Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
Brian M Downing The US has been aligned with Saudi Arabia since the 1940s when Washington determined it had expended too much domestic oil in World War Two. Saudi oil was coming on line and deemed an attractive alternative to further depletion of tracts at home. Ties continued for several Read More …
Brian M Downing Sectarian conflict, chiefly between Saudi Arabia and Iran, has been underway for decades. Based at least as much on religious hatred as national security, it reached intense levels with the Iran-Iraq War of the 80s and took hundreds of thousands of lives. Afterward, animosities lessened but picked up Read More …
The Islamic world continues to break apart – Pakistan Brian M Downing Rand-McNally must be a busy place. Europe has seen the Soviet Union, Yugoslavia, and Czechoslovakia break apart; the Ukraine is being broken apart. The Islamic world has been even more tumultuous. The Sudan broke in two; Iraq is Read More …
The consequences of the 2003 Iraq war have been disastrous – for the US, the Middle East, and most of all, Iraq itself. Surprisingly, even GOP presidential candidates now agree the war was a mistake, even though their standard bearer launched it, albeit with support of many from across the 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 …