Missile strikes and deterrence in the Levant

Brian M Downing  The US has twice fired missiles into Syria in retaliation for using chemical weapons. A year ago, a unilateral US barrage of 59 ship-launched cruise missiles struck a military airbase. Last Friday, the US, Britain, and France fired twice that number, from both ships and aircraft, into Read More …

A bigger war coming in the Levant (maybe negotiations too)

Brian M Downing  A year ago, after Syria used chemical weapons on its civilians, President Trump retaliated within 72 hours with a cruise missile strike on a Syrian airfield. Unfortunately, it had no deterrent effect on Assad. Attacks on civilians have continued, most recently in Douma, near Damascus. It’s been Read More …

Why is Netanyahu looking on?

Brian  M Downing  The Syrian war drags on, and so do the atrocities. Rebel fighters are not armies of right and virtue by any means but that cannot be used to look past the government side’s deliberate and systematic attacks on civilians. Syrian and Russian aircraft have incorporated heavy bombing Read More …

The Syrian war and international norms

Brian M Downing The Syrian civil war is in its eighth year. The government presently has the upper hand. It’s taken back a good deal of territory and all major cities save one, Idlib. That city is now under attack by Russian and Syrian aircraft in preparation for a ground Read More …