Phil Giraldi
Philip Giraldi is a former CIA counterterrorism and military intelligence officer who spent nearly two decades overseas before retiring from the agency. He is executive director of the Council for the National Interest, a US foreign-policy advocacy group focused on the Middle East, and writes a regular column for the Unz Review. A recurring Judging Freedom guest, he draws on his intelligence background to assess US Middle East policy.
Where they stand
A short read of where Phil Giraldi lands on each front we follow, drawn from their recent appearances and refreshed whenever they turn up in a debrief.
Iran
Trump’s claimed "victory" over Iran is a fabrication: Iran had no nuclear weapon in development, and the strike only shored up domestic support for the regime. Now opposes what he calls a needless war building against Iran, arguing the real purpose of the planned bomb transfer to Israel is to let the US strike Iran, and Syria, Lebanon, Egypt and Turkey after it, on Israel's behalf, and wants it ended.
as of 2026-09-16
Ukraine & Russia
The war was triggered by British and American intervention pushing Ukraine into an aggressive posture; repeated off-ramps were blown by Western insistence that Kiev keep fighting. Now sees Russia as militarily dominant across the Poland/Baltic region and calls it "a losing game" for Poland and the Baltic states to keep confronting Moscow, dismissing Polish FM Sikorski's claim that Poland could defeat Russia as "patently untrue."
as of 2026-09-16
Israel
Netanyahu vetoed Trump’s own touted Gaza peace framework with no pushback; the administration "will do anything for Israel" and has never turned Netanyahu down. Now calls the planned gift of 40,000 2,000lb bombs to the Netanyahu government a case of American pilots doing Israel's "dirty work" since Israel lacks the aircraft to deliver them itself, and says Congress and the president are "owned by Israel."
as of 2026-09-16
American power
Sending the CIA director rather than the Secretary of State to Moscow carries an implicit threat rather than genuine diplomacy, the wrong channel and message. Ratcliffe’s unannounced four-hour Kremlin visit, meeting officials below Putin, is unprecedented for a CIA chief and looks like an impulsive move originating with Trump personally.
as of 2026-08-27
The global economy
Trump’s claim that the US "owns" the Strait of Hormuz has no basis whatsoever.
as of 2026-08-27
Recent appearances
Phil Giraldi: Trump's Vanity Will Consume Him
Judging Freedom (Judge Napolitano) · 2026-09-16