Rating: 
Summary: Educational and Enjoyable
Review: I picked up this book, all skeptical, thought it was a kidĀfs 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.
Rating:
Summary: Educational and Enjoyable
Review: I was told by a coworker that this book was "enlightening". The only thing I found enlightening was the gaps in the information presented. World War Two is played up a an aggressive extention of American foriegn policy. No mention of Hitler or Pearl Harbor. And that's just one example. America's recent adventures overseas are gone over in detail, until the Clinton Presidency...he gets a pass except for Kosovo and then it's barely a paragraph. Anyone remember Somalia or Haiti? I was hoping for something more a 'la Larry Gonick's History of the United States.
Rating: 
Summary: Depressingly predictable
Review: I was told by a coworker that this book was "enlightening". The only thing I found enlightening was the gaps in the information presented. World War Two is played up a an aggressive extention of American foriegn policy. No mention of Hitler or Pearl Harbor. And that's just one example. America's recent adventures overseas are gone over in detail, until the Clinton Presidency...he gets a pass except for Kosovo and then it's barely a paragraph. Anyone remember Somalia or Haiti? I was hoping for something more a 'la Larry Gonick's History of the United States.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST for every library, classroom, church and home!
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: "A lovely piece of real estate."
Review: 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.
Rating:
Summary: Buy it and share it with others
Review: Okay so you're some sort of lefty activist, and you got some really apolitical friends, and it just drives you crazy that they don't care about everything as passionately as you do. You try to explain things to them, but it just doesn't register. Well in my personal experience, this comic does a great job of explaining one of the evilest evils there is in this country - militarism. It's not their fault that they (your apolitical friends) don't care, it's your fault for not coming at them the right way. This comic is a great first step. It's easy to read and explains the gravity of the situation in a way that doesn't make most folks roll their eyes. Plus the mom of the little kid is hot!
Rating:
Summary: Military-Industrial Complex for Dummies
Review: The political cartoonish illustrations are deceptive. This is a very skillfully made primer on our current predicament in America; this complicated arrangement of financial and political power which maintains a militaristic ideology and seizes a lion's share of our tax revenues, and more than an ounce of our spirit. Andreas provides a digest wtih verifiable quotes on every page, tracing the evolution of American militarism back to our colonial era and the doctrine of Manifest Destiny. The book provides a historical outline and an analysis of our current situation (the new edition dates from immediately after 9/11), for the general reader to be able to understand and discuss our military policy. Militarism, and the vital industry war has become for us, is still vastly misunderstood or ignored by most of the public, in spite of the central place the American military claims in our lives - even in peacetime. So yes, this is highly recommended material.
Rating: 
Summary: Neutral Opinion
Review: The truth about this book is that it is a very generalized without going into details, nothing in this book is truly wrong but rather exaggerated or not explained properly. This book is more of a jump-start to knowing what corruption is going on in the U.S. If you are already knowledgable about these things it's really not a book for you. I recommend it mostly to students under the age of 18 who find it too dificult to engage themselves in those thick, confusingly-worded political books. Bottom line is, it gives the basic information about the U.S. society and its militarism, but not the inside details. Overall an O.K. book. It's not going to spark a revolution but at least make people aware of what the hell is going on in this world.
Rating:
Summary: Every page has something wrong
Review: There are few books that I have ever seen which combine a distortion of the truth with extreme ignorance as well as Addicted to War. Page 1. A woman complaining about high taxes, her son says the school has no toilet paper. The school board says they get very little help from the federal government. Is she a single mother with a child? Then her federal tax rate is around 8%. Schools get an enormous amount of money. In NY State the spending is $11,000 per pupil, far more than that woman is probably paying. Since when is the FEDERAL government supposed to provide money for schools anyway? A pie chart shows 51.6% of the federal governments annual discretionary spending is on the military. I'm certain that the author knows that his intended audience does not know what "discretionary" spending means and will just look at the pie chart and assume that 1/2 the taxes goes to the military. Page 2. The author claims the government skimps on providing for basic needs of people. Since when is the governement supposed to provide for basic needs? The author claims that cutbacks in social programs have caused far more devastation in this country than any foreign army ever has. This is absurd. Firstly has there even been any cutbacks in social programs? Secondly he cleverly uses the word "army" Since terrorists aren't an army they don't count at all! Just ignore the 3,000 deaths and the trillions of dollars lost in opportunity costs. Every plane ticket you buy includes the added costs of security. The added security every office building has costs money. The added delays to travel, the inspection of shipping packages, etc. The author claims that "foreign wars" brought retaliation in the form of 9/11. How about some proof of this assertion? Bin Laden himself says why he declared war on the US and it's not because of our involvment in foreign wars. Page 3. A little boy claims that the US thought they should determine everone else's destiny. No proof of this. A fairly common tactic is to quote some crackpot congressman or senator, as if his opinion was that of everyone or even the majority. Page 4. The US "seized" nearly half of Mexico's territory. Does anyone stop to ask how it is that Mexico got the territory in the first place? They "seized" it from someone else, who did the same to those before them. Page 5. A quote from "Charles Denby" (wow! he's almost as important as George Washington!) about the US looking to expand its markets. The implication is that this is something wrong. The US made great products, life saving products, labor saving products, things which made life easier for people. What is wrong with wanting to sell them to the rest of the world? Everyone benefits. At no point did the US force anyone to buy our stuff at gunpoint. The distortions, the ignorance, the indoctrination goes on and on page after page. You could write a whole book about it. It is obvious to me that the intended audience will never think too deeply about what is said in this book. I believe the author is not so much troubled by the power structure in the US but rather who is in power. He wants to replace one type of corrucption with his own. The front cover claims "over 70,000 in print". I wonder how many of those copies are because some college professor (College!!! laughable) requires it.
Rating:
Summary: Stupid Book that Insults the Intelligence
Review: This is a book full of tired stereotypes that will undoubtedly be embraced by the tired, old lefties from the sixties. Save your money and put it towards granola instead.
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