Iraq War
Event in History
Iraq War has come up in 7 episodes across 4 podcasts in TMT, including The Shawn Ryan Show, The Joe Rogan Experience, The Tucker Carlson Show. 6 people have made recorded remarks about it.
What people said
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
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”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #294 Pete Blaber - Part 2: Delta Force Commander on Pablo Escobar, Takur Ghar, and Pat Tillman (Apr 6, 2026) · Listen from 5:01:06
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”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #294 Pete Blaber - Part 2: Delta Force Commander on Pablo Escobar, Takur Ghar, and Pat Tillman (Apr 6, 2026) · Listen from 5:23:41
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”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #294 Pete Blaber - Part 2: Delta Force Commander on Pablo Escobar, Takur Ghar, and Pat Tillman (Apr 6, 2026) · Listen from 4:11:38
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”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #294 Pete Blaber - Part 2: Delta Force Commander on Pablo Escobar, Takur Ghar, and Pat Tillman (Apr 6, 2026) · Listen from 4:21:40
Shawn RyanFormer U.S. Navy SEAL and CIA contractor, host of the Shawn Ryan Show
Ryan says that as a deployed SEAL he resented liberal Democrats criticizing the war but now concludes they were right.
“the only gripe was coming home and listening to all the liberal Democrats bitching about the war. Turns out they were right the whole fucking time”
The Tucker Carlson Show: Shawn Ryan: Trump’s Betrayal, Iran, Government Spying, Encounters With Demons, and Finding God (Jul 24, 2026) · Listen from 1:46:32
Ryan relays Pete Blaber's account that Delta Force identified supposed WMD imagery as a water truck, an air conditioner, and a man urinating, and that this was ignored before the invasion.
“that's a water truck, huge water truck, because they're in the middle of the desert and they need water”
The Tucker Carlson Show: Shawn Ryan: Trump’s Betrayal, Iran, Government Spying, Encounters With Demons, and Finding God (Jul 24, 2026) · Listen from 20:37
Scott HortonDirector of the Libertarian Institute, editorial director of Antiwar.com, host of The Scott Horton Show and author of Provoked
Horton argues that the Iraq War empowered Iran rather than the US allies it was meant to strengthen.
“what happened then in the war was they just empowered Iran. They didn't empower Jordan and Turkey and America and Israel over the Iraqis”
The Joe Rogan Experience: #2500 - Scott Horton (May 15, 2026) · Listen from 20:10
Horton estimates that the Iraq War cost at least $5–7 trillion and the whole terror war about $10 trillion.
“On Iraq alone, at least $5 or $7 trillion. I think it was probably $10 trillion for the whole terror war”
The Joe Rogan Experience: #2500 - Scott Horton (May 15, 2026) · Listen from 24:00
Graham PlatnerPresumptive Democratic nominee for Senate in Maine
Platner argues that the roughly $8 trillion spent on the Iraq and Afghanistan wars achieved nothing.
“We spent, it looks like in the end, it's going to be somewhere around $8 trillion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan for nothing”
Up First from NPR: Can Graham Platner survive another controversy? | NPR’s Newsmakers (Jun 1, 2026) · Listen from 39:12
Joe RoganAmerican comedian and host of The Joe Rogan Experience
Rogan asserts that the weapons of mass destruction rationale for the Iraq War was deliberately fabricated.
“I think the whole weapons of mass destruction narrative was complete bullshit that was cooked up to give an excuse to go over there and take over Iraq”
The Joe Rogan Experience: #2497 - Gad Saad (May 12, 2026) · Listen from 1:00:43
Joe KentFormer U.S. official who resigned and disputed stated motives for the Iran conflict
Kent says Netanyahu lobbied and testified to Congress that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction, helping launder the case for the Iraq War.
“He came and he aggressively lobbied and testified in the House and in the Senate that Saddam was developing weapons of mass destruction”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #291 Joe Kent - His Message to President Trump on Ending the War With Iran (Mar 26, 2026) · Listen from 50:52
Coverage over time
Podcasts
- The Shawn Ryan Show · 3 episodes
- The Joe Rogan Experience · 2 episodes
- The Tucker Carlson Show · 1 episode
- Up First from NPR · 1 episode
Episodes
#346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk DownThe Shawn Ryan Show · Oct 8, 2026 · 3 h 20 min
Retired Army Ranger James Lechner tells Shawn Ryan about fighting and being wounded in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, turning around Ramadi, Afghanistan policy failures, and the war in Ukraine.
Shawn Ryan: Trump’s Betrayal, Iran, Government Spying, Encounters With Demons, and Finding GodThe Tucker Carlson Show · Jul 24, 2026 · 1 h 54 min
Tucker Carlson talks with podcaster and former Navy SEAL Shawn Ryan about his disillusionment with politics, a harrowing ibogaine experience, spiritual conversion, surveillance, and the Iran war.
Can Graham Platner survive another controversy? | NPR’s NewsmakersUp First from NPR · Jun 1, 2026 · 48 min
Leila Fadel interviews Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner about his working-class politics, past controversies, masculinity, the Iran war, Pete Hegseth, and beating Susan Collins.
#2500 - Scott HortonThe Joe Rogan Experience · May 15, 2026 · 2 h 41 min
Joe Rogan talks with libertarian antiwar author Scott Horton about neoconservative foreign policy, NATO expansion and the Ukraine war, and the US war with Iran.
#2497 - Gad SaadThe Joe Rogan Experience · May 12, 2026 · 2 h 43 min
Gad Saad presents his book "Suicidal Empathy" and debates Joe Rogan on Islam, the Iran war, Israel's lobby and the Gaza war.
- #294 Pete Blaber - Part 2: Delta Force Commander on Pablo Escobar, Takur Ghar, and Pat Tillman
The Shawn Ryan Show · Apr 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.
- #291 Joe Kent - His Message to President Trump on Ending the War With Iran
The Shawn Ryan Show · Mar 26, 2026 · 2 h 3 min
Joe Kent explains to Shawn Ryan why he resigned as NCTC director over the U.S. war with Iran and Israeli influence on Trump.