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| A Time to Fight: Reclaiming a Fair and Just America | 
 enlarge | Author: Jim Webb
Publisher: Broadway
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy Used: $4.25
You Save: $20.70 (83%)
New (49) Used (29) from $4.25
Avg. Customer Rating:  38 reviews
Sales Rank: 21145
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 0767928350
Dewey Decimal Number: 320.60973
EAN: 9780767928359
ASIN: 0767928350
Publication Date: May 19, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 An Impressive Person with Good Insight! July 1, 2008
5 out of 7 found this review helpful
Sen. Webb is an impressive individual with a strong record of achievement and independent thinking that distinguishes his book from most others written by politicians.
What I appreciated most about the book was the fact used to support his reasoning. For example, readers learn that tax law defers taxes on overseas profits until brought back to the U.S. - thus, encouraging off-shoring American jobs. Webb contends income inequality in the U.S. is growing dramatically - J.D. Rockefeller, at the height of his earnings brought in about 7,000 times the average per capita income in 1894; however, last year a hedge fund manager made 738,000 times the current amount. (High-earning CEOs don't even have to be profitable, and few contribute anything notable such as inventing the light bulb.)
Microsoft, paragon of profitability over the last several decades, continues to grow profits, while its worker earnings have stagnated. Profit enhancers include a large number of Microsoft "permatemps" (no benefits), use of H-1B visas, and terminating a tax software project when the workers tried to unionize.
The average CEO in 1968 made 20X the income of his/her average worker; now the ratio is 100X. The U.S. stands alone in the scale of rewards corporate leaders give themselves vs. employees - Japan's take in 10X, German/South Koreans 11X, French 16X, and the British 21X. Overall, corporate profits are up, the stock market is up, and wages are down.
Our trade deficit has brought China $1 trillion in U.S. holdings.
In the mid-1980s, the U.S. had 206,000 soldiers and 88,000 airmen in Germany, while the entire British army numbered 145,000; this dropped to 75,000 at the end of Gulf I.
Sanctions against repressive regimes (eg. Burma) make various U.S. groups feel good, but usually drive the targets closer to eg. China. (There are also strong ties between China and Iran, a fact that most American leaders ignore.)
Webb sees the U.S. military as abused by civilian leadership since the Truman era when the Secretary of Defense helped launch the North Korean strike on South Korea by his omitting South Korea in a list of key American interests.
Webb also praises MacArthur's rule over Japan, pointing out that he carefully preserved the structure of the Japanese system and governed through it - the opposite of our approach in Iraq. Japan was also an easier project - being an island it was not subject to the inflow of foreign jihadists, terrorists, etc. In addition, it was an ethnically homogeneous country.
Webb goes on to tell readers that the Chinese entry into the Korean War was generated by British spies that forwarded U.S. memos ordering MacArthur to keep out of china and not to use nuclear weapons. Thus, MacArthur was also improperly blamed for not anticipating the Chinese entry when he advanced into North Korea following U.N. direction to unify the country.
Eisenhower, conversely, is commended for his wisdom on conflicts of interest between the military and the civilian defense establishment.
America was founded on the notion of citizen-soldiery; we now rely on mercenaries to fill out the ranks. Gulf War I saw a 50:1 ratio of American troops to private contractors. In 2003, the ratio in Iraq was 10:1, and by 2007, 1:1. Most contracts were awarded without competitive bidding, and almost all cost far more than regular soldiers (eg. $445,891 per year for a protective security specialist. Meanwhile, accountability is almost non-existent.
A late 1990s study found the ratio of Republic-leaning military officers was 8:1 vs. Democrats. Webb attributes this to the abuse heaped on Vietnam soldiers and war efforts by Democrat groups during that era. In addition, there is still resentment to Mcnamara's mismanagement - since matched by Rumsfeld.
Finally, Webb addresses our world-leading incarceration rate - 5X the world average. Parole revocations account for about 1/3 admits to prison, twice the ratio in the 1980s. Drug offenders also account for about 1/3 the admits. About 16% of inmates are mentally ill.
Bottom-Line: Webb is an independent and clear thinker!
 "A Time to Fight...Republicans" July 30, 2008
5 out of 8 found this review helpful
After a very compelling first chapter "Scorpions in a Jar," I thought (hoped) Mr. Webb would spend the rest of the book detailing the intricacies of influencing the "scorpions" (meaning US Senators) to get legislation passed. Unfortunately, the first chapter was a tease. The rest of the book, while interesting and informative, appeared to be Webb's detailed resume for the Secretary of Defense or Vice President position in the next Democrat administration.
After explaining his decision to run for office, his horror that his own written words would be used against him, and his general distain for the nasty politics used agianst him, he failed to mention the efforts of 527's and others who besmerched his opponent at least as badly as he. To read Senator Webb's acccount, he was the only person in Virginia's Senatorial race who had mud slung at him, which was not the case at all. But his reprise of the election process did enhance his image as a fighter, for those not familiar with his military and government service, achievements, and recognition.
As a retired military bubba (Vietnam 'era' but never served in combat there) I found a few of his chapters and ideas very interesting:
"So Who Doesn't Like Soldiers Now?" contained an excellent and first ever analysis (that I have seen written by a Democrat) explaining why the Vietnam and post Vietnam era military generally do not like Democrats or the Democrat party. Webb says polls show active military are more likely to identify themselves as Republicans 8:1 over Democrats. He clearly explains how it was that a Democrat administrations got us into Vietnam (Kennedy's), micromanaged the military and prevented victory (Johnson's), and subsequently a Democrat controlled Congress abandoned the military efforts in that war by "defunding" the conflict, all the while Democrat Anti-war activities were on-going and subsequently assigned the follow-on Republican administration and the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines who served in Vietnam "responsibility" for the whole Vietnam "problem."
I think he does a pretty good job of identifying the disconnect between the lack of a defined, consistent US national strategy and congruent civil political and military activity. What he does not do is investigate why that is the case. Perhaps that has something to do with what gets politicians elected (remember the phrase: "...it's the economy stupid?") Few presidents are willing to bet their Presidency on funding and executing a coherent national strategy when lack of attention to entitlement programs, the housing market, and the economy at home are the issues that will guarantee reelection. (This goes for Senators too by the way. Please note only 13 Republican Senators voted against the Fannie May & Freddie Mac "bail out." All Democrat Senators that voted (including Webb) voted for that multi-billion dollar government largess that tax paying, seniors/baby boomers/Gen X &Y'ers, our children, and our children's children will be paying for a long, long, long time. Webb voted for this abomination of a bill despite decrying the influence of the Chinese as major owners of US debt. Apparently, staying in line with his Democrat cohorts for a "party line vote" was more important to Mr. Webb than the implications of extending our line of credit with the Chinese.)
He also provides a very logical and believable historical overview of US involvement in the Middle East (at least since the bombing of the Marine Barracks in Beirut) that outlines valid concerns for US forces that should have been more heavily weighted by "Dubya's" advisers before initiating the war to remove Saddam Hussein in Iraq.
In "MacArthur Go Home" his analysis of the politics of Civilian Executive Leadership removing responsibility for making battle space strategic and tactical decisions from the battle field commanders starting with Truman firing MacArthur is a perceptive if not new observation. He alleges that Bush 43's and Rumsfeld's continued and refined the mismanagement of military leaders by ignoring of recommendations by both experienced active duty and retired (Shinseki and Zinny) general officers further emasculating military leadership as simply "tools" of elected and appointed politicians - not makers of policy or even controllers of national/battle space campaign strategy. Fortunately he also described Truman administration State Department's blunders that may and probably were key factors in North Korea's decision to invade South Korea which thus required military intervention. In other words what happened under the Bush 41 and 43 administrations in the Middle East is not new to this country.
He could have cited similar instances of politically motivated Executive Branch management/manipulation/mismanagement of the use of military force in the Clinton Administration. US involvement in Bosnia and Somalia are two excellent examples, but Webb chose to take aim at only George W. Bush who many readers will know and Truman who many readers will not be as familiar with. There are also legion examples of the contempt and disrespect shown to active duty military by the Clinton White House. However, those are not mentioned in this book, but as a fomer Marine, Congressional Staffer, Republican adminstration official, and Washington insider/correspondent I am sure Webb is very aware of them.
If Senator Webb truly desires to 'Reclaim a Fair and Just America,' I suggest he provide some pro bono legal services on behalf of Airman Apprentice Steven Nary.
Despite numerous oversights, selective examples of what some have called the "politics of personal destruction," and some whining, I enjoyed Senator Webb's book, but perhaps he should have titled his book: "A Time To Fight...Republicans."
Senator Jim Webb's plan to restore America's greatness August 5, 2008
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Senator Webb successfully makes the case for civic action to change American society from one in which there are only two classes: wealthy and poor; to one in which there is, again, a middle class that dominates and brings back ethics and hope for America to remain a nation of moral people that make achievement possible for everyone. He's hard on the GOP,the ruling party of the past ten years. He makes the case for replacing their values of greed and "trickle-down" economics with a much more socially responsible leadership.
A Must Read for Everyone June 18, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
"A Time to Fight" by Senator Jim Webb is one of the most important reads of this decade. His insight on the Iraq War, to oursourcing, immigration and the threat of China is both extremely well written and cogent to our times. I read this book in three days and now have a renewed confidence in our political systm and our leaders. Senator Webb is a leader, a fighter, a patriot and not a "typical" polititian.
 Too ideal June 21, 2008
3 out of 5 found this review helpful
If Senator Jim Webb (D-VA) had published his book three decades ago, he would have been easily considered a proponent of counter culture. Webb, a Vietnam War veteran and hero who later served in the Reagan administration, has apparently broken up with America's conservative movement, save for his support for the Second Amendment. Judging by his book, Webb wants an enlarged government with big social welfare expenditures.
This review does not aim at judging Webb's views on domestic policies and his support of welfare programs. However, it should be noted that Webb promotes himself in as an expert on foreign policy issues. Other than fighting in Vietnam, this Virginia Senator has been on a short trip to Beirut in 1983 as a TV correspondent. From that trip, Webb draws most of his conclusions about the forsaken Middle East and its endless rivalries. Webb's conclusions, based on a trip to civil war-torn Lebanon at the time, are premature if compared to the experience of other American politicians and Senators who had the chance of touring several countries of the region and holding meetings with its many leaders.
Judging by his book, Webb is undoubtedly an intellectual and a brave patriot who fought for his country. His thoughts and proposals for change in Washington are noble, and also ideal. This idealism is the aspect that undermines the credibility of politicians with good intentions. It is never enough to have good ideas in the world of politics. What is more important is to have enough exposure to the political scene to know how to make these ideas fly, a characteristic that this noble Senator clearly lacks despite his long experience as a fighter, administrator, author and Senator.
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