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| Covert Action Quarterly |
The Washington, D.C.–based mag Covert Action Quarterly (CAQ) began publishing inward 1978 nether the championship of Covert Action Information Bulletin (CAIB). The mag has developed a next non every bit a conspiracy-theory-related publication, merely every bit a source for reliable, consistent, in addition to accurate investigative reporting. Originally, CAQ was a watchdog periodical that focused on the abuses in addition to activities of the CIA, nonetheless it has gradually evolved into a to a greater extent than general, progressive investigative magazine.
While almost every number of CAIB focused on the CIA, detailing its activities inward Central America in addition to Southeast Asia, inward the domestic media, in addition to on academy campuses, CAQ has covered a wider arrive at of domestic in addition to international political issues amongst stories in addition to occasionally entire issues on surveillance technologies, the U.S. prison theater system, the environment, mad moo-cow disease, AIDS, ECHELON, Bill Clinton, media cover-ups, Iraqi sanctions, in addition to the drug wars.
Contributing authors withdraw maintain included intellectuals, writers, in addition to activists such every bit Noam Chomsky, Howard Zinn, Michael Parenti, Sara Flounders, Philip Agee, John Pilger, Ramsey Clark, Leonard Peltier, Allen Ginsberg, Diana Johnstone, Laura Flanders, Edward S. Herman, in addition to Ward Churchill.
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CAQ was cofounded in addition to copublished past times Ellen Ray, William Schaap, in addition to Louis Wolf, along amongst old CIA agents such every bit James in addition to Elsie Wilcott, in addition to Philip Agee, author of Inside the Company: CIA Diary. Following inward the tradition of CounterSpy Magazine (1973–1984), amongst whom CAQ’s publishers originally worked, highlights of CAIB included the notorious “Naming Names” column, which printed the names of CIA officers nether diplomatic cover.
These were tracked through exhaustive interrogation inward the State Department Biographic Register in addition to diverse domestic in addition to international diplomatic lists. This column, in addition to others similar it, came to an cease inward 1982 when the Intelligence Identities Protection Act was signed into police pull past times Ronald Reagan.
CAIB had to cease the “Naming Names” column, merely to a greater extent than significantly, the human activity required that magazines such every bit CAQ hold upwardly to a greater extent than wary virtually the names they published inside the articles of their contributors. This was specially pregnant subsequently Dec 1975 when Richard S. Welch, a CIA station chief, was assassinated inward Athens, Greece. CounterSpy was criticized past times both the CIA in addition to the press for its exposure of the agent’s name.
In 1992, Issue 43, Covert Action Information Bulletin changed its mention to the electrical flow Covert Action Quarterly (“Recommended past times Noam Chomsky; targeted past times the CIA”), a 64–70-page mag published iv times a year. CAQ had a reputation for beating to the punch to a greater extent than mainstream standardbearers, such every bit the New York Times.
In 1995, it covered the genocide inward Rwanda in addition to U.S. complicity inward those events, years earlier whatever other publication cared to notice; it ran in-depth investigative articles on the ascent of homegrown militias earlier the Oklahoma metropolis bombing; in addition to it was the showtime U.S. publication to expose the beingness of ECHELON (the safety agencies’ surveillance software). CAQ has been the regular recipient of the annual Project Censored awards for the Top 25 Censored Stories.
The mag has oft had several articles on the list, such every bit inward 1997 amongst Karl Grossman’s “Risking the World: Nuclear Proliferation inward Space,” John Stauber in addition to Sheldon Rampton’s “The Public Relations Industry’s Secret War on Activists,” in addition to David Burnham’s “White-Collar Crime: Whitewash at the Justice Department.”
In 1998, CAQ’s staff (comprising its editor of nine years, Terry Allen, associate editor Sanho Tree, in addition to staff fellow member Barbara Neuwirth) were dismissed past times post in addition to without discover inward a vogue that seriously damaged the magazine’s reputation, specially since the mag was at its strongest during these years.
The behavior of the publishers was strongly criticized inward newsgroups in addition to on mailing lists, inward articles inward the Washington City Paper in addition to the Village Voice, in addition to past times writers similar Christopher Hitchens in addition to Alexander Cockburn, who called the publishers “So-called leftists act[ing] similar people from the Fortune 500” (Ripley, 12).
While the management suggested that the firings were due to interpersonal issues, editors Allen in addition to Tree disagreed, claiming that the differences cutting along political in addition to editorial lines. In a widely distributed letter, Allen asserted that the publishers unsuccessfully attempted to withdraw maintain its editors issue articles that presented the Serbs every bit blameless victims of genocide in addition to that denied the beingness of concentration camps nether Milosevic, in addition to 1 that professed to expose Hitler’s hush-hush bunker inward Antarctica.
The publishers also took number amongst an article that affectionately described Fidel Castro every bit a “nice old fart.” They also attempted to impress articles that dealt amongst issues inward a to a greater extent than conspiratorial fashion, thence playing out the traditional tension betwixt conspiracy theory in addition to the investigative reporting of governmental in addition to corporate malfeasance.
Following a 2001 case betwixt the publishers, the magazine’s electronic in addition to impress rights were separate betwixt its publishers, nonetheless both the newspaper in addition to online versions (www.covertactionquarterly.org in addition to www. covertaction.org) withdraw maintain remained dormant since their inception.
Following the firings, CAQ lost both its contributor base of operations in addition to its might to organize itself, eventually leading to the demise of the magazine. Excluding an number assembled past times the publishers, in addition to around other edited past times Rory O’Neill (April–June 2001), who was consequently fired past times the publishers, CAQ has non published regularly since the 1998 “purge.”
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