Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
Brian M Downing Since its remarkable offensive of 2014, ISIL has been steadily worn down by Kurdish and Arab forces in Syria and by special forces and militias in Iraq. Both campaigns relied heavily on American support. ISIL retains positions in eastern Syria and western Iraq and was able to Read More …
Brian M Downing This week the US opened its embassy in Jerusalem, moving it from Tel Aviv as President Trump promised. The relocation signaled the president’s disinterest in a two-state solution and support for the Israeli Right’s assimilation of the West Bank. Along the Gaza Strip in the west, Palestinian Read More …
Brian M Downing Their moral passion spent most of its force in self-accusing, self-denial and self-scourging. They began by howling their sins from the mourners’ bench; they came to their end, many of them, in the supreme immolation of battle. – HL Mencken While thinking (more) about Terry Jones’s efforts Read More …
Brian M Downing Few people had heard of the Tuareg before the wars in Libya and Mali. The Kurds were better known but the fighting in Iraq and Syria brought them to prominence. The Uighurs, a Muslim Turkic people, will make themselves better known in coming decades. Chinese policies and Read More …
ISIL expanded suddenly over the last year and a half, from half-forgotten bombing outfit in western Iraq to regional danger. It has won the allegiance of unaffiliated Islamist groups as well as those formerly bound to al Qaeda. Attention is on North Africa and the Middle East, but conditions conducive to Read More …
Brian M Downing In June of 2014, well equipped Iraqi troops, trained by the US and other powers, collapsed before a smaller and less well equipped force led by men who had little military experience until they plunged into wars in Iraq and Syria. Shadows of doubt have been cast Read More …
Brian M Downing Something’s developing in Central Asia. There, amid expansive steppes and imposing mountains, numerous militant Islamist groups are planning, training, and coalescing. They are thriving amid the three great powers they oppose and plan to fight – the US, Russia, and China. The region has been Islamic for centuries, but Read More …