"The U.S. government's war in Asia has been the longest and most painful involvement of U.S. military in modern warfare. For nearly a decade, Noam Chomsky urged the U.S. to confront and avoid the dangers inherent in what is now referred to as the Vietnam War. Drawing in part on his visits to Asia and in part on his extensive reading in the field, he discusses the historical, political, and economic reasons behind our first involvement in an Asian land war. He then examines what this has really meant in terms of our military strategy and its eventual effects both on the U.S. and the rest of the world. Looking back thirty years later, we still share Chomsky's concern: Will this war lead us to an ever-expanding battle against the people of the world and increasing repression at home?"

I am going to do the unforgivable, and quote two Amazon.com reviews to explain why I have such affection for this particular Chomsky book.

"In 1970, Noam Chomsky urged Americans to confront and avoid the dangers inherent in the American invasion of Southeast Asia (North Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos). Looking back 30 years later, we still share Chomsky's concern: Will this new war lead us to an ever-expanding battle against the people of the world and increasing repression at home?"

and --

"The most interesting essays [here] 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."

My own, and only, quibble with this long-overdue reissue is that it doesn't bear the original cover - a horrifying photo of an American soldier dragging a mangled Vietnamese body behind him. That captured the horror of the Indochinese war: four million Indochinese dead, and so many more lives destroyed through the destruction of lives, limbs, families, and whole communities. ( )