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 …
Brian M Downing Candidate Trump promised a more aggressive fight with ISIL and a return to military victories. He has not thus far disappointed supporters of tougher stances in world affairs. In the last month, a few hundred marines took up positions around ISIL’s Syrian capital of Reqqa, an unspecified Read More …
Brian M Downing Yesterday, in a decidedly informal press conference with Prime Minister Netanyahu, President Trump dropped American support for a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He went on to say in passing that he would accept whatever solution the Israel government and Palestinian leadership arrived at. Meanwhile, expansion Read More …
Brian M Downing Iraqi forces began the effort to retake Mosul from ISIL some ten weeks ago. Though ISIL troops are greatly outnumbered, and have no defense from airstrikes, they have put up a formidable defense of their prized Iraqi holding. ISIL fighters continue to demonstrate that they are the Read More …
Brian M Downing The war in Afghanistan has dragged on for fifteen years now. The conflict has been complicated by the rise of ISIL in the region. Its Afghan franchise, ISIL-Khorasan Province, has established itself in eastern Afghanistan, where it has coalesced with and recruited from other jihadi groups, including Read More …
Brian M Downing Once Aleppo is completely taken and reasonably secure, Assad and Putin will turn their attention to the last rebel city in the west, Idlib. Their tactics of intensive airstrikes followed by ground assaults are effective, if inhumane. The rebels have no protection from Russian aircraft. Their foreign Read More …
Negotiation and escalation in the Syrian civil war after Aleppo Brian M Downing The war in Syria is entering its sixth year. Various rebel groups, backed by Sunni powers, had the upper hand until Hisbollah, Iran, and Russia intervened on the government side. Over the last year government forces developed a tactic Read More …
Pragmatism and ideology in President Trump’s foreign policy Brian M Downing Americans are wondering just what the Trump presidency will bring. So are people around the world – the poor of Central America, leaders of ISIL and al Qaeda, European publics and leaders, and the elites of China and Russia. Read More …
The coming ISIL dispersal – Iraq and Syria Brian M Downing In coming weeks, or months, ISIL’s prestigious holdings, Mosul and Raqqa, will have been retaken. ISIL will have only a handful of smaller towns and expanses of land – most of it wasteland. Several thousand ISIL fighters are in Read More …
US policy and the future of a unified Syria Brian M Downing Secretary of State Kerry has repeated the administration’s commitment to keeping Syria a united country, as it was before public protest turned into civil war. His statement comes along with a ceasefire agreement with Russia and the announcement Read More …