Bob Jensen thought my war resistance wasn't good enough to be made public.

The following is a conversation with Bob Jensen via email after asking him for his support as an antiwar media activist to help promote my public refusal to obey military orders to fight in Iraq:

Re: need Bob Jensen support

From rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu

To carlwebb1965@yahoo.com

Joining the military when you were a committed antiwar activist. I understand you had financial motivations. My point is that it undermines the case you can make in public.

bob

Quoting Carl Webb :

Thanks for the feedback and support. But what do you mean when you say "the circumstances of your joining the Guard?"

Carl

Carl: It's not a question of what sits well with me in some personal sense. As I told someone who asked for my opinion, I think the the circumstances of your joining the Guard make it easy for pro-war people to undermine your position. That's a strategic judgment. I don't know anything about the specifics of your broader politics. And, since I have left politics myself, it's not likely that would be a factor.

I support you in your personal struggle to get out. But I don't think your 
case is the best to take to the public.

bob jensen

At 12:22 AM 3/19/2005, you wrote:

Someone just suggested that perhaps the fact that I willingly signed up for the reserves while opposing the war didn't sit too well with you and therefore you might not be willing to help promote my story in the media. I was thinking it might be something else like my far left politics. Just asking out of curiosity.

Carl Webb

-------------------------
Robert Jensen
School of Journalism
1 University Station A1000
University of Texas
Austin, TX 78712-0113
rjensen@uts.cc.utexas.edu
office: (512) 471-1990
fax: (512) 471-7979
http://uts.cc.utexas.edu/~rjensen/home.htm

"BEER IS CHEAPER THAN THERAPY" Screening & Fundraiser

"BEER IS CHEAPER THAN THERAPY" Screening & Fundraiser 

Sunday at 3:00pm

Alamo Drafthouse Cinema
2700 West Anderson Ln
Austin, Texas 78757

"I'm 22 years old and I must have killed 30 people. The same thing that you were given badges for over in Iraq, you would be considered a serial killer over here, " says one soldier. "That is a very weird thought in your head, late at night."

A new documentary, Beer is Cheaper than Therapy, takes aim at the mental scars of war and paints a raw and haunting portrait of Killeen, Texas. This Army town is adjacent to the largest military installation in the U.S. , Fort Hood, and has a shockingly high rate of depression, alcoholism and suicide.

Dutch Filmmaker Simone de Vries wanted to know what is it really like to come home and be considered a hero when you might feel very different inside?

There will be Q&A with the director and people featured in the film afterwards.

Tickets are $8 and are available on Alamo's website at http://drafthouse.com/movies/beer_is_cheaper_than_therapy/austin

Proceeds from the film go to the Fisher House, which provides a free home away from home for military families and military personnel during a medical crisis.

On Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/events/405472126186569/

Author and alum Kevin Powers launches new book

September 11, 2012
6-8 p.m.

Attend a launch party celebrating the publication of "The Yellow Birds," the debut novel of UT alum Kevin Powers. This work of fiction, drawn from Powers' service in the war in Iraq, has been praised for its brilliance and immediacy. Tom Wolfe calls it "the All Quiet on the Western Front of America's Arab Wars."

Lambert's Downtown BBQ, 401 W. 2nd St.

URL: http://www.texasmonthly.com/rsvp/kevinpowers

Contact: Marla K Akin | 512-471-1601 or akin@austin.utexas.edu

Sponsor: Michener Center for Writers, Texas Book Festival & Texas Monthly

Admission: Free

RSVP required at link; seating limited

City of Austin promoting Iraq war this Saturday.

Here's another chance to protest the war!

Welcome Home Iraq Veterans - Parade and Job Fair for Iraq Veterans is co-sponsored by the City of Austin.

Saturday at 9:00am

Austinites: come down to the parade.
Veterans: stay for the job and resource fair! (Want to participate in the parade? Email us at paraderesourcefair@gmail.com)

Parade runs up Congress Ave. from Lady Bird Lake to the state Capitol.

For more info: http://www.WelcomeHomeIraqVeterans.org or https://www.facebook.com/events/316223328472028/

Schedule:
9:00 AM: Parade kicks off at Cesar Chavez and Congress Ave
11:00 AM (approx): Parade concludes at the state Capitol; ceremony begins.
11:30 PM (approx): End of ceremony; job and resource fair begins in the Capitol Extension
4:00 PM: Job and resource fair ends.

Iraq Veterans Against War convention in Austin, Texas

RISE TOGETHER: IVAW Convention 2010

Join members and allies from across the country in Austin, Texas!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER DEADLINE: TUES, JUNE 8th

WHERE:

Huston-Tillotson University
900 Chicon Street
Austin, Texas 78702-2795
Phone: (512) 505-3000

WHO and WHY:

All members of Iraq Veterans Against the War are highly encouraged to attend convention. In addition to building relationships with other members, we will be discussing the most important issues facing our GI and veterans movement.

Members will have a chance to discuss lessons learned, brainstorm innovative ideas, and develop a common orientation towards the goals and strategy of IVAW for the upcoming year.

Members will also meet with the current board and candidates, elect members for open board positions, review the status of our organization including finances, and participate in active duty outreach at Fort Hood.

Key allies and supporters are also welcome to attend convention but are responsible for the cost of their own registration and travel arrangements. We are happy to recommend housing accomodations near the convention site.

Preference for on campus housing is given to members and those with disabilities.

Address

900 Chicon Street
Austin, TX 78702

https://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/5966/p/salsa/event/common/public/?event_KEY=21064

Muhammad Ali's war resistance inspired the URL name of my blog

Message to Obama: You Can't Have Muhammad Ali by Dave Zirin

On November 19th, President Barack Obama wrote a stirring tribute in USA Today to the most famous draft resister in US history, Muhammad Ali. Obama wrote about why Ali's photo hangs over his desk, praising "The Greatest" for "his unique ability to summon extraordinary strength and courage in the face of adversity, to navigate the storm and never lose his way." On Tuesday, Obama showed neither courage nor strength but the worst kind of imperial arrogance. On Tuesday, Obama spoke at West Point, calling for an increase of 30,000 troops into Afghanistan, with a speech that recalled the worst shadings of George W. Bush's "war on terror."



Marxist sports writer, David Ziren, says that maybe Muhammad Ali has been robbed of speech, but I think we can safely guess what the Champ would say in the face of Obama's war. We can safely guess, because he said it perfectly four decades ago:

"Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No, I'm not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over. This is the day when such evils must come to an end. I have been warned that to take such a stand would cost me millions of dollars. But I have said it once and I will say it again. The real enemy of my people is here..... If I thought the war was going to bring freedom and equality to 22 million of my people, they wouldn't have to draft me, I'd join tomorrow. I have nothing to lose by standing up for my beliefs. So I'll go to jail, so what? We've been in jail for 400 years."

You can read the full article at http://www.edgeofsports.com/2009-12-03-475/index.html

Iraq Veterans Against War expel leftist

Carl Webb’s expulsion from Iraq Veterans Against War

Geoffrey Millard explains Webb’s expulsion

December 5th, 2009

A couple of conservative IVAW members sent screen shots to a pro-war website of the entire statement that Geoff (Stolen Valor) Millard wrote on the IVAW website explaining why the board voted to expell Carl Webb. Here’s the first part;

http://thisainthell.us/blog/?p=15924

http://thisainthell.us/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/letter1.jpg