Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
Russia departed unceremoniously from Afghanistan in 1988. The US left a few years later, with more dignity, on the winning side, but exasperated by postwar infighting. Islamist terrorism brought the US back hurriedly in 2001. The spread of Islamist militancy is leading to greater Russian interest. Russia has recently parleyed Read More …
The Taliban haven’t heard that the fighting season ended in November. Less an insurgent force and more a conventional army fighting above ground, they continue to press their offensive in the southwestern province of Helmand and have taken key districts. Helmand may fall, imperiling the government’s position in adjacent Kandahar Read More …
Massacres in Paris and San Bernardino have underscored the slow progress in the ISIL War. The Islamist army’s defeats at Kobane and Sinjar barely register. Nor is it remembered that last summer Generals Dempsey and Odierno cautioned that the war would be a long one, lasting decades. Yet, many Americans Read More …
The Afghan War is seasonal. Most ground fighting takes place from spring to early winter, after which intermittent bombings and terrorist strikes occur. The Taliban showed considerable strength in this year’s fighting season, more than thought possible by many observers (yes, including me). The Taliban nonetheless face critical fissures that Read More …
When Saigon fell, and the last Huey was pushed into the sea, Americans looked back with dismay on the foreign entanglements that had culminated in calamity. Those who cared to look ahead saw little prospect of war. Surely, they thought, the nation had learned from a war that had Read More …
Only a few years ago the US was confident it had left behind combat operations in the Middle East. It’s back, albeit reluctantly. The US has bolstered its training mission in Iraq and begun air support missions. To the west, in Syria, the US failed to build a rebel force Read More …
Russia’s deployment of fighter aircraft and troops to Syria has overshadowed similar moves by Iran. The Islamic Republic, a longstanding Syrian ally, has sent about four thousand Shia fighters recruited from Afghanistan’s Hazara people and Iraq’s Arab majority, and reportedly a small contingent of its own ground troops as well. 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 …
Afghanistan’s prominence in the news is subject to sudden change. The 9/11 attacks vaulted it into our attention. Iraq pushed it aside for years, until the Taliban reasserted itself and reconquered parts of the south and west. The rise of ISIL in Syria and Iraq pushed it aside once more, until Read More …
Russia, after the collapse of communism and ensuing weakness, has found new strength and resolve. President Putin is acting more boldly if not belligerently in the world, initially in Crimea and the eastern Ukraine, now in Syria. Two chief aims are to restore his country to great power status and Read More …