Bryan Stern
ON THE RECORD · 23 verbatim quotes · every quote source-verified
“The bad guys that we're talking about today are extremely sophisticated. They are extremely resourced, extremely resourceful. They're very intelligent, they're very smart, and they're very good at what they do.”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern described today's adversaries as sophisticated, resourced, intelligent, and capable.
“Until I actually squeeze the triggers, I haven't committed a crime yet,”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern described how potential terrorists with passports can evade detection before committing a crime.
“The bad guys are completely not afraid. They're completely emboldened. They have got the whole world to hate Israel, the whole world to hate us,”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern said adversaries are emboldened and have turned global opinion against Israel and the U.S.
“They’re good at chess,”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern warned that radical enemies are strategically sophisticated in the wake of the FlyDubai attempted hijacking.
“They have been in holy war against us,”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern said adversaries have been engaged in holy war against the U.S.
“It's a tough problem.”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern characterized the counterterrorism challenge as difficult.
“if somebody assassinated the pope on Easter Sunday while he's giving mass at the Vatican.”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern likened the killing of the Ayatollah on Ramadan to assassinating the pope on Easter Sunday.
“And we’re, if we’re lucky, playing checkers – if we’re lucky – and I would argue we’re not even playing checkers that well.”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern argued the U.S. is lagging behind its enemies in counterterrorism strategy.
“A team was put together and the question before the court was, if you were al-Qaeda, what would you do?”
Bryan Stern · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11
Stern described a hypothetical exercise in which a team was asked what they would do if they were al-Qaeda.
“We gotta start watching some game tapes.”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern said the U.S. must start studying its adversaries' tactics more closely.
“We conduct these operations in these places still to this very day,”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern described his organization's ongoing ground operations in Middle Eastern conflict zones.
“The Persian Empire is the only empire of empires who have been all the way on top and all the way defeated at the bottom – six times,”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern described the Persian Empire's long historical perspective as a contrast to America's relatively young history.
“The reason why a football coach watches game tapes is not to watch his own team play, it's to watch the bad guys play,”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Sern used a football analogy to argue the U.S. must study its adversaries more closely.
“On Ramadan, the holiest month of the year in Islam, on the first day, which is the holiest day, we detonated the leader of the Shia faith, the Ayatollah,”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern described the U.S. detonation of the Ayatollah on the first day of Ramadan as a provocative act.
“We have now engaged in a holy war against them.”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern said the U.S. has now engaged in a holy war against its adversaries.
“We're actually on the ground, meaning I know people in Hezbollah, I know people in the Taliban. I know people in ISIS. I know people in ISIS-K. I've met with radical jihadi weirdos and whack jobs personally.”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern described his personal familiarity with members of militant groups including Hezbollah, Taliban, ISIS, and ISIS-K.
“I was asked years ago when I was still with the government,”
Bryan Stern · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11
Stern recalled a question posed to him years ago while he was still with the government.
“We need to remember we are very used to shooting people like the Taliban who don't know what plumbing is – who literally for years lived in caves until we showed up and gave them stuff,”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern contrasted past adversaries like the Taliban with today's sophisticated enemies.
“that academic hypothetical situation has now become a reality, or certainly a possibility.”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern lamented that his earlier academic hypothetical scenario has become a reality or possibility.
“They understand us significantly more than we understand them,”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern said the U.S. needs to understand asymmetric warfare as well as its enemies do.
“you can't bomb your way into peace,”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern claimed that despite efforts to eliminate terrorist groups, military force alone cannot achieve peace.
“What I came up with was ... I would get 19 hijackers, and I would hijack four airplanes, and I would fly them into buildings in America, and then issue a communique that said: 20 years of war, you are no safer today than you were before – that for TSA, and Homeland Security, and Iraq, and Afghanistan and all the different things, you are actually no safer, America, today than you were before,”
Bryan Stern · said date not stated · reported 2026-10-11
Stern described a past hypothetical scenario he devised mimicking a 9/11-style attack followed by a propaganda communique.
“Now give me an airplane.”
Bryan Stern · said 2026-10-05 · reported 2026-10-11
Stern illustrated how a person who hasn't yet committed a crime could gain access to an airplane.