Veteran. Author. Visionary.
Special Operations Veteran | National Security Analyst | Policy Advocate
A VOICE FOR THE VOICELESS
Challenging power. Protecting the innocent. Championing truth, accountability, and moral clarity.
Analysis for CNN, BBC, PBS, and more
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Analysis for CNN, BBC, PBS, and more •
Al Jazeera
Wes J. Bryant interviews with Al Jazeera on the U.S. strike that hit a wedding party in Iran—killing two women and two children.
He directly takes on J.D. Vance’s rationalization that “the U.S. does not target civilians.” He speaks to the pattern of endangerment and killing of civilians that has unfolded under Hegseth’s reign. He cites the indignation—and complete void in moral and legal accountability—that define the Trump administration and Hegseth’s Pentagon. And he speaks to the moral injury that will stay with U.S. service members for life who have had to take part in these operations.
Sky News
"We are conducting ourselves no better than Putin's Russia." Wes J. Bryant talks with @SkyNews Yalda Hakim about the recent escalations in the Iran war and a likely U.S. strike that hit a wedding party in the coastal city of Sirik, killing two women and two children and wounding dozens more.
BBC
Wes J. Bryant talks with the BBC in the wake of their latest ground reporting from Iran on the US strike against an elementary school during the opening hours of the Iran war. The strike killed nearly two hundred civilians—most of them young children. Meanwhile, Pete Hegseth's Pentagon and the Trump administration continue to evade accountability…
BBC Persia
Wes J. Bryant interviews in BBC Persia’s documentary on the U.S. Strike in Minab. More than four months have passed since a missile struck the Shajareh Tayyebah elementary school in Minab—where 156 people were killed, 120 of whom were children aged 6 to 12—but so far, neither the United States nor Israel has accepted responsibility for the attack…
Sky News
In a powerful new documentary, Wes J. Bryant speaks to the truth behind the Minab school bombing. He assisted Sky News in their months long on-the-ground investigation into the U.S. bombing of a primary school on the first day of the Iran War in which 156 people were killed — including 120 children and 26 of their teachers…
Costs of War
In June, three experts published a research report on Israel's precise and lethal use of quadcopter drones mounted with sniper rifles to fire on Palestinian children, documenting a disturbing pattern — multiple cases of well-targeted, single-round shots against children in Gaza fired from Israeli quadcopters…
Sky News
Wes J. Bryant joins Sky News for a special on the Iran War where he discusses the tragic U.S. strike against an elementary school in Minab and continued lack of accountability from both senior military leadership and the Trump administration…
TRT World
Wes J. Bryant, former senior targeting advisor and policy analyst at the Pentagon and branch chief of civilian harm assessments, analyses latest developments in US-Iran War…
Sky News
In this highlight of an interview with Sky News, Wes Bryant answers the question of whether he’s surprised at the conduct of the Trump administration in its war with Iran and speaks to the values that the U.S. military is supposed to represent…
Going Underground
A highlight of Wes J. Bryant's interview with Afshin Rattansi's Going Underground on the Iran War, where he details Pete Hegseth's shutdown of the department to protect civilians and the "reveling in death and destruction" as civilians are killed and injured in Iran and much more...
BBC
Wes J. Bryant joins @BBC Radio and @BBCWorldService to discuss the marked absence of accountability and transparency under Pete Hegseth's Department of "War," the dangerous culture shift proliferating at the highest levels of the U.S. military, and the shameful response to the strike on an Iranian girls’ school at the outset of the Iran War…
Times Now
US-Iran Truce: Iran was quick to halt Hormuz Passage after multiple Israeli strikes hit Beirut. Earlier, Trump agreed to Iran's 10-point plan. Will the ceasefire hold or collapse? Former Pentagon official Wes J. Bryant spoke exclusively with Times Now on Newshour Agenda…
TMJ News
Pentagon whistleblower Wes J. Bryant joins TMJ News for an insider look at the widening gap between official claims and battlefield realities, and what recent intelligence and military developments reveal about the trajectory of the war…
PBS NewsHour
For insight into what it takes to conduct a search and rescue operation for a downed combat air crew, Amna Nawaz spoke with retired Master Sergeant Wes Bryant. He spent his career in the Air Force Special Operations and participated in these kinds of missions…
Democracy Now
As the United States mobilizes thousands more troops for deployment to the Middle East, we speak with retired U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant Wes Bryant, who criticizes the "bloodthirst" of the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran…
Sky News
Wes Bryant joins Mark Austin on Sky News to discuss the joint U.S.-Israel war against Iran, the increased justification of atrocities by the declared "leaders of the free world" — and what it all means.
CNN | The Amanpour Hour
In an extraordinary interview with Christiane Amanpour, Pentagon whistleblower Wes J. Bryant sounds the alarm about what he calls a lack of concern for civilian casualties by the US in Iran. He was part of a Pentagon unit tasked with mitigating civilian harm, but it was gutted last year in government cuts…
BBC | The Security Brief
Wes J. Bryant joins BBC’s The Security Brief to discuss how much of a role artificial intelligence is playing in finding and eliminating targets, how AI is changing how wars are waged, and how fast it's evolving…
Explore Media | Atlas
Wes J. Bryant helps breakdown the U.S. raid to capture Venezuelan president Nicolas Maduro and his wife in an unprecedented military operation…
AJ+
Wes J. Bryant joins Al Jazeera+ to discuss the U.S. strike on an Iranian elementary school and the reasons it was shameful, unacceptable, and wholly preventable…
Center for American Progress
Wes J. Bryant joins the Center for American Progress and Human Rights Watch for a panel on the tragedy of a U.S. strike on an Iranian elementary school and its implications for the U.S. military and the future of warfare…
NewsNation
Wes J. Bryant joins NewsNation to discuss the U.S. strike on a girls' school in Iran, the slashing of the Pentagon's civilian protection efforts under Hegseth, and broader implications…
MS NOW
Wes J. Bryant joins MS NOW The Weekend Primetime to discuss the U.S. strike on a girls' school in Iran, the slashing of the Pentagon's civilian protection efforts under Pete Hegseth, and the broader implications…
Channel 4 News
Wes J. Bryant joins UK Channel 4 News to discuss the U.S. strike on a girls' school in Iran, how it happened, and the consequences of the Pentagon’s slashing of civilian protection efforts under Hegseth…
NPR | On the Media
Wes J. Bryant joined NPR’s On the Media for an in-depth discussion on the Pentagon's slashing of its program to protect civilians in war, the retaliation he faced as a Pentagon whistleblower, and the dangerous consequences of the character and culture set by self-proclaimed Secretary of "War" Pete Hegseth…
TRT World
Wes J. Bryant joins TRT News to discuss the deployment of a Marine Amphibious Readiness Group to the Strait of Hormuz and what that could mean…
BBC
Wes J. Bryant joins BBC to discuss in the U.S. strike on a girls' school in Iran, how it happened, and the shameful response from the Trump administration…
CNN | THE SITUATION ROOM
Wes J. Bryant with Wolf Blitzer on The Situation Room discusses the tragic and shameful U.S. strike on a girls' school in Iran and what led to it—from the dissolution of Pentagon efforts to better protect civilians to a war-worshipping culture of bloodlust from the top down proliferated by Secretary of “War” Pete Hegseth…
ABC Radio National Breakfast
Wes J. Bryant joined ABC News Australia's Radio National Breakfast to discuss in depth the U.S. strike on a girls' school in Iran, how it likely happened, and the implications of the Pentagon's slashing of civilian harm mitigation efforts under Pete Hegseth…
NPR
Wes J. Bryant joins NPR 's Madeleine Brand to discuss the U.S. strike on a girls' school in Iran, how it likely happened, and the implications of the Pentagon's slashing of civilian harm mitigation efforts under Pete Hegseth…
The Robb Carter Show
Wes J. Bryant and colleague Dr. Mimi Syed join The Robb Carter Show for an in depth discussion on all things Israel. From the genocide in Gaza—highlighting Wes and Mimi's recent joint research paper on child shootings by Israeli quadcopters—to conflated accusations of antisemitism against anyone who dares speak the truth about Israel, to unyielding U.S. support no matter what Israel carries out, to the growing dangers of a U.S. police state mirroring Israel's model in Gaza…
BBC Newshour
Wes J. Bryant talks with @BBC Newshour in the wake of their latest ground reporting from Iran on the US strike against an elementary school during the opening hours of the war. The strike killed nearly two hundred civilians—most of them young children. Meanwhile, Pete Hegseth's Pentagon and the Trump administration continue to evade accountability…
The Electronic Intifada
Wes J. Bryant and Dr. Mimi Syed join the Electronic Intifada to discuss their new report exposing Israel’s use of sniper-equipped quadcopters to shoot and kill children in Gaza…
Una Casa Blanca
Wes J. Bryant interviews with Sara Canals on the Una Casa Blanca podcast on Spain’s leading radio network Cadena SER. They discuss the volatility of U.S. foreign policy under the Trump administration and the rapid surge in U.S. militarization and global imperialism under Hegseth’s Pentagon…
Annenberg Radio News
Wes J. Bryant interviews with the USC Annenberg School of Journalism on the ARN podcast to discuss the Iran War, civilian harm, and the dangers the Trump administration poses to global and national security…
Ralph Nader Radio
Ralph welcomes Wes Bryant, a retired Air Force special operations master sergeant and former analyst at the Pentagon’s Civilian Protection Center to talk bout how civilians, either through incompetence or negligence, are not being protected during American strikes…
ON THE LINE MEDIA
Wes J. Bryant knows wars better than most people. The former Pentagon Chief and U.S. Special Forces Combatant led the first strikes against ISIS in Iraq. He says the Trump administration has no end game with this war on Iran and it is obvious from how they are conducting it…
RUNAWAY COUNTRY
Alex Wagner speaks to Retired Master Sgt. Wes Bryant, a former senior advisor in the Pentagon’s Civilian Protection Center of Excellence, about how Secretary of War Pete Hegseth gutted the team responsible for limiting civilian deaths prior to the attacks on Iran…
ANGRY MALE VETERAN
Wes J. Bryant, a former Forward Air Controller and senior targeting advisor at the Pentagon, he emphasized the fundamental negligence that led to the tragedy of the Minab strike that killed 170 elementary school girls…
SERIOUSLY SARA
Wes J. Bryant joins highly respected friend and colleague Anthony Aguilar on the new Seriously Sara podcast along with host and first-generation Palestinian-American Sara Haddad to talk Gaza, fascism in America, and taking a stand…
Welcome back to the team room! This week is special because Trent and Peaches had the opportunity to sit down with former SOF TACP, Wes Bryant. In this conversation, Wes shares his journey from joining the Air Force, to operating at the highest levels of SOF, to transitioning out and finding a new way to serve…
In the eighth episode of Semi-Indestructible, USAF Special Operations Master Sergeant (Ret) Wes J. Bryant joins the show to discuss his extensive military training, how martial arts turned his life around, and rebuilding yourself after a tragedy…
When war breaks out, we tend to focus on whether the war is justified. Is it right to fight? Under international law, it's not that hard to justify going to war. But if we really want to understand why wars happen, asking only if the war is justified can muddy the water…
Wes J. Bryant retired from the U.S. Air Force in 2018 at the rank of Master Sergeant after twenty years of active duty service. Embedded with Special Forces teams under a Navy SEAL task force, Wes was the tactical lead for a contingent of special operations JTACs to first set foot in Iraq to stop ISIS…
Wes served in the Air Force as a Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC) and helped establish the strike cell model that took down ISIS in Syria and Iraq…
Wes Bryant is a U.S. Air Force Master Sergeant (retired) who served eight combat deployments in the post 9/11 era as a Special Operations Forces Tactical Air Control Party (TACP) and Joint Tactical Air Controller (JTAC)…
MSgt (Ret) Wes Bryant, a former JTAC and TACP, talks about the importance of airstrikes in the fight against ISIS…
Chelsea and Steve of the Global SOF Foundations podcast SOFspot sit down (virtually) with Wes Bryant.
Wes Bryant talks with Left of Greg hosts Greg and Brian about the book Hunting The Caliphate. He also shares his experience transitioning from active duty to civilian life.
Colonel Daniel Roper, U.S. Army retired, host of AUSA’s Thought Leaders, interviews Wes Bryant and Dana Pittard on Hunting the Caliphate.
Dana Pittard and Wes Bryant have an in-depth discussion with host Brandon Vogt of Albuquerque’s KKOB radio on the formation of ISIS and America’s military campaign against them, as told in their book Hunting the Caliphate.
Wes Bryant and Dana Pittard discuss Hunting the Caliphate with retired Master Sergeant Eric Marts.
Breaking news of the raid in which terrorist and leader of Isis Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi suicides to avoid capture. Special guest Wes Bryant, author of the new book "Hunting the Caliphate" gives a unique insight.
Wes Bryant and Dana Pittard have a lively conversation on Hunting the Caliphate and the war on ISIS, and touch on the domestic socio-political climate, with the hosts of Crosspolitic.
Dale Throneberry discusses the latest news of a military withdrawal from Syria with Dana Pittard and Wes Bryant, co-authors of Hunting the Caliphate.
Dana Pittard and Wes Bryant enjoy a lively and fun interview with the hosts of the Minnesota based radio show and podcast the Tom Barnyard Show.
Wes Bryant in a two-part interview on the “Around the Triangle” radio series with host Kyle Wilson of iHeart radio.
Dana Pittard and Wes Bryant have a contentious while civil interview with renowned 9/11 and War on Terror conspiracy theorist and Holocaust denier Kevin Barrett on his radio show Truth Jihad.
A gritty, detailed interview with co-authors Dana Pittard and Wes Bryant as they talk ISIS and Hunting the Caliphate with host Ben Buehler-Garcia of American Warrior Radio.
A captivating interview with Dana Pittard and Wes Bryant as they deep-dive into Hunting the Caliphate with brilliant host Julie Rose on BYU radio’s Top of Mind.
ZETEO
A former Pentagon official on how America is wholly unprepared for this new and dangerous conflict.
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RESPONSIBLE STATECRAFT
Are US special forces going to be used for drug interdiction in Mexico, or even on American streets, next?
WES J. BRYANT
Americans need to face reality. The U.S. military is in the hands of a volatile, aspiring dictator, whose only decision calculus in employing its incredible might is how powerful it will make him look in a given moment and how feared and respected he will become…
BOSTON GLOBE
Diversity. Care for civilians. Loyalty to the Constitution. All the things Trump and Hegseth are undermining…
THE HILL
In the months since Israel launched its offensive into Gaza in the wake of the brutal terrorist attacks by Hamas on Oct. 7, the Israeli government and military have inflicted a catastrophic level of civilian harm on the Palestinian population...
THE HILL
Nearly three months into Israel’s war in Gaza, the casualty data that has emerged is deeply troubling to me as an expert in close air support and targeting...
WES J. BRYANT
I spent a military career in the war on terror as a US Air Force Joint Terminal Attack Controller (JTAC)—the airpower experts who coordinate and call in airstrikes…
IRREGULAR WARFARE INITIATIVE
Explosive reports from major news outlets in September declared that, last year, tech guru and billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk had shut down the Starlink service for the Ukrainian military in Crimea, thwarting Ukraine’s ability to conduct a major counteroffensive against the Russian navy…
MODERN WAR INSTITUTE
In the United States, we often analyze distant armed conflicts and counterterrorism efforts as if watching from a remote observation tower…
REAL CLEAR DEFENSE
June 2014 – Baghdad. We were treading a thin line, and we all knew it. I was the senior enlisted joint terminal attack controller for the 300-member special operations task force sent to Iraq to quell the rising threat of ISIS…
TASK & PURPOSE
They started the US war against ISIS. Now they have an important message for Trump on abandoning the Kurds…
AIR FORCE TIMES
It was late August 2014. I was one of the handful of American military forces in Baghdad, Iraq’s capital. Only a few months before, ISIS laid siege…
Analysis & Investigative Contributions
LIEBER INSTITUTE FOR LAW AND LAND WARFARE
Last December, weeks before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the New York Times ran an article that describes a highly secretive strike cell operating during the U.S. campaign in Syria and run by a small task force of U.S. special operators...