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Why people enlist. His bias against warfare is obvious, but he is fair to the U.S. He discusses the horrible death tolls, the weapons used in wars, the odds of dying or being wounded, the odds of suffering psychological damage. The world has been at peace a mere eight percent of recorded human history. Chris Hedges has no expectation that war will ever be eradicated. It does not try to persuade or dissuade. Like it or not, he presents the brutal facts honestly. This is not a pleasant read, but kudos to Chris Hedges for debunking the glorious, John Wayne, Hollywood version of war.
Hedges usually writes in elegant and polished prose, but this book is stark and blunt, as befits the subject matter. What it feels like to shoot another human being. War is "an inevitable part of the human condition," he laments. Army, even to quoting from its own field manuals. What it feels like to be shot. Daily life in the military: boredom punctuated by terror. This one is not a polemic. It simply lays out the facts.
This book is a mandatory read for anyone with an interest in the United States Armed Forces. It manages to get rid of the false securities and illusions by providing the truth; it makes troops around the world all the more appreciated for what they really do, not for what society thinks of them as having already done. A: Probably not.
It discusses some of the questions not often asked or thought of during recruit interviews. usually perpetuated by the media and the movies about war time. From what will happen in boot camp ("you may be made to do tasks at which you are unskilled, and punished when you fail them") to the effects of what will happen with your family when you come home ("a preschooler may be angry and demanding, acting out and wanting you to prove you are real"), this book covers all.
Decorations are hard to earn.). This book answers such questions as: Will I be more likely to commit suicide if I am in a war.Will someone rescue me if I am wounded.Am I more likely to use drugs when I am deployed.If I can walk away from an explosion, does it mean I am OK.Will I face biological and chemical weapons.Is there a chance I will enjoy killing.How many prisoners of war escape or are rescued.What are the most common forms of physical torture. Things Every Person Should Know About War helps get rid of the fame, honor, and glory (Q: Will I be decorated for bravery.
It embraces the realism of day to day combat, the toll it takes the human psyche, and the relationships that are both built and broken because of this change. Simply, this book will benefit anyone who reads it.
War isn't like a movie or video game and while we all kind of know that, including most young people, truth is nothing brings home the point like being faced page after page with cold hard facts. I would consider giving this book to a young man in my family or that perhaps you are a mentor to.
The 'candidate of hope' has made clear he will in reality change little and plans to increase our military presence in Afghanistan. The other one frankly isn't worth commenting on.
Here we are in Fort America in 2008 with the Iraq War in it's seventh year, the War on Terra still in full swing (of course), and with both presidential candidates bending over backwards to ensure the powers that be and the masses that they are more than willing to solve problems with violence and war. You don't at all have to share my utter contempt and hatred of war to appreciate and benefit from it.
Who knows what new conflicts will emerge in the next few years. Chris Hedges had a good idea with this book _What Every Person Should Know About War_.
I think it is especially important for those that are more likely than the rest of us to enter the military and find themselves in combat to have as good of an idea as they can of what hell may be in store for them.
The Publishers Weekly review should be reviewed--and deleted for inaccuracy:"He fails to note that depictions of gore, mayhem, psychological trauma and flashbacks have become staples of Hollywood's treatment of war even as such experiences have become less common in America's high-tech, casualty-averse military. As the first reviewer mentions, Hedges tells the truth about war without glossing over or glorifying the effects of war on human beings. Americans, soldiers and civilians both, could use a clear-eyed analysis of modern warfare, but this limited treatment doesn't yet provide one.""Casualty-averse military." This is simply false as well as disrespectful to the thousands of war dead and injured. The reviewer does a great disservice to Hedges book in making such a moronic claim. Amazon, please do something about the PW review.
The Q & A format leaves little room for doubt. every parent with a teen-age son should read. digest. and act accordingly
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