IVAW Convention at Huston-Tillotson University
Next month is the annual IVAW Convention. This year it will be held at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, TX. Here’s what they say about the purpose of their convention;
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.
Sounds like a joyful reunion of all of the folks the military has divested itself of the last few years. If you’d like to call Huston-Tillotson Univ., here’s their phone and fax respectively; Telephone at 512.505.3000, Fax at 512.505.3190.
Oh, and there’ll be a special guest. I’m not sure if he’s invited or just in town;
Yes, our favorite derelict and reject from the human race (and frequent troll) Carl Webb plans on crashing the convention. Let’s see to what degree Webb is welcomed. I wonder if the leeches and pedophiles from VFP and Military Families Speak Out will be having their convention at the same place and time this year like last year in College Park to keep the kiddies in (party) line. Since that’s his AO, you can be sure Doug Zachary will be there to raid the coffers at every opportunity.
Sounds like oodles of fun.
Category: Antiwar crowd, Iraq Veterans Against the War, Phony soldiers, Usual Suspects
So will this be the year they finally quit lying to the public by changing the name of the organization? Or are they going to kick out all non-Iraq veterans?
Not likely, Scott. And it wouldn’t surprise me in the least if at some point they (quietly) let Webb return to their fold.
Sounds like a target-rich environment.
I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.
Good Aliens reference. I am totally against IVAW having their convention in my home town of Austin, Texas. I have called Houston-Tillotson already and passed off info about Matthis.
HTU is a black college. Odd place to hold a convention, but I’m glad they didn’t decide on my future school, St. Edward’s University.
Fucking sweet. I was looking for some entertainment when I go home on R&R at the end of June. What’s the going pay scale for your reporters?
IVAW is in the same class as Cindy. Everyone should just ignore this farce and let them chatter among themselves, slinking into oblivion.
Nah, not while the give a rapist a free pass. Don’t just comment, take some action.
Carl Webb,
It never gets old to say: Fuck off and die. I’m so glad the Code of Conduct no longer applies to your kicked-out ass. Did you forget you’re banned from IVAW events? I know I for one will be happy to call the cops on you, and I know they’ll be happy to arrest you.
And it only took you guys HOW LONG to boot his ass? And you had to vote on it to even get it done then?
Lie with dogs, wake up with fleas, yadda yadda yadda.
Removing Carl Webb from IVAW is like rinsing with mouthwash to treat oral cancer.
NH, let’s remember the who led the charge. 😉 As far as Army Sergeant goes, talk is cheap. You didn’t do anything to help remove Webb. You take no stands within IVAW that would comprise your position or the image of IVAW. You claim to care for Soldiers, so when a member, now former ( your welcome ), advocates sabotaging of Soldiers equipment you type some tough words and that’s about it. Your loyalty does not lie with Soldiers, but with IVAW. I’m against this war, and I am against IVAW. Oh, and take off that shirt. YOU ARE NOT AN IRAQ VET.
Casey,
Let’s be real for a second. You had no issue with me until you called me up in the middle of the night demanding to know about my personal life and didn’t like the answers you got that it was essentially none of your business. You know damn well I worked hard to get Webb out too and have busted my ass working for soldiers-in fact, you even publicized it in your own resignation letter. So trash all you want and talk a good game here all you want, but don’t pretend that we don’t both know the score.
“Like sands through the hour glass…….”
I called you in the middle of the day and you know it. I also asked calmly and with respect. It was not the answer to your question, but you laughing at me and telling me: “Casey, what are you smoking?! Hahahaha” So yeah, kiss my ass. I told you that a board member said IVAW was nothing more than a means to an end and you just blew me off. Just like when I had problems before I left. “It will get better.” was always your saying. Yeah, it’s wonderful now. ISO all over the place, Matthis running his mouth trash talking Soldiers. I’ve too seen some of the comments you’ve made on those pages, you are more like them everyday. I always gave you the benefit of the doubt but now I realize you are more concerned with IVAW than Soldiers. Your Org is beyond saving. No one takes you guys seriously except the “movement” which can’t get anything done. You’ve defended them over and over again, while they have treated you like shit, and you just keep on taking it. I’d like to know exactly what you did to get Carl removed from IVAW? Since he was allowed to do it for YEARS. How can you stay in the same Org with people such as Matthis and others who who have lied about their service or told half-truths? You also have knowledge of financial mismanagement and fraud within IVAW and you do nothing. You have no integrity when you walk along side people like that. You have no integrity when you wear a shirt that says “Iraq Veterans Against The War” when you are not one. I feel very deeply for the loss of friends you had who died in Iraq. I can not be more sincere when I say that. But you where not there when it happened and did not see it first hand. I have. I’m sorry we are no longer friends, but when you disrespect me and also stay with people who label Soldiers as monsters, and it’s not just Matthis and you… Read more »
Jacobite: Drama be poppin’! hahaha
“You have no integrity when you walk along side people like that. You have no integrity when you wear a shirt that says “Iraq Veterans Against The War” when you are not one”
Quoted for Truth.
True dat Casey. 🙂
Casey, You don’t know as much about the personal situation as you think you do, and that’s all I’m going to say about that. I understand how it would have been upsetting, but you don’t know the full context, and frankly, now that we’re not friends anymore, I don’t think I owe it to you. I will say though that you called me right after my grandmother died and I was going through a lot, and for you to write me off and hang up on me for making a sarcastic response was a shite thing to do. You ask how can I stay in an org with messed up people and financial issues? I don’t know, why didn’t you ever ask how I could stay in the Army, with messed up leadership all over the place and fraud, waste, and abuse rife? Because I believe that the right thing to do is greater than the sum of its parts. You don’t know what I did, and I can’t talk to you about it. I couldn’t when we were friends and I can’t now. I know it wasn’t the same as what you did, and it’s not comparable for degree-of-shitty. I don’t claim things I didn’t do or impact. You never see me talking about Afghanistan, there’s a reason. But I am a vet and I did have an impact-and even if I didn’t see my friends or my soldiers die, that doesn’t make them any less dead or me any less guilty. You’ve helped me and I’ve helped you. It’s what friends do, it’s what fellow soldiers do, and it’s what I believe IVAW members should do. I said I tried to get Webb taken care of. I also helped spread the petition that eventually helped end things that members and chapters signed onto. I didn’t make a video, sure, but I did my part. It wasn’t glamorous. Sometimes now I say things and I bite my tongue, because of my position. Just like sometimes in the Army I did. It’s not apologism, it’s duty. Jacobite: It is what… Read more »
When I called and asked you, it was calm, and very kind. I’m sorry your Grandmother died, but since coming from Iraq and getting discharged, my Grandfather died, my dog since childhood died, and then my Grandmother. I NEVER talked to you like that. Shit, you even blasted me online right after you got off the phone. Your excuses are paper thin. Furthermore, I wouldn’t be surprised if you didn’t lie to me in that answer you gave, since it was so over the top. Your damn right I hung up on your ass, no one talks to me like that.
I did ask you why you stayed in the Army, you did reenlist, remember? Also, if you bailout from the Army, like going AWOL, there can be serious consequences. Leaving IVAW, while it might upset some people it won’t hurt your benefits, type of discharge, etc etc. Good grief, how can you compare the two? You sound more like the a-typical antiwar type everyday.
Did you deploy to Iraq? No. Then you are not a Vet. It’s fine with me that you are against the war. Hell, I am too. But hearing about things and seeing them from a distance is a lot different than being there. How dare you try to equate the two.
What petition? It was me e-mailing the members that woke them up to what is national was doing. It was those who supported me that called and wrote into IVAW.
Also, why did it take you almost two years to get this petition started? Oh, that’s right, you where getting my back and the backs of Soldiers, just really really damn slow.
You’ve never been short tempered to me? Casey, you have definitely called and talked to me in not a great way, especially when IVAW things weren’t going the way you wanted. You made me the fall guy for that a lot and you weren’t always nice about it. I was still your friend. You said some things that from anyone else would have been really offensive sometimes, but I knew you were kidding, so I didn’t take it the way I would if other guys said stuff like that. And if you said something that upset me, I gave you always the benefit of the doubt and talked to you about it. I have never lied to you. I shouldn’t have given you the answer that I did, it was a quick, bitchy response and I was under a lot of stress at the time, but it was not a lie. The question you asked, with different data and names filled in, is one I’ve been asked a /lot/ in IVAW, for good reasons and bad, and I am just really sick of it. I just want to do my work and be taken on that score, not have everybody focused on other stuff. And yeah, maybe I shouldn’t have taken it straight to facebook afterwards, but I was really upset-I had been friends with you for years, and stood by you even when you did stuff that got me on the hot seat, and you bailed because I was snarky /once/ about a subject that you had no good reason to care about. And again, hung up when I tried to call you back. I don’t always breathe unicorns, sometimes I’m short-tempered too, and you know I have good reasons why. I wasn’t talking about illegitly bailing. I was talking about the decision to re-enlist or not. I re-enlisted multiple times, as you know, because I believed that despite the bad the Army contained, the overall goal was good. Same with IVAW. I don’t have it in me to quit a fight. I simply don’t. I keep going if… Read more »
“It is what it is.”
AS: Yes, it usually is. ;^)
“There’s no better organization out there dealing with the war.”
Did you seriously say that?
DAV, Legion, VFW, MOPH, TREA, MOAA, IAVA…..just to name a few that have been dealing with the war.
Damn Casey, story sounds familiar. All within 3 yrs of getting home I’ve had a 17 year marriage dissolve, 16 year career lost because business owner retired while I was gone, dad died 2 months after I got home, my favorite dog of 17 yrs died, my mom died, and my dad’s dad died about a year after that, mom on Christmas morning, I retired from the Guard after 20+ yrs, moved 3 times, started and lost a powerfully emotional relationship with another woman, deployed to New Orleans for Katrina, and have been struggling financially since ’05, something I’ve never really faced before.
My time in Iraq was cake compared to how life has been since coming home.
Just out of curiosity, why are you against the war? Feel free to contact me personally about that if you’d rather not delve into it here.