Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
Brian M Downing This week a bomb exploded on a train in St Petersburg, killing eleven people and wounding many more. Initial reports point to a suicide bomber. It’s not clear what his motives were or if he was part of a network. Terrorism has struck Russia often in the Read More …
Behold! God sent me with a sword, just before the Hour, and placed my daily sustenance beneath the shadow of my spear. – Islamic apocrypha Dismissal [of apocalyptic thinking] leaves us deaf to the internal logic of people who believe they must shatter the world to make it whole. – Read More …
Brian M Downing In the past few years, bombings and assassinations have taken place inside Iran that have killed scores of people. These attacks are almost certainly directed by Israeli, Saudi and US intelligence services which are pressing Iran to open its nuclear research facilities to international inspection. In recent Read More …
Stephen Tankel, Storming the World Stage: The Story of Lashkar-e-Taiba. (London: C. Hurst and Co., 2011). Brian M Downing There are a dozen or more militant groups operating today along the Af-Pak frontier. Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) remained relatively unknown outside of the region and a few intelligence circles until it launched Read More …
Brian M Downing Iran has recently offered to assist in a new probe of the 1994 bombing of a Jewish community center in Argentina – an event often attributed to Iran and its Hisbollah ally. Iran has hinted at exculpatory evidence, but this, while interesting, is unlikely. Another motive might Read More …
Brian M Downing The US and Iran could be allies again. Angry verbal exchanges notwithstanding, geopolitical dynamics present both countries with common interests and enemies, as they did many years ago when Washington and Tehran cooperated closely in the region. Elites and ideologies pose obstacles to renewed cooperation, but if Read More …