Customer Reviews

Addicted to War: Why the U.S. Can't Kick Militarism

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

I picked up this book, all skeptical, thought it was a kidfs comic book. Although simply worded, the wit, content and organization blew me away. I read it in one night, thoroughly engrossed. As the reader above stated, it was a revelation. Working as a cog in corporate America, I thought the anti-militarists were all a bunch of loonies out to harm my good old capitalist interests--money. Instead, I realized just how manipulated I had been. Reading about all the lives and billions of dollars our government has wasted truly awakened me. This book makes you want to question every tidbit we hear in the media. I attempted to verify some of the more flamboyant quotes attributed in the book and guess what? They were true! Perhaps most profound is the simple logic this book presents which slowly hits you at the end. For example at the end of the cold war people thought world peace would be attainable now that the US was the only remaining super power. Yet now George Bush comes along putting fear in us about the terrorist threat, his request for 87 billion dollars and the statement that this new war could last an entire generation. What lessons have were learnt from all the previous wars? Nothing.

Addicted to War was the first book on this subject matter that I read, some time ago. For me, reading this book was like having a revelation. I was speechless the entire time I read it, glued to the pages. I hope not to sound too cliche, but after reading it, I felt as if I had just awoken from "The Matrix", seeing for the first time some of the larger truths of U.S. foreign policy and its inseparable ties with big business and the economy, and how I had been manipulated my entire life to see things in a different way. And I immediately thought that everyone in the U.S. who hasn't been exposed to this kind of thinking needs to read this book. Since then I have bought dozens of copies for family, friends and acquaintances.

Joel Andreas relies mostly on quotes from leaders of industry and government as well as government documents and memos throughout the book to support his thesis that war is a racket, benefitting the wealthy of this country, and paid for by the working people of this country in taxes and military service. One may argue with his conclusions, but would be hard-pressed to dispute the authenticity of the source material used.

The book inspired me to purchase a number of other books dealing with similar subject matter (some of them used in the impressively long Bibliography listed on the last 3 pages of the book), as I think was part of the intent of the book. It's meant to jolt you awake (especially if you were politically asleep like myself) and encourage you to seek out more information on the subject matter.

I see only a couple small nitpicks with the book. Since I've been reading stacks of other articles, books and papers on similar subjects, I think there are a few other dynamite quotes that could have bolstered the viewpoint of Andreas but were overlooked, although the quotes chosen do an excellent job anyway. Also, the role of Communism in the world during the time of most of the military and CIA interventions mentioned in this book is not discussed. This is important information for the reader to know, and I hope anyone who reads this book will research that topic after reading it. Any historian or political scientist with the opposing point of view of this book will likely tell you that the deterrence of the spread of Communism was the primary motivating force behind most of these encounters, and this is the reason given by the government. But that point I think can be overlooked while reading this book, as that information is covered in great detail in other places, and it is not central to the ideas presented by the author. Those ideas being, primarily, that our leaders (leaders of industry and government) are motivated to go to war and change the politics of other countries not out of a desire to spread Democracy throughout the world, but from a desire to bolster the economy and line their pockets. As that is the stance the book takes, the information and the way it is presented is quite convincing.

The other idea that I think is left unexplored in the book, is how essential the natural resource of petroleum is to the survival of the U.S. (and the world) economy and lifestyle, and how securing access to that resource is our most primary national security interest, which has directed U.S. foreign policy a great deal over the last 50 years. I would also encourage the reader to explore this information as a supplement to this book (Michael T. Klare wrote a fantastic book, "Resource Wars", about this very subject).

While there are some well-read and knowledgeable people who may point out this book is full of "tired stereotypes" or that the points presented are old and cliche, I would say that the majority of people living in the U.S. have not been enlightened to these ideas, and as such, I can't recommend reading and distributing this book enough.

What an absolutely fabulous little book! In clear concise and honest fashion, this book lays out in easy to read illustrated pages, the real history of this country. No where in my college level education were these easily verifiable facts presented. My family and friends read this book, and all agree it should be required reading for every highschool student in the country. It has never been more needed than right now with our insane military aggression threatening to engulf the Middle East in a terribly destructive, illegal, and immoral war for profit and control of oil. Read who is doing this and why, read who profits from this madness, take a copy to your next PTA meeting and ask the teachers to read it! The negative reviews cannot dispel the truth of this book, it is loaded with facts, not "tired stereotypes". Buy this book! Better yet but 5 copies and hand them out!

I opened it up and thought, "isn't this a comic book?" The drawings were simple. But as I started reading it, I realized how truly astonishing this book is. It's meticulously researched with published sources for every scrap of information, and photo documentation of quite a few events. I've even double-checked a few of its weightier claims in other research, and this book as won every test of historical accuracy I've put it through.

The book is so stunning it makes my head spin after the one hour it takes to read. It's one of those book I want to buy for everyone I know. It actually has the power to change beliefs and assumptions we have about our country and human rights.

Put this one under the Christmas tree. A popular classic, now in a new reprint, strictly based on popular demand - no commercial hype whatsoever - gives an easily accessed history of the military industial complex, the ruling junta in today's America - from its very earliest roots. An invaluable educational resource in its comix format - also available in Espagnol.

In just over 60 pages, author Joel Andreas presents a concise, coherent argument that America is "Addicted to War." The book is in comic format and traces America's military actions throughout the world. The author covers history beginning with the idea of Manifest Destiny through the present conflict in Iraq--the so-called 'War on Terrorism.' There were several events in the book that I had never heard of, and quite frankly I questioned the accuracy of some of the quotes. References at the end of the book, however, corroborate the author's depictions and quotes. The information is astounding. I did know about America's ties with Saddam Hussein and the fact that he'd been supplied with chemical weapons by the U.S. in the 80s. But some of the statistics included are horrifying, and I was unaware that Iraqi soldiers in trenches were buried alive at the end of the first Iraqi war by U.S. tanks and bulldozers. "Addicted to War: Why the U.S. Can't Kick Militarism" is an alternate history book that packs an incredible punch. If you're receptive to the message of this engaging and thoughtful book, it will open your eyes to certain awful realities, and if you doubt any of the information, then satisfy your curiosity with a search for the truth. You'll be stunned at what you discover--displacedhuman.

I've already reviewed the earlier edition, but this is NEW and IMPROVED, complete with all the info you need to understand the true motivation behind 9-11 and the "War on Terrorism." This book is a MUST for every library shelf, every classroom, every church, every home. There is absolutely no excuse for walking blindly into what could very well be the final vestiges of what passes for humankind. It is our responsibility to learn everything we can about what is happening today, who is behind it, and who benefits; and to do whatever we can to make a difference.

Educating ourselves is the only way to open that very painful door. The way this book is written, in simple, comic book form, makes it as painless as possible. Take it in. Lives are at stake.

Was very impressed with how this comic book of all political comic books is so much more informative than the norm. If you are of the right, politically or the left, politically, this book brings war and all of its hidden realities into sight. Some of the war deeds perpetrated by my country had been known to me before reading this book, but more deeper information was brought to surface. Other deeds of war action done in the name of God and Country and our tax dollars, were starteling. I recommend all High School teachers insist that this be a required book for Senior yr. students before these young men and women walk blindly into the world by themselves.

I didn't think it possible that a comic book could level a just, factual and scholarly critique of the American Military Industrial Complex, but Joel Andreas has provided us with such a book. Addicted to War is quite possibly the best and certainly the most concise history of American foreign policy (war) out there. To lend credibility and scholarship, all quotes and facts are cited in the back. Also included is a wonderful list of organizations for those readers inclined to do something about this horrendous problem. An essential teaching and learning tool that should be widely disseminated and read by the general public.

I got impressed and was so glad because an American drew this book.

I was worried that people in the States may have no sense to war. No hearts wish any war. Now I also try Japanese people to read this book. We, Japanese, have hardly felt the danger of war. We should know how and why wars broke out.

We have Japanese edition. I'll push this to others.