The Shawn Ryan Show #294 Pete Blaber - Part 2: Delta Force Commander on Pablo Escobar, Takur Ghar, and Pat Tillman
18 snips
Apr 6, 2026 
Pete Blaber, retired Delta Force commander and former special operations leader, revisits the Pat Tillman case, from his deep investigation to the chaos, friendly fire, and cover-up allegations. He also gets into combat dog programs, Iraq war planning failures, toxic leadership, veteran transition, and practical tools for decision-making under stress.
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Arco Ended A Sniper Fight In Seconds
- In Iraq, a Malinois named Arco chased a sniper through tall grass after operators released him toward the muzzle flashes.
- Moments later they found Arco clamped onto the sniper's face while the man screamed for help beside his dropped SVD.
The Dogs That Flushed Out Uday And Qusay
- Delta dogs also played a decisive role when Uday and Qusay Hussein were cornered inside a house.
- Two dogs rushed upstairs, forced the brothers to reveal themselves by firing, and were killed before the team finished the target with heavier weapons.
Remote Command Can Never Truly Make Sense
- Pete Blaber says disconnected command posts can never truly understand battle because making sense requires physical senses, not video feeds.
- He warns AI stacked onto remote command only deepens the problem by replacing ground judgment with abstractions from air-conditioned TOCs.
