A review by hikemogan
The withdrawal: Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan, and the fragility of U.S. power by Noam Chomsky, Vijay Prashad
4.0
This book contains chapters on 1) Vietnam and Laos, 9/11 and Afghanistan, 3) Iraq, 4) Libya and, 5) the Fragility of U.S. Power. I read a lot of information that was completely new to me despite being an avid reader of Chomsky. If there's an overarching theme, it's the exploration of what the U.S.'s criminal wars in the last 25 years have done to U.S. hegemony in the midst of rising counterbalancing forces large and small (China, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Russia).
The book is formatted in a unique way; some of Prashad and Chomsky's conversations and correspondence that make up each section blend into each other. It's often impossible to know where one person's portion ends and another's begins. The forward and the afterword section don't add much to the overall book, they're basically rehashing Chomsky's amazing accomplishments and history. Overall the book is a fast read and worth it if only for the devastating raw facts that Prashad and Chomsky highlight in America's wars of choice that defined the past 25 years.
The book is formatted in a unique way; some of Prashad and Chomsky's conversations and correspondence that make up each section blend into each other. It's often impossible to know where one person's portion ends and another's begins. The forward and the afterword section don't add much to the overall book, they're basically rehashing Chomsky's amazing accomplishments and history. Overall the book is a fast read and worth it if only for the devastating raw facts that Prashad and Chomsky highlight in America's wars of choice that defined the past 25 years.