''CovertAction Quarterly'' (formerly ''CovertAction Information Bulletin'') was an American journal in publication from 1978 to 2005, focused primarily on watching and reporting global covert operations. It is generally critical of US Foreign Policy, the Central Intelligence Agency, and capitalism. ''CovertAction'' relaunched in May 2018 as ''CovertAction Magazine.''

History and profile

Covert Action Information Bulletin

The first issue of the ''Covert Action Information Bulletin'' was launched at a press conference in Havana, Cuba, coinciding with the

11th World Festival of Youth and Students The 11th World Festival of Youth and Students was held from 27 July to 3 August 1978 in Havana, capital city of Cuba. The festival was attended by 18,500 young people from 145 countries. The motto of the festival was "For Anti-imperialist Solidar ...

. The magazine was founded by former CIA officer turned agency critic Philip Agee,

William Schaap William Herman Schaap (March 1, 1940 – February 25, 2016) was an American lawyer, co-founder of the ''CovertAction Information Bulletin'', and director of the Institute for Media Analysis. Life He was born in Brooklyn to Maurice and Leah (née ...

, James and Elsie Wilcott, Ellen Ray, William Kunstler, Michael Ratner, and Lou Wolf in 1978. It was created in order to carry on the work of the preceding publication '' CounterSpy'' magazine, which the editors claimed had been shut down as a result of CIA harassment. Contributors included critics of US foreign policy such as Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Michael Parenti and Christopher Hitchens. Agee said the ''Bulletin'''s goal was "a worldwide campaign to destabilize the CIA through exposure of its operations and personnel." The Mitrokhin Archive, by ex-KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin and British intelligence historian Christopher Andrew, alleged that ''Covert Action Information Bulletin'' received assistance from the Soviet KGB and Cuban DGI. Mitrokhin claimed that the Soviet group RUPOR was responsible for the ''Bulletin'', although cautioned that of the publication's members, only Agee would have been aware of the foreign government connection. KGB files recovered by Mitrokhin boasted of their ability to pass information and disinformation to Agee. The magazine was based in Washington DC.

CovertAction Quarterly

In 1992, with the issue #43, the magazine was renamed as ''CovertAction Quarterly''. In 1998, the magazine won an award from Project Censored for a story by Lawrence Soley in th
Spring 1997 issue
title
"Phi Beta Capitalism"
about corporate influence on universities. Publication of ''CovertAction Quarterly'' ceased in 2005 with issue #78, only to be resurrected as ''CovertAction Magazine'' in 2018. Several articles from ''CovertAction Quarterly'' were collected in two anthologies, ''CovertAction: The Roots of Terrorism'' and ''Bioterror: Manufacturing Wars The American Way'', both published by Ocean Press in 2003.

Selected personnel

* Jim Wilcott, member of the Board of Advisors. He spent nine years with the CIA as a finance officer, and his wife Elsie also worked for the Agency during the same period.Wilcott, Jim
"The CIA and the Media: Some Personal Experiences."
''CovertAction Information Bureau'', no. 7 (Dec. 1979-Jan. 1980)
pp. 23-24.
/ref>

Publications

Anthologies
''CovertAction: The Roots of Terrorism''
edited by Ellen Ray & William H. Schaap. Ocean Press (2003). . 310 pages
Excerpts.

''Bioterror: Manufacturing Wars the American Way''
edited by Ellen Ray & William H. Schaap. Ocean Press (2003). . 80 pages. Magazines
''CovertAction Information Bulletin''
(1978-1992). ** Issues no. 1–42.
''CovertAction Quarterly''
(1992-2005). ** Issues no. 43–78.
''CovertAction Magazine''
(2018–present). ** Issues no. 79–present.

References

Notes

Footnotes

External links

Official Website

Official Archives
* Complete archive at Internet Archive
Appearances
on

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American cable and satellite television network that was created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a nonprofit public service. It televises many proceedings of the United States ...

Profile
a
The Freedom Archives

Profile
i
''Conspiracy Theories in American History: An Encyclopedia, vol. 1''
edited by Peter Knight. '' ABC-CLIO'' (2013)
pp. 212-213.
* CIA Archive Collection (1978-1987) at Internet Archive
Interview with Lou Wolf.
''Our Hidden History'' (May 31, 2018). {{Authority control 1978 establishments in Washington, D.C. 2005 disestablishments in Washington, D.C. Defunct political magazines published in the United States Quarterly magazines published in the United States Books about the Central Intelligence Agency Defunct magazines published in the United States Intelligence websites Magazines about espionage Magazines established in 1978 Magazines disestablished in 2005 Magazines published in Washington, D.C.