Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
Brian M Downing This week brought news that the United States was releasing a number of Taliban figures of mid-to-high standing in the insurgent group’s political and military apparatus. This is a good sign of efforts to bring about meaningful peace talks, which were thought to have been on hold Read More …
Brian M Downing The United States is withdrawing troops from Afghanistan though the recent agreement with President Hamid Karzai indicates that the US will retain a significant presence, civilian and military, for many years to come. It is unclear how many Western troops will remain but the level will certainly Read More …
Brian M Downing President Barack Obama has ordered the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan. Though how many and how fast remains unknown, it seems that only a relatively small force will remain after 2014 as part of the recently signed strategic partnership between the US and Afghanistan. Withdrawal will be Read More …
Reviewed by Brian M Downing With the US ensnarled in the Afghan insurgency and Pakistan headed toward implosion, Af-Pak and the countries around it are in crisis. Renowned journalist Ahmed Rashid offers a series of essays drawn from his connections to figures in the state, army, and insurgent groups which Read More …
Brian M Downing The war in Afghanistan has been stalemated for several years now and eyes are turning to a negotiated settlement. In recent weeks, talks between the United States and the Taliban have come and gone, but they will almost assuredly return. As welcome as these bilateral talks are, Read More …
Brian M Downing The national borders from the eastern Mediterranean to the Iranian border were made after the breakup of the Ottoman Empire in 1918. Britain and France, with little consideration for sectarian or ethnic realities, drew lines across the area and established the new countries of Iraq and Syria. Read More …
Brian M Downing Over the past 10 years, the Taliban have recovered from their ouster and established a presence in half of Afghanistan’s districts, where they have become a de facto government in many of them. The Afghan government is frail and unwilling to reform. The United States is war-weary Read More …
Brian M Downing If we were overthrown, there would be major chaos and confusion in the country and everyone including every single oppressed individual would blame you for it. – Mullah Omar to President Clinton, Sept 1999 A government that is losing to an insurgency is not being outfought, it Read More …
Rajiv Chandrasekaran, Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan (New York: Alfred A Knopf, 2012. 384 pages. US$28. Reviewed by Brian M Downing In the 1950s and 60s, US engineers and aid workers encamped in a complex known as Little America in southern Afghanistan and built a series Read More …
Brian M Downing The escalation of tensions in the Persian Gulf and attendant positioning of military assets in the region gives the impression that war is all but inevitable. Machinery is in gear and turning faster and faster by the day, as it was in the lead-ups to the Gulf Read More …