#294 Pete Blaber - Part 2: Delta Force Commander on Pablo Escobar, Takur Ghar, and Pat Tillman
Episode of The Shawn Ryan Show · April 6, 2026 · 6 h 60 min
Retired Delta Force commander Pete Blaber tells Shawn Ryan how toxic leadership caused Pat Tillman's death, and recounts the Iraq invasion's false intelligence.
Summary
In part two of a long interview, retired Delta Force commander Pete Blaber described his investigation into the 2004 friendly-fire death of Army Ranger Pat Tillman, undertaken at the request of Tillman's mother Mary. Blaber said he read roughly 3,500 pages of investigative material and interviewed more than twenty members of Tillman's platoon, concluding that Tillman died in a friendly-fire incident caused not by fog of war but by "the sum total of senseless choices" made by a disconnected, toxic chain of command that ordered the platoon to tow a broken Humvee through a slot canyon and to split in two. He argued that most of the surviving Rangers' lasting trauma came from the investigation and scapegoating rather than the ambush, and that psychological wounds heal only through "truth and community."
Blaber then discussed his departure from the Army in 2006, advising service members leaving the military that their main asset is what he called neocortical discipline, and recounting the origin of the operational military working dog program he helped start in 1999, including obtaining a waiver from Lackland Air Force Base, buying Belgian Malinois, and the dogs' first combat bites in Iraq in 2003.
The longest segment covered the 2003 Iraq invasion. Blaber said he and a CIA counterpart reviewed the satellite imagery later presented by Colin Powell at the UN and concluded the "decontamination truck" was a water truck, the "air purification systems" were HVAC units, and a supposed security guard was urinating. He said his attempts to send that assessment and three recommendations—an Arab-American database, Iraqi-American cultural advisors, and pre-positioned infrastructure specialists—to CENTCOM planning were blocked because meetings were restricted to colonels and above. He described becoming interim unit commander, leading a "swarm" of coalition special operations forces through the western desert, being given ten M1 Abrams tanks, and refusing a general's order to drive thin-skinned vehicles into Tikrit, which he said effectively ended his prospects of further promotion. He blamed Paul Bremer's decrees, particularly disbanding the Iraqi army, for creating the insurgency.
The episode closed with Blaber explaining the triune-brain model underlying his book The Common Sense Way—reptilian, emotional, and neocortical—and practical techniques he recommends for first responders: diaphragmatic breathing, speaking calmly, counting, singing while holding one's breath, and "paying attention like a cat." Ryan used Claude to look up Halliburton/KBR's Iraq contract totals, citing roughly $39.5 billion.
Chapters
- 0:20
Mary Tillman's request and the 3,500 pages
Blaber describes how Pat Tillman's mother contacted him in 2017 and gave him a bin of investigative documents he read in a single sitting.
- 6:46
PTSD, truth, and community
Blaber recounts interviewing more than twenty Rangers from the platoon, most still suffering from PTSD, and argues psychological wounds heal only with truth and community.
- 19:21
Toxic leadership and the senseless orders
Blaber lays out his findings: a cavalcade of email-issued orders to tow a broken Humvee and split the platoon, driven by a chain of command 44 miles away.
- 40:16
The ambush in the slot canyon
A detailed reconstruction of the 12-to-14-minute ambush, the deafening of the platoon, and the sequence of fire that killed Tillman.
- 1:05:47
The 35-day cover-up and its consequences
Blaber describes how the chain of command knew within 72 hours it was friendly fire, coerced Kevin Tillman's silence, and scapegoated the platoon while the responsible S3 became a four-star general.
- 1:33:34
Getting out and transitioning to business
Blaber explains why he retired in 2006 and advises departing service members on decision-making, discipline, and entering the corporate world.
- 1:54:29
Institutions, accountability, and the evolutionary case for truth
Ryan and Blaber discuss Havana syndrome, the COVID vaccine mandate discharges, and Blaber's argument that covering up the truth denies future warriors the learning feedback loop.
- 2:11:34
Building the operational military working dog program
Blaber recounts how his squadron obtained approval from Lackland Air Force Base, bought Belgian Malinois, and how the dogs performed in Iraq, including the Uday and Qusay raid.
- 2:52:36
Drones, AI, and disconnected command and control
Blaber critiques disconnected chains of command and AI-driven decision-making, and discusses lessons from the Ukraine war as a light infantry fight.
- 3:18:04
Pakistan after Anaconda
Blaber describes following the enemy's retreat to the Pakistani border and being rebuffed by Pakistani generals, the CIA chief of station, and the U.S. ambassador before a deadly attack proved him right.
- 3:50:29
The satellite photos and the case for war
Blaber recounts examining the imagery later used by Colin Powell at the UN and concluding it showed a water truck, HVAC units, and a man urinating.
- 4:27:12
The western desert swarm and the Tikrit show of force
Blaber describes becoming interim unit commander, the effects-based swarm plan, the attached M1 tanks, and refusing an order to assault Tikrit in thin-skinned vehicles.
- 5:14:21
Bremer, the Green Zone, and the created insurgency
Blaber recounts being turned away when offering an Iraqi-American cultural advisor to Paul Bremer and argues U.S. decisions created the insurgency.
- 5:32:47
Halliburton's contracts
Ryan reads AI-generated figures on Halliburton and KBR's Iraq and Afghanistan contract totals and Dick Cheney's role in privatizing logistics.
- 6:05:16
Writing, the triune brain, and common sense techniques
Blaber explains why he wrote his books and teaches diaphragmatic breathing, calm speech, counting, singing, and 'paying attention like a cat' to engage the neocortex.
Key points
What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.
- Pete Blaber
Blaber says that of the roughly twenty Rangers he interviewed, most still had PTSD nearly twenty years later, and at least two remained suicidal.
“I think 20, a little over 20, still had PTSD from this event. At least two of them were still suicidal”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber argues that psychological wounds from combat heal only through learning the truth and being supported by community.
“psychological wounds only heal with truth and community”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber concluded that Tillman died in a friendly-fire accident caused by senseless orders from a toxic chain of command rather than by fog of war or enemy skill.
“the death of Pat Tillman and the Friendly Fire incident was caused by the sum total of senseless choices made by the toxic chain of command and their staff officers who issued the orders”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber argues that institutions must actively seek out and fire toxic leaders because toxic leadership kills.
“we will seek out and fire every toxic leader that comes up on the radar we're not going to fix the problem”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber recommends the military require commanders to issue orders verbally over the radio rather than through staff officers or email.
“If you're a commander... You do not issue an order to subordinates who are in the field unless that order comes out of your mouth”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber says the battalion commander reported the friendly-fire cause to the regimental commander within two days, yet the family was not told for 35 days.
“I called the regimental commander at 12 noon and told him Pat was killed by friendly fire”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber argues that once a reconnaissance team is compromised the only correct decision is to abort the mission, not to debate what to do with detained civilians.
“you don't fucking kill non-armed combatants. You abort the freaking mission. You've been compromised”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber tells departing service members their key advantage is intellectual discipline built by the military, which fades unless maintained.
“when you come out of the military, you are at a level of intellectual discipline that surpasses almost anyone”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber argues that every service member discharged for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine should be reinstated with back pay without review boards.
“Everyone who was kicked out for refusing the vacs should be allowed back in and should be given back pay”
Listen from 1:59:47 · COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the United States military
- Pete Blaber
Blaber says the dogs his squadron introduced in 1999 were the first operational military working dogs in the U.S. military since the Vietnam War.
“Those were the first operational dogs since Vietnam”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber says his unit chose to use operators rather than outside specialists as dog handlers, a practice he believes remains unique.
“we believed that you should make operators handlers so and as far as i know that still is the only one that uses operators as handlers”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber characterizes the war in Ukraine as a light infantry war in which armor has been largely neutralized by drones.
“It is just old school light infantry. Drones have taken out any mech, any armor potential”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber argues that disconnected chains of command are biologically incapable of making sense of a battlefield because sense-making requires the senses.
“decision-making and problem-solving made by disconnected chains of command who aren't there, never has and never will be capable of making sense of what's happening on the ground”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber says Pakistani generals, the CIA chief of station, and the U.S. ambassador all insisted there was no al-Qaeda in Pakistan, and six days after he set up in Miram Shah, al-Qaeda fighters killed 23 Pakistani soldiers.
“six days after the shrubbery conversation, 23 Pakistani soldiers were killed by three al-Qaeda members”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber says he and his CIA counterpart concluded the satellite imagery later used by Powell showed a water truck, ordinary HVAC units, and a man urinating rather than WMD activity.
“these air purification systems, these air that purify the air, doesn't that look like the same thing we got on top of our buildings, an HVAC system?”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber advises viewers to evaluate photos and videos without their accompanying captions or narration before accepting an official interpretation.
“get rid of the call-out boxes, get rid of the narration, watch the video without the narration, look at the satellite photos without the call-out boxes”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber argues expeditionary warfare has never succeeded because outsiders cannot make good decisions for people they do not live among.
“expeditionary warfare has never worked you can't go to a country and force decisions on that country if you're not going to live there with the decisions”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber says his three brainstormed recommendations for Iraq—an Arab-American volunteer database, cultural advisors in every unit, and pre-positioned infrastructure specialists—were rejected in the final CENTCOM plan.
“We're not going to use Iraqi. We're not going to bring Iraqi Americans because it'll be too logistically difficult to house and feed them in the initial stages”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber says he refused a general's order to drive thin-skinned vehicles into Tikrit and pulled his men back into the desert instead.
“I will never send my men in unarmored, thin-skinned vehicles to attack a brigade that's in fighting positions in a city”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber says he was turned away when he tried to give Bremer's team an Iraqi-American cultural advisor and was offered only a $60-a-day gate interpreter job for the man.
“this is a Department of State op, and we don't need any DOD assets here, and we don't need any cultural advisors”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber says Bremer disbanded the Iraqi military on his third day in a country he had never visited, putting 150,000 men out of work.
“he disbanded the Iraqi military on his third day in country that he had never been in before and put 150,000 military men out of work”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber cites a paper by intelligence officer Spider Marks arguing the Iraqi insurgency was created by U.S. decisions rather than arising organically.
“it's not an organic insurgency we created that insurgency the u.s through bremer's bad decisions created the insurgency”
Linked moment · 5:33:51Skip to 5:33:51 using a listen link in the info box.
Shawn RyanRyan, reading AI-generated research, states that KBR received at least $39.5 billion in federal contracts tied to the Iraq War.
“KBR, a former subsidiary of Halliburton, was estimated to have received at least $39.5 billion in federal contracts related to the Iraq war alone”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber recommends diaphragmatic breathing, calm speech, and counting as reliable techniques to engage the thinking brain and suppress panic.
“breathe in through your nose. Usually I do a count of four”
- Pete Blaber
Blaber says the reptilian brain registers sensory input roughly twelve times faster than the neocortex, making first reactions unconscious and emotional.
“your first instinctive response to any type of stimulus is always unconscious, emotional, and without context”
People
In the conversation
- Shawn RyanFormer U.S. Navy SEAL and CIA contractor, host of the Shawn Ryan Show
- Pete BlaberRetired U.S. Army Delta Force commander, author of The Mission, The Men, and Me and The Common Sense Way, later a biotech executive
Discussed
- Pat TillmanNFL player who enlisted as an Army Ranger and was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004
- Mary TillmanPat Tillman's mother, who pursued the truth about her son's death and asked Blaber to review the investigation files
- Kevin TillmanPat Tillman's brother, a Ranger in the same platoon during the 2004 ambush
- Tommy FranksU.S. Army general and CENTCOM commander during the Afghanistan and Iraq invasions
- Stanley McChrystalU.S. Army general named by Ryan in connection with the Tillman Silver Star approval
- Colin PowellU.S. Secretary of State who presented satellite imagery on Iraqi WMD to the UN in February 2003
- Dick CheneyU.S. Vice President and former Halliburton CEO, whom Blaber and Ryan link to war logistics contracting
- George W. BushPresident criticized for cutting taxes while going to war
- Donald RumsfeldU.S. Secretary of Defense during the Iraq invasion
- Paul BremerU.S. diplomat who headed the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq
- Paul WolfowitzU.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense during the Iraq War
- Wim HofDutch extreme athlete known for cold exposure and breathing techniques
- Saddam HusseinFormer Iraqi leader deposed in the 2003 U.S. invasion
- Osama bin LadenAl-Qaeda leader hunted by U.S. forces after 9/11
- Pete HegsethU.S. Secretary of Defense overseeing the Iran campaign
- Joe BidenFormer president whose economic approval is compared to Trump's
- Marcus LuttrellNavy SEAL whose book about Operation Red Wings Blaber criticizes
- Uday HusseinSon of Saddam Hussein killed in a 2003 raid involving military working dogs
- Qusay HusseinSon of Saddam Hussein killed in the same 2003 raid
- Brandon TsengNavy SEAL and co-founder of Shield AI, cited by Ryan on decentralized drone warfare
- Palmer LuckeyFounder of Anduril Industries, referenced regarding the EagleEye helmet
Topics
- Death of Pat Tillman
- Toxic leadership
- Iraq War
- Iraq and weapons of mass destruction
- Military working dogs
- Post-traumatic stress disorder
- Colin Powell's presentation to the United Nations Security Council
- Coalition Provisional Authority
- Dissolution of the Iraqi Army
- Halliburton
- KBR (company)
- Operation Anaconda
- Russian invasion of Ukraine
- The Common Sense Way
- Wim Hof Method
- Triune brain
- Pakistan–United States relations
- The Mission, the Men, and Me
- Operation Red Wings
- Havana syndrome
- COVID-19 vaccine mandates in the United States military
- Amgen
- Careers after military service
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From the publisher
Pete Blaber is a retired Delta Force commander renowned for leading elite counter-terrorism and special operations teams across the globe, now applying his battle-tested leadership principles to corporate environments, authorship, and innovative security solutions. Born and raised in Oak Park, Illinois, as one of nine children in an Irish-Catholic household. Pete attended Southern Illinois University. His military career saw him rise through the ranks of Delta Force to high-level command roles, directing critical operations in Panama, Colombia, Somalia, Bosnia, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Retiring in 2006, he transitioned from commanding elite combat teams worldwide to leading executive teams. A prominent voice on leadership, team dynamics, crisis decision-making, national security, and organizational effectiveness, he has been featured in profiles, interviews, and podcasts sharing practical insights drawn from his extraordinary career. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: Post jobs for free at https://ziprecruiter.com/srs Get 20% off sitewide at https://helixsleep.com/SRS and enter our show name after checkout so they know we sent you! Control Body Odor ANYWHERE with @shop.mando and get 20% off with promo code SRS at https://shopmando.com ! #mandopod Go to https://meetfabric.com/SHAWN and apply today, risk-free Go to https://shopbeam.com/SRS and use code SRS to get up to 50% off Beam Dream Powder, the sleep formula designed to help you fall asleep fast and wake up clear. Ready to tackle bigger problems? Get started with Claude today at https://claude.ai/srs and check out Claude Pro, which includes access to all of the features mentioned in today’s episode. One thing to pack, five ways to power! Get 10% Off @Ridge with code SRS at https://www.Ridge.com/srs #Ridgepod Pete Blaber Links: Substack - https://substack.com/@peteblaber Website - https://www.peteblaber.com Books - https://www.peteblaber.com/books Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/a…
Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on September 27, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.