William Henry Blum (; March 6, 1933 – December 9, 2018) was an American author and journalist and a critic of United States foreign policy.

Early life

Blum was born at Beth Moses Hospital (now part of

Maimonides Medical Center Maimonides Medical Center is a non-profit, non-sectarian hospital located in Borough Park, in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, in the U.S. state of New York. Maimonides is both a treatment facility and academic medical center with 711 ...

) in Brooklyn, to Ruth (née Katz) and Isidore Blum, who were Polish Jewish immigrants. His father was a machinist. He was a graduate of Erasmus Hall High School and gained a degree in accountancy in 1955 from the City College School of Business and Civic Administration, which later became

Baruch College Baruch College (officially the Bernard M. Baruch College) is a public college in New York City, United States. It is a constituent college of the City University of New York system. Named for financier and statesman Bernard M. Baruch, the colle ...

of the

City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...

. Blum worked as a computer programmer for

IBM International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...

and later the U.S. State Department. He had the ambition of becoming a

foreign service officer A Foreign Service officer (FSO) is a commissioned member of the United States Foreign Service. FSOs formulate and implement the foreign policy of the United States. They spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, cons ...

to, as he explained, "take part in the great

anti-Communist Anti-communism is political and ideological opposition to communist beliefs, groups, and individuals. Organized anti-communism developed after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia, and it reached global dimensions during the Cold War, when th ...

crusade" but was later disillusioned by the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. Blum became involved in anti–Vietnam War activism and was pressured to resign his government post in 1967. By then he had already taken part in anti-war protests and become a founder and editor of the '' Washington Free Press'', an alternative bi-weekly newspaper.

Journalism

Blum worked as freelance journalist in the United States, Europe and South America. In 1972–1973, Blum worked as a journalist in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

where he reported on the Allende government's "

socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...

experiment" before the U.S backed coup and the regime of

Augusto Pinochet Augusto José Ramón Pinochet Ugarte (25 November 1915 – 10 December 2006) was a Chilean military officer and politician who was the dictator of Military dictatorship of Chile, Chile from 1973 to 1990. From 1973 to 1981, he was the leader ...

. In the mid-1970s, he worked in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

with ex-CIA officer Philip Agee and his associates "on their project of exposing CIA personnel and their misdeeds". He supported himself with his writing and speaking engagements on college campuses. One of Blum's stories on Iraq was listed by Project Censored as one of "The Top Ten Censored Stories of 1998" In his books and online columns, Blum devoted substantial attention to CIA interventions and assassination plots.

Noam Chomsky Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...

has called Blum's book '' Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II'', "far and away the best book on the topic." Blum supported

Ralph Nader Ralph Nader (; born February 27, 1934) is an American lawyer and political activist involved in consumer protection, environmentalism, and government reform causes. He is a Perennial candidate, perennial presidential candidate. His 1965 book '' ...

's presidential campaigns. He circulated a monthly newsletter by email called "The Anti-Empire Report". Blum described his life's mission as: "If not ending, at least slowing down the American Empire. At least injuring the beast. It's causing so much suffering around the world." In an interview with

C-SPAN Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network (C-SPAN ) is an American Cable television in the United States, cable and Satellite television in the United States, satellite television network, created in 1979 by the cable television industry as a Non ...

in 2006, Blum stated: "Speaking about U.S. foreign policy, which is my specialty, the authors I would most recommend would be Michael Parenti and

and Edward Herman and

Howard Zinn Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian and a veteran of World War II. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political science professor at Boston University. Zinn ...

and Alexander Cockburn." According to Blum, left-wing publications such as ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

'' declined to publish his work because they considered him too much of a fanatic.

Osama bin Laden statement

In early 2006, Blum briefly became the subject of widespread media attention when

Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden (10 March 19572 May 2011) was a militant leader who was the founder and first general emir of al-Qaeda. Ideologically a pan-Islamist, Bin Laden participated in the Afghan ''mujahideen'' against the Soviet Union, and support ...

issued a public statement in which he 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 greatly increased. "I was quite surprised and even shocked and amused when I found out what he'd said," Blum commented. "I was glad. I knew it would help the book's sales and I was not bothered by who it was coming from. If he shares with me a deep dislike for certain aspects of US foreign policy, then I'm not going to spurn any endorsement of the book by him. I think it's good that he shares those views and I'm not turned off by that." On the Bin Laden endorsement, Blum stated, "This is almost as good as being an Oprah book." In an interview on MSNBC ''Countdown'', he said: "Basically it's US foreign policy which creates anti-American terrorists. It's the things we do to the world. It's not, as the White House tells us, that they hate our freedom and democracy. That's just propaganda." In a May 22, 2006, article entitled "Come Out of the White House With Your Hands Up", Blum wrote: "Since the bin Laden recommendation, January 19, 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."

Death

Blum died on December 9, 2018, in

Arlington, Virginia Arlington County, or simply Arlington, is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Virginia. The county is located in Northern Virginia on the southwestern bank of the Potomac River directly across from Washington, D.C., the nati ...

, from

kidney failure Kidney failure, also known as renal failure or end-stage renal disease (ESRD), is a medical condition in which the kidneys can no longer adequately filter waste products from the blood, functioning at less than 15% of normal levels. Kidney fa ...

at the age of 85 following a fall in his apartment two months earlier.Chris Agee and Louis Wolf
William Blum, Renowned U.S. Foreign Policy Critic, Dead at 85
covertactionmagazine.com. Retrieved December 24, 2018.

Works

Articles

''Dissident Voice'' (May 22, 2006).
"Hit List."
'' CovertAction Information Bulletin'' (Fall 1993), p. 9.
"The Painful Truths Told by Phil Agee."
'' Consortium News'' (Jun. 27, 2013). Books * ''The CIA: A Forgotten History''.

Zed Books Zed Books is a non-fiction publishing company based in London, UK. It was founded in 1977 under the name Zed Press by Roger van Zwanenberg. Zed publishes books for an international audience of both general and academic readers, covering areas ...

(1986). . * '' Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II''. Common Courage Press (1995). . ** UK edition.

(2003). Revised in 2014. . **
2nd edition, updated
'. Common Courage Press (2004). . . * '' Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower''. Common Courage Press (2000). . *
Full text available.
* ''West-Bloc Dissident: A Cold War Memoir''. Soft Skull Press (2002). . * ''Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire''. Common Courage Press (2004). .
''America's Deadliest Export: Democracy - The Truth About US Foreign Policy and Everything Else''.

(2013). .

References

External links

* * * *
American Exceptionalism: The Naked Truth by William Blum
a
CovertAction MagazineWilliam Blum's articles
at ''Foreign Policy Journal''
William Blum's articles
at Z Communications (archive.org)
''America's most feared man''
Interview with Nerve Magazine, Issue 2, Summer 2003
''William Blum in the Media Whirlwind''
Appearance on

's call-in show ''Washington Journal, '' January 28, 2006
Killing Hope
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blum, William 1933 births 2018 deaths 20th-century American journalists 21st-century American journalists American anti-capitalists American foreign policy writers American male journalists American male non-fiction writers American people of Polish-Jewish descent American political writers Baruch College alumni Erasmus Hall High School alumni American opinion journalists People from Arlington County, Virginia Writers from Brooklyn Historians of the United States Cold War historians Deaths from kidney failure in the United States