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21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
A masterpiece, 18 Sep 2003
Anyone who is truly interested in understanding the dark complexities of the civil war in Colombia must read this book. To that end, "More terrible than death: Massacres, Drugs, and America's War in Colombia," is an absolute masterpiece. Author Robin Kirk is brutally honest and quite frankly...very lucky to be alive to tell this story. Upon completing this book the reader will conclude that Kirk is a sincere and thoughtful student of the human condition in Colombia. Kirk is also a front line witness of a secret and savage dirty war. To this end, she is able to draft a brilliant synopsis of the violent actors in Colombia. Kirk is special. She refuses to lose her cool despite being surrounded by death. Her polished prose calms. Kirk's words do not jump off the pages and shout at you...instead they cling to you and then sink to the bottom of your soul. The end result is a deep disgust of the Colombian government for not protecting defenseless civilians outside the big cities. Without a doubt, the leaders of Colombia...particularly in the military will consider this book a hard slap to the face. Kirk cleverly documents Colombia's long history of conducting a ruthless dirty war against the poor. The author uses a series of flashbacks and flashforwards to liven the pace of events. Moreover, Kirk displays an extraordinary talent for writing. The bottom line of this book is that the political leaders of Colombia must sanitize its armed forces of paramilitary death squads. Kirk is not a doomsday author. She does her homework and uses her intimate knowledge of life in Colombia to unfold a stirring narrative. This book is a surefire national bestseller that will redden the faces of Colombian leaders and boil the blood of American taxpayers. Because as Kirk brilliantly tells it...millions of dollars in American military aid...continues to flow to blatant human rights abusers in the Colombian armed forces. Bert Ruiz
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