Message from Debra Sweet, Director of World Can’t Wait

As I write, George W. Bush is a nightmare all over TV with his memoir, rubbing our faces in the crimes of the Bush regime. What a vivid reminder of why we needed to drive out the Bush regime, and why World Can’t Wait was formed in 2005.

In the different –or maybe not so different –political landscape of 2011, World Can’t Wait is needed more than ever. To do this, we need your financial support. The goal for this drive is $64,000 by January 31, 2011.

World Can’t Wait’s unique approach, independent of “politics as usual,” begins with what reality is –often in spite of what people wish it was –as a basic requirement for changing how people see what’s true. Then, we find substantive and visible ways to encourage people to act on what their conscience tells them is true.

Our message is directed at people living in this country who have a basic responsibility for what our government does.  We know that political protest by a mass, independent movement which is determined, broad, and large enough can force governments to respond to just demands. 

Howard Zinn [1923–2010]

Howard Zinn, who advised us from the beginning, issued this call in 2005 to students to take to the streets to drive out the Bush Regime:
“I don’t think the world can wait, I don’t think the nation can wait; I don’t think history can wait. This is I think a moment for people who have wondered,
‘What can I do?’ This is a moment for people to engage themselves and join others. And there’s nothing so uplifting, nothing so rewarding as to become part of a movement for social change.”

After Alberto Gonzales was driven out as Attorney General, the Senate ever so gently questioned his replacement, Michael Mukasey, at confirmation hearings in 2007. World Can’t Wait was determined to show the world what waterboarding actually is: controlled drowning. We carefully planned a live waterboarding, with trained actors, in front of the Justice Department, setting terms which forced Mukasey to answer questions on torture. Now, millions think “W” is for waterboarding, and recognize it as a war crime.

When the Army began a pilot program of attracting youth into its ranks through a $12 million video parlor at a mall in Philadelphia, World Can’t Wait went to investigate. Students and activists took the tour, heard their pitch, and then announced a campaign to shut down the Army Experience Center.

Crimes Are Crimes

This ad put a challenge to “End the Silence of Complicity” before 10 million readers in The New York Review of Books, The Nation, Rolling Stone, The Humanist, and The New York Times.

When courageous, principled people from within the U.S. military leaked Collateral Murder, The Afghan War Diary, and Iraq War Logs to wikileaks.org, World Can’t Wait called on everyone to study them carefully, and then put this information directly in front of their peers in classrooms, on the web, and in the streets. We organized reporters, lawyers, veterans and war resisters to speak out in live webcasts, and produced an enhanced DVD as a way for people to become aware, on the big screen, of the indelible historic record of U.S. killing of Iraqi civilians.

When Barack Obama look the extraordinary step of putting a U.S. citizen on the to-be-killed list this past January, with no provision for due process, even arguing that such an act is not a violation of international law, someone had to say it: crimes are crimes – no matter who does them. We wrote a statement that carefully documented ways in which the Obama administration was “in some respects, worse” than Bush. Dozens of well-known people of conscience signed it, and supporters raised the funds to publish it, culminating with its publication in The New York Times on October 7, 2010 – the ninth anniversary of the war on Afghanistan.

World Can’t Wait has stuck with its principles, and is leading others to take meaningful actions that challenge the wars, the torture state and the re-making of U.S. society in a fascist direction. 

Collateral Murder

The Collateral Murder footage, of U.S. troops killing 12 Iraqi civilians, was leaked from inside the U.S. military in April. Your donations will fund further production of DVD’s, also including The Afghan War Diary, for teachers and activists to show widely.

Teen4Peace, a high school student, on her experience with the World Can’t Wait, projecting footage from the Collateral Murder film onto the side of a building for passers-by, and then discussing it:
“We need to open up eyes all across this nation to the horrors of the American Empire and the entire system that thrives off of such evil. This film needs to be shown on every street corner, in every city, nationwide. After all, change comes from the people, but so many people are asleep, and you can’t do much when you’re sleeping.”

Congress and state legislatures now feature people who believe the President isn’t legitimate because he’s black, or a “socialist,” who  believe that the federal government should provide no services at all, and that people should rely on divine help instead. The notion that the 2010 election showed “the people have spoken” and that we now have to capitulate to this proto-fascist movement is as unacceptable as it would have been to “wait out” the Bush years. Democrats who accommodate this lunacy do grievous damage, and will not save us from danger.

We need our own voices in this battle! All of us must respond to this right-wing movement by increasing our work for the rights of the people, working against government spying and repression of the anti-war movement and the targeting of Muslims and other immigrants. Let’s reach out to people who are bearing the brunt of this “war for empire.” We ask for your year-end donation now in support of concrete efforts to stop the crimes of our government.

We Are Not Your Soldiers tour

Veterans back from the U.S. occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and resisters to those wars, have been in high school classrooms across the country this year telling students what they’ll be trained and ordered to do in the military. 

The personal stories of what the veterans saw and did and what they grapple with now are both fascinating and challenging to high school students. These students are much less likely to believe the military recruiters who hang around their schools and call them at home and are more likely to resist becoming part of U.S. occupations.

•Dozens of schools are waiting for the We Are Not Your Soldiers Tour.
•Veterans and resisters, like Bradley Manning, the soldier accused of leaking Collateral Murder footage, need organizations like World Can’t Wait supporting them, and making sure that information about the true horrors of these ever-expanding wars and occupations remain in the consciences of the millions of people in this country.
•Bush’s book tour needs to be protested creatively with demands for prosecution.

People around the world hated Bush as a war criminal, and don’t see Obama prosecuting his crimes. We hear from many people saying “We thought your country was going to be different.”

It can be. Together, we can think about humanity and our planet, and not just think like “Americans.”

Because the world can’t wait!

Sincerely,
Debra Sweet,
DIRECTOR, WORLD CAN’T WAIT

Berkeley Says NO to Torture

Berkeley Says No to Torture (Oct. 10-16), initiated by World Can’t Wait, and made official by the Berkeley City Council, was the largest, most diverse gathering of anti-torture experts and activists since the Bush regime began its “War on Terror.” Presenters in forums and cultural events included:

• Andy Worthington • Justine Sharrock
• Shahid Buttar • Ray McGovern
• Cindy Sheehan • Larry Everest
• Berkeley’s Vice Mayor Linda Maio
• Ann Wright

Some of the highlights: Marjorie Cohn teaching a professional credit course for attorneys, and the GIANT John Yoo Debate between a video representation of John Yoo speaking for himself and prominent legal and ethical voices. For reports see wesaynototorture.net.