Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
Brian M Downing No sooner had Assad’s plane left Syrian airspace when talk of regime change in Iran intensified. The notion has been around for decades. It’s embedded in political parties, think tanks, media, and lobbies. Advocates find steady work. They read each other’s reports and attend each other’s conferences. Read More …
Brian M Downing In October of last year, Hamas attacked Israel. Iran planned the surprising and murderous sortie and soon enough its Hisbollah and Houthi allies entered the fray. The aim was to avenge Israeli assassinations and acts of sabotage but more importantly to ensnarl its enemy in harsh urban Read More …
Brian M Downing Assad’s rule is over. Russia couldn’t come to his aid, Iran wouldn’t act on its own, and Hisbollah had been whittled down and decapitated. His troops looked around, saw no help, and called it quits. His family’s reign lasted 53 years. Once foreign aid vanished, it fell Read More …
Brian M Downing An excerpt from a 2014 article http://www.downingreports.com/cohesion-and-disintegration-in-iraqs-armies/ The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria has demonstrated remarkable fighting ability in both Syria and Iraq. Despite its small size – no more than 18,000 – it put the better equipped and much larger Iraqi military into flight in Read More …
Brian M Downing A week ago, Putin’s fortunes were promising. Events in Syria have complicated things. Turkey’s proxy offensive has turned stalemate into rout and Russia faces manpower troubles in its far-flung system. Ten years ago, Assad’s hold seemed to be slipping away. Rebel armies, backed by Gulf princes, Turkey, Read More …
Brian M Downing Ukrainian intelligence has been warning that N Korean troops are training in the Russian Far East for deployment in Ukraine. American intelligence now believes that some 10,000 N Korean soldiers, in Russian uniforms, are heading into the war. Moscow will likely be giving Pyongyang missile and nuclear Read More …
Brian M Downing The policy of Russia is changeless. Its methods, its tactics, its maneuvers may change, but the polar star of its policy, world domination, is a fixed star. – Karl Marx The war on Ukraine didn’t stem from NATO expansion. It was the result of Putin’s fixation on Read More …
Brian M Downing The Russian invasion of Ukraine is one of the clearest cases aggression since the Third Reich attacked Poland. Nonetheless, or predictably, responsibility is debated, with some asserting that NATO expansion to the east is to blame. This of course is the Kremlin’s position. It’s been picked up Read More …
Brian M Downing Soldiers take an oath to defend the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic. For most Americans, oaths are hollow formalities but our military people, especially senior officers, see them as sacred rites. The words became incandescent from sacrifices at Valley Forge and Gettysburg, Belleau Wood and Normandy, Read More …
Brian M Downing Russia’s drive on Kharkiv earlier this year showed early promise but came to a halt. As with previous attempts to regain the initiative, around Bakhmut for example, it took little ground and incurred tens of thousands of casualties. This week Ukraine crossed into Kursk, a Russian province Read More …