William Blum

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William Blum in 2007.

William Blum (1933–2018) was an American author, journalist, a one-time State Department employee, and a staunch critic of American foreign policy. His basic argument was that just about every American foreign intervention, whether justified in terms of "fighting communism" or "bringing freedom and democracy ", was just another imperalist maneuver.

Blum left the State Department in 1967, abandoning his aspiration of becoming a Foreign Service Officer, because of his opposition to what the United States was doing in Vietnam. He then became one of the founders and editors of the Washington Free Press, the first “alternative” newspaper in the capital.[1]

Blum took great care to properly reference most of his arguments, often drawing on "papers of record" such as The New York Times, Washington Post and The Guardian. When available, he would also cite official documents and reports.

On a tape released in January 2006, Osama Bin Laden said that "it would be useful" for Americans to read Rogue State, a book by Blum. Blum was both shocked by and pleased with the questionable endorsement.[2]

Books by Blum[edit]

  • America’s Deadliest Export: Democracy: The Truth About US Foreign Policy and Everything Else (2013, ISBN 1-78032-445-6)
  • Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower (2005, revised, ISBN 1-56751-194-5)
  • Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire (2004, ISBN 1567513069)
  • West-Bloc Dissident: A Cold War Memoir (2002, ISBN 1-56751-306-9)
  • Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II (1995, ISBN 1-56751-253-4)

External links[edit]

References[edit]

  1. About William Blum William Blum.
  2. The Author Who Got A Big Boost From bin Laden by David Montgomery (January 21, 2006) The Washington Post.