@JTT,
William Blum
Blum is a former underground journalist who specializes in sharp critiques of foreign policy. Published by a small outfit in Maine, he also sells his books over the Internet and issues a free monthly e-mail newsletter called the Anti-Empire Report.
(You a subscriber J?)
Of whose book "Rogue State," Osama bin Laden said in 2006:
Quote:"And if Bush decides to carry on with his lies and oppression, then it would be useful for you to read the book 'Rogue State,' which states in its introduction: 'If I were president, I would stop the attacks on the United States: First, I would give an apology to all the widows and orphans and those who were tortured. Then I would announce that American interference in the nations of the world has ended once and for all.' "
In response, Blum commented:
Quote:This is almost as good as being an Oprah book. I'm glad. I was not turned off by such an endorsement. I'm not repulsed, and I'm not going to pretend I am. 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."
(This guy has a way with words, doesn't he?)
Quote:In a chapter called "Why Do Terrorists Keep Picking on the United States?" Blum lists as possible reasons everything from support of Middle East dictators, including the Shah of Iran and Saudi rulers, to occupying military bases in the region, to favoring the Israelis over the Palestinians.
"I think bin Laden shares that view, and that is why I'm not repulsed by his embrace of my book, because that is one of my major themes," Blum said.
Blum is either desperate for readers or is fine, despite feeble protestations to the contrary, with terrorists who "keep picking on the United States."
Back in 2006, Blum's publisher Common Courage Press either could not or would not provide the Washington Post with sales figures for the book. Blum asserted that this and another of his books sold a total of 100,000 copies, with an additional 50,000 in foreign language versions. The Arabic translation (which is undoubtedly what bin-Laden read) is very popular.
Noam Chomsky and Oliver Stone are fans of the book, as was the late Gore Vidal.
His admirers like to describe Blum as a
former State Department officer or official obviously to suggest that he had an inside view of the secret dealings of the US government, when in reality he held a low-level computer related position in the late 60's.
His book currently ranks 67,586 in Amazon sales.
It did get a temporary boost in sales after the bin-Laden endorsement, but so did
Rogue Nation: American Unilateralism And The Failure Of Good Intentions by Clyde V. Prestowitz
Apparently any book that had a title like Rogue State got a boost after the Osama Club announcement.
Here's a couple of gems from Blum:
Quote:We can say that the United States runs the world like the Taliban ran Afghanistan. Cuba is dealt with like a woman caught outside not wearing her burkha. Horrific sanctions are imposed on Iraq in the manner of banning music, dancing, and kite-flying in Kabul. Jean-Bertrand Aristide is banished from Haiti like the religious police whipping a man whose beard is not the right length.
Introduction to Freeing the World to Death
Quote:If I were the president, I could stop terrorist attacks against the United States in a few days. Permanently. I would first apologize -- very publicly and very sincerely -- to all the widows and the orphans, the impoverished and the tortured, and all the many millions of other victims of American imperialism. I would then announce that America's global interventions -- including the awful bombings -- have come to an end. And I would inform Israel that it is no longer the 51st state of the union but – oddly enough – a foreign country. I would then reduce the military budget by at least 90% and use the savings to pay reparations to the victims and repair the damage from the many American bombings and invasions. There would be more than enough money. Do you know what one year of the US military budget is equal to? One year. It's equal to more than $20,000 per hour for every hour since Jesus Christ was born. That's what I'd do on my first three days in the White House. On the fourth day, I'd be assassinated.
"War against terrorism or expansion of the American Empire?"
(Hey, maybe President Obama read his book!)
Note too that this quote didn't even come from the book bin-Laden endorsed. I wonder if Osama actually read it.
Blum has said that his mission in life is:
Quote:If not ending, at least slowing down the American Empire. At least injuring the beast. It's causing so much suffering around the world."
Sound like anyone we know?
Oh, and he doesn't use yellow background for his webpages, he uses teal.
I will continue to laugh as it happens. 
