Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
Brian M Downing The once seemingly overwhelming momentum of the democratic movements in the Middle East has been stopped or at least slowed in many countries. The forces behind staunching the tide of change are often domestic in nature, but Saudi Arabia is playing an important supporting role – sometimes Read More …
Brian M Downing The world is seeing a tragedy unfold as monsoon rains swell the expansive Indus River and flood large parts of Pakistan from Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa province to the Arabian Sea. Whether directed by Pakistanis or outside agencies, relief will not always be a straightforward humanitarian effort – neither Read More …
Brian M Downing United States Secretary of Defense Gates recently complained there was no plan to halt Iran’s nuclear research, which is thought to be aimed at building atomic weapons. It is more accurate to say that plans to halt the program – both diplomatic and military – are impractical Read More …
Brian M Downing Statements coming from the London summit on Afghanistan recognize the need for a negotiated settlement to the wars that have raged there for most of the last thirty-two years. The statements are surprisingly candid; diplomatic language is usually less direct than what the NATO chieftains and Kabul Read More …
Brian M Downing A top al-Qaeda commander was reportedly killed on Wednesday by government forces in Yemen’s southern Shabwa province, coinciding with a top United States official suggesting that the US should launch air strikes there and Iran ramping up tensions with Saudi Arabia. Yemen’s Saba news agency reported that Read More …
Brian M Downing The September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States led to various responses in the American public, shock and outrage the most immediate. Subsequent polling data showed another response. Trust in government rose sharply and immediately – a curious phenomenon, for 9/11 could be readily seen as Read More …
Escalation and Reappraisal in Afghanistan Brian M Downing The recent campaign in Helmand province, in southern Afghanistan, is the first phase of a far-reaching counterinsurgency program. Western and Afghan troops will clear Taliban fighters from villages and later whole districts, then begin a seemingly simple but actually arduous process of Read More …
Brian M Downing The United States is entering a new phase in the war in Afghanistan. This approach to fighting the Taliban is based on counter-insurgency thinking: building indigenous police and military forces, providing services to villagers, and winning support from fence-sitters and insurgent sympathizers. It is hoped that in Read More …
Brian M Downing The United States will soon double the number of its troops in Afghanistan from about 30,000 to 60,000, and several other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) countries will also up their troop levels. The move comes with little surprise and considerable bipartisan support in the US, but Read More …
Brian M Downing Pakistan might collapse. It faces regional insurgencies, political failures, rising Islamism (in the public and army alike), and reprisals from India over the Mumbai attacks of last November. The trouble in the US’s principal though duplicitous partner in the war on terror is all the more worrisome Read More …