An American Addiction: Drugs, Guerillas, and Counterinsurgency in US Intervention in Colombia [ABRIDGED] [AUDIOBOOK] (Audio CD)

~ Noam Chomsky (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Columbia is now the 3rd largest recipient of US foreign & military aid, the justification for which is the War on Drugs. In a clear, concise and sometimes bitterly funny lecture, Noam Chomsky shows us who is getting the money, who is producing and exporting the drugs, and what the war on the ground in Columbia is really about. In the ongoing debate over whether Columbia will become the "next Vietnam," Chomsky's analysis will provide a great introduction to the Columbian elite, the role of the US media, how "development" works in Columbia & other crucial issues. Imagine Traffic starring Chomsky instead of Michael Douglas.

About the Author

Noam Chomsky is unmatched in his ability to explain contemporary poltics in easy-to-understand language. He has dozens of books in print including: Media Control, Powers & Prospects, Profit Over People, Rogue States, The Prosperous Few and the Restless Many and Year 501. He teaches linguistics at MIT.

Product Details

• Audio CD: 52 pages
• Publisher: AK Press; Abridged edition (November 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1902593448
• ISBN-13: 978-1902593449
• Product Dimensions: 5.4 x 4.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #524,872 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Provocative, June 17, 2002

By	Bert Ruiz "Author" (Pleasantville, NY USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Noam Chomsky is a graybeard with enormous credibility. His view of U.S. intervention in Colombia is alarming. You may or may not agree with everything said but you will agree that Chomsky forces you to think.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What is the war on drugs?, October 28, 2003

By	A. M Wall "SEO Junkie..." (state college, pa United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Chomsky examines many crucial aspects to give you the entire painting. The point of this CD is to show what the real goals or motives of the war on drugs is.

1.) lead the poor Columbians to death
2.) extract profits where possible
3.) jail our poor
4.) control the remainder of the population through fear

Noam goes into specific details and cause effect relationship analysis of our actions. Did you know our food for peace program undermined the wheat commodities market in Columbia?

Speaking of small farmers, he uses the line "Sorry there will be no food this year, but there will be some next year."

What makes these type of CDs so powerful is that he not only points out the problem, be he also offers simple solutions.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Comsky covers the essential issues well, February 3, 2005

By	Dana Garrett - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Chomsky offers an excellent introduction to the USA's increasing and significant hegemonic involvement in Colombia's internal affairs, which now runs into the multiple billions of dollars involving military aid and the widespread use of military "trainers." Chomsky discusses following:

1. The history of Colombia's 40-year civil war (which, in fact, should be dated starting with the 1940s).

2. The various government, rebel and paramilitary forces involved in the civil war.

3. The intersection of the illegal drug trade with the widespread acts of crime and terrorism in the country.

4. The policies that have allowed Colombian elites to appropriate the most productive agricultural lands and have driven peasant farmers into remote regions of Colombia suitable mostly for cultivating drug crops.

5. The Colombian government's policy (at the USA's insistence and underwriting) of fumigating drug crop areas, forcing literally millions of peasant Colombians into homelessness and exile.

6. The Colombian government's widespread repression (often murder by the paramilitaries) of dissidents.

7. Colombia's natural resources and strategic importance in Latin America, which accounts for the USA's interest in the nation.

Chomsky points out that USA tobacco production accounts for more death worldwide than Colombia's (or all other nations') coca and marijuana production. He then asks: would we think another nation has a "right" to fumigate our tobacco lands, causing widespread homelessness and exile, because our tobacco products cause people to die in that nation? Rather, wouldn't we think that nation should deal with its tobacco demand issues and not cause our people harm? Of course we would, but it is not a logic the USA applies in the case of Colombia.

This CD is quite good. However, those well acquainted with the issues involving the USA's involvement with Colombia will find most of Chomsky's presentation familiar territory. The CD is clearly intended for those not acquainted with the central issues.