Customer Reviews

At war with Asia

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If you are familiar with the ideas of Noam Chomsky, this book will come as no surprise to you. He puts forth essentially the same arguments that he did in his earlier offering, _American Power and the New Mandarins_. Chomsky writes about the war in Asia by talking about U.S. action in various southeast Asian countries and the resistence that springs up against it. The most interesting essays are the ones about Laos and North Vietnam because these writings have emerged from Chomsky's own trip to the region. He is essentially reporting on what he saw during his time on the ground. These chapters are the most convincing in the book because of this aspect, and they are the element that makes this book worth buying. I'm not sure under what circumstances Chomsky was able to travel to these war zones, but his record of the trip is filled with empathy and heartbreak. He is a polemicist at the top of his game, giving what appears to be a fairly honest account of what he saw. I found the book to be enlightening and powerful. Another good offering from one of the harshest critics of U.S. foreign policy.

I received this book by being a friend of AK Press (something everyone who is interested in these types of books should look into). Even though Chomsky, who is incredibly accessible this time around, is writing about what occured in Vietnam, the parallels to today's Iraq situation are amazing.

As always, Chomsky's work makes you think and reasses what you think you know. War time strategies are dissected, and national policy is put under a microscope. Indochina, which Chomsky points out is merely an extension of what America has been doing since its formation, was a hotbed of experimental warfare, both in technique and technology. Compare that to Iraq today, and you get the same picture.

If you care about the world situation, you need to read this book. And if you enjoy it, think about becoming a friend of AK Press.

For those of us in the peace movement, this highly educational and important account of the U.S. invasion and occupation of Vietnam should be required reading as it vividly exposes the brutal methods the U.S. ruling-class will employ to crush progressive movements for national liberation and economic democracy in the global south. As always, Noam Chomsky provides illuminating political analysis of U.S. foreign policy and global capitalism. Also, because this book incorporates reflections from his own extensive travels throughout the region, it has the added bonus of being extremely readable and fast-paced. Read this book not only to understand our shameful past, but to better understand our present situation in Iraq and elsewhere.