William Blum

William Blum in 2007

William Blum (born 1933) is an American author, historian, and critic of United States foreign policy. He studied accounting in college. He held a computer-related position at the United States Department of State in the mid-1960s. Initially an anti-communist with dreams of becoming a foreign service officer, he says he became disillusioned by the Vietnam War.

Journalism

He left the Department in 1967. He then became one of the founders and editors of the Washington Free Press, the first "alternative" newspaper in the capital. In 1969, he wrote and published an exposé of the CIA in which was revealed the names and addresses of more than 200 employees of the Agency. He has worked as freelance journalist in the United States, Europe and South America. From 1972 to 1973 Blum worked as a journalist in Chile, where he reported on the Allende government's attempts to distance Chile from US influence. In the mid-1970s, he worked in London with ex-CIA agent Philip Agee and his associates "on their project of exposing CIA personnel and their misdeeds". He supports himself with his writing and speaking engagements on college campuses.

In his writing, Blum devotes substantial attention to CIA interventions and assassination plots. He has supported Ralph Nader's presidential campaigns. He currently circulates a monthly newsletter by email called "The Anti-Empire Report".

Osama bin Laden statement

In early 2006, Blum briefly became the subject of widespread media attention when Osama bin Laden allegedly issued a public statement which quoted Blum and recommended that all Americans read Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower. As a result of the mention sales of his book skyrocketed. Rogue State shot up from 205,763 to 26 on Amazon.com's index of the most-ordered books. In a May 22, 2006 article entitled, Come Out of the White House With Your Hands Up, Blum wrote, "Since the bin Laden recommendation, 19 January, I have not been offered a single speaking engagement on any campus . . .This despite January-May normally being the most active period for me and other campus speakers."

Books

• 1986: The CIA: A Forgotten History (Zed Books) ISBN 0-86232-480-7
• 2000: Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower (Common Courage Press) ISBN 1-56751-194-5
• 2002: West-Bloc Dissident: A Cold War Memoir (Soft Skull Press) ISBN 1-56751-306-9
• 2003: Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, revised edition (Common Courage Press) ISBN 1-56751-252-6
• 2004: Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire (Common Courage Press)

External links

• William Blum's Homepage Anti-empire reports
• Bio Files: William Blum
• William Blum's articles in Foreign Policy Journal.
• William Blum's articles in Z Communications.
• William Blum's articles at the Centre for Research on Globalization.
• William Blum's articles at Third World Traveler.

• America's most feared man An interview with Blum from Liverpool's 'Nerve' magazine

• William Blum in the Media Whirlwind Transcript of William Blum’s Jan. 28, 2006 appearance on C-Span's call-in show Washington Journal

• Myth and Denial in the War on Terrorism--Why do terrorists hate the USA?