’t likely to be brief as with many retaliatory operations. Trump has a larger agenda in the Middle East and the foreign policy machinery which assesses risks and likelihoods is barely working today. Read More …
Brian M Downing Donald Trump is taking America from constitutional democracy to populist authoritarianism. It’s going well. The chief executive is imposing his will as congress looks on. He returned the portrait of Andrew Jackson to the Oval Office to signal determination to ignore the Court, just as Old Hickory Read More …
Brian M Downing Europe hasn’t been this unstable since the Second World War. That presents dangers and opportunities. Most of Turkey lies in Asia but it’s in NATO (if barely), seeks EU membership, and historically fights Russia. Tsars and general secretaries have long wanted to control the Dardanelles-Bosporous straits. Putin Read More …
Brian M Downing The business world welcomed Trump’s reelection. Lower taxes and fewer regulations would bring remarkable prosperity. It’s basic economics from Adam Smith to Milton Friedman. Trump is banking on prosperity to prevent discontent after he weakens democracy. However, other Trump policies may be harmful to the general public and Read More …
Brian M Downing Donald Trump is effecting a critical change in American life. He’s weakening congressional and judicial roles and concentrating power in the Oval Office – that is, in himself. A new form of government is forming, one based on a wealthy clique, an obedient military and state, and Read More …
Brian M Downing It’s been said countless times that British PM Neville Chamberlain appeased Hitler at the 1938 Munich conference. Hoping to stop war, he let the Reich seize parts of Czechoslovakia. The decision, it’s said, emboldened Hitler. He went on in the next three years to invade all Czechoslovakia, Read More …
Brian M Downing One of government’s most important and sacred duties is protecting the nation from foreign threats. That’s accomplished by a strong military, domestic unity, and reliable allies. The Trump administration strode back into Washington determined to cut government and lower taxes. Tremendous economic growth, we’re told, will ensue Read More …
Brian M Downing January has been the month of pardons. Joe Biden ended his term with a slew of pardons and Donald Trump began his rule with a volley of his own. My source inside the White House says that the president may pardon John Wilkes Booth, the assassin of Read More …
Brian M Downing Twenty years in Afghanistan brought only waste and tragedy. The army and state we built fell apart and the Taliban walked into Kabul. No meaningful inquiry followed, only occasional jabs in last year’s presidential contest. Most of the blows hit Biden but every president since the September Read More …
Brian M Downing The assassination of business leader Brian Thompson was shocking. More shocking is the approval heaped on his suspected murderer – Luigi Mangione. The US has had spates of terrorism led by small groups: the KKK after the Civil War, the anarchists a century ago, and the Weathermen Read More …