William Blum

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) 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 of the City University of New York. Blum worked as a computer programmer for IBM and later the U.S. State Department. He had the ambition of becoming a foreign service officer to, as he explained, "take part in the great anti-Communist crusade" but was later disillusioned by the Vietnam War. Blum became involved in anti–Vietnam War activism and was pressured to resign his government post in 1967. 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 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'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." According to Blum, left-wing publications such as The Nation 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 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. On the Bin Laden endorsement, Blum stated, "This is almost as good as being an Oprah book."

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, from kidney failure at the age of 85 following a fall in his apartment two months earlier.

Works Articles (DV) Blum: "Come Out of the White House With Your Hands Up!" 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 (1986). . Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II. Common Courage Press (1995). . UK edition. Zed Books (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. Zed Books (2013). .