Brian M Downing and the world at war. Timely, thoughtful, and nonpartisan analysis of military matters. @BrianMDowning1.
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 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 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 …
Reviewed by Brian M Downing Peace talks between the US and the Taliban are in the offing and the relationship between the latter and al-Qaeda will figure highly in them. Strick Van Linschoten and Kuehn argue that the two Islamist groups have never had close ties. This will strike longtime 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 Following the announcement on Wednesday by United States President Barack Obama, the US will have 10,000 fewer troops in Afghanistan by the end of the year, from a total of over 100,000, with another 23,000 to depart by the middle of 2012. With the reduction, the Read More …
Brian M Downing President Obama has announced the withdrawal from Afghanistan of ten thousand US troops by the end of this year, with another twenty-three thousand to depart by the middle of 2012. Partisan politicians and the military will find this too steep and try to slow the pace, but Read More …
Brian M Downing I know it was you, Fredo. That Osama bin Laden has been living comfortably in Abbottabad and evidently directing al Qaeda from there – all within earshot of a Pakistani military facility – has been a tremendous embarrassment to Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), but it comes as Read More …
Brian M Downing The ongoing insurgency in the Pashtun regions of Afghanistan rightly commands attention, but it obscures a critical second conflict in the country. Longstanding antagonisms between the non-Pashtun peoples of the North and the Pashtun people of the South are heading toward fissure. Paradoxically, settlement of the insurgency, through negotiation Read More …