''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 A covert operation is a military operation intended to conceal the identity of (or allow plausible deniability by) the party that instigated the operation. Covert operations should not be confused with clandestine operations, which are performe ...

. It is generally critical of

US Foreign Policy The officially stated goals of the foreign policy of the United States of America, including all the bureaus and offices in the United States Department of State, as mentioned in the ''Foreign Policy Agenda'' of the Department of State, are ...

, the

Central Intelligence Agency The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

, and

capitalism Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for Profit (economics), profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, pric ...

. ''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 Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

, 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 Philip Burnett Franklin Agee (; January 19, 1935 – January 7, 2008)Will Weissert"Ex-CIA Agent Philip Agee Dead in Cuba" Associated Press (sfgate.com), January 9, 2008. was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) case officer and writer of t ...

, William Schaap, James and Elsie Wilcott, Ellen Ray,

William Kunstler William Moses Kunstler (July 7, 1919 – September 4, 1995) was an American lawyer and civil rights activist, known for defending the Chicago Seven. Kunstler was an active member of the National Lawyers Guild, a board member of the American Civil ...

Michael Ratner Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name "Michael" * Michael (archangel), ''first'' of God's archangels in the Jewish, Christian and ...

, 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 Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American public intellectual: a linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, historian, social critic, and political activist. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is ...

Howard Zinn Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian, playwright, philosopher, socialist thinker and World War II veteran. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political scien ...

Michael Parenti Michael John Parenti (born September 30, 1933) is an American political scientist, academic historian and cultural critic who writes on scholarly and popular subjects. He has taught at universities as well as run for political office. Parenti i ...

and

Christopher Hitchens Christopher Eric Hitchens (13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011) was a British-American author and journalist who wrote or edited over 30 books (including five essay collections) on culture, politics, and literature. Born and educated in England, ...

. Agee said the ''Bulletin'''s goal was "a worldwide campaign to destabilize the CIA through exposure of its operations and personnel." The

Mitrokhin Archive The "Mitrokhin Archive" is a collection of handwritten notes which were secretly made by the KGB archivist Vasili Mitrokhin during the thirty years in which he served as a KGB archivist in the foreign intelligence service and the First Chief Direc ...

, by ex-KGB archivist

Vasili Mitrokhin Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin (russian: link=no, Васи́лий Ники́тич Митро́хин; March 3, 1922 – January 23, 2004) was a major and senior archivist for the Soviet Union's foreign intelligence service, the First Chief Dir ...

and British intelligence historian Christopher Andrew, alleged that ''Covert Action Information Bulletin'' received assistance from the Soviet

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

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 ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

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 The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

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

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.