The Shawn Ryan Show

Podbit · The Shawn Ryan Show

#325 Sean Strickland - The Most Controversial Fighter in the UFC Opens Up Like Never Before

Explore episode Jul 27, 2026
Government
AIPAC, the Military-Industrial Complex, and the Iraq War

#325 Sean Strickland - The Most Controversial Fighter in th… · Jul 27, 2026 Government

Strickland and Ryan dissect how the Iraq War resulted from aligned interests — the Israeli lobby's desire to remove Saddam, the military-industrial complex's financial incentives, oil industry backing of the petrodollar security pact — not a single grand conspiracy. They argue the government is so compromised by these interlocked lobbies that only a radical election or violent revolution could fix it.

Where this was said

AIPAC, the Military-Industrial Complex, and Iraq War Deconstruction

At 2:35:30 · chapter starts 2:24:40

The conversation becomes a detailed geopolitical dissection. Strickland argues the Iraq War doesn't require conspiracy: you simply have the petrodollar security pact (go stabilize the Middle East, let us denominate oil in dollars), an Israeli lobby with incentives to remove Saddam, a military-industrial complex that profits from war, and oil industry interests — all pushing in the same direction. Ryan adds the story of Pete Blaber's Delta Force team, which analyzed the same imagery Powell used at the UN and correctly identified the 'WMD factory' as an air conditioning unit, a water tank, and a man taking a piss — intelligence that was completely ignored. Strickland concludes the government is too compromised by these interlocking interests to self-correct without radical political change or revolution.

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