When we spread the call “The World Can’t Wait — to Drive Out the Bush Regime” in 2005, the world was reeling from an illegitimate, unjust and immoral war unleashed by the U.S. and from the reelection of Bush. The attack on 9/11 had become the justification for a war “of” terror aimed at a swath of the Middle East and specifically at Muslim populations there and in the U.S.
The torture state got institutionalized at the torture camp in Guantanamo and we slowly learned of the secretive spread of U.S. “black” torture sites from Jordan to Poland. The attack on Afghanistan and then Iraq, including the horrific destruction of Mosul with the sadistic brutality of U.S. captors at Abu Ghraib all encouraged the use of terror on civilians.
World Can’t Wait became an organization leading people in much protest. We did extensive work among students, memorably spreading the Iran Quiz in 2007 when Bush’s threats escalated, presaging Trump’s war. (That Quiz is still usable — you can download it here.) In 2006, we began to visit some schools with recent veterans and in 2008, after Obama’s election, we officially formed We Are Not Your Soldiers which over 18 years has sent some two dozen U.S. military veterans into hundreds of classrooms to counter the recruiters’ pressure to enlist.
So, you’re reading this because you don’t think the world can wait. Here’s the news:
➡️ Going forward, World Can’t Wait is transitioning our work fully into support of We Are Not Your Soldiers as an effective way of reaching the generation most endangered by U.S. imperialism. More funds and volunteers will be needed as we gear up for 2027. Stephanie, a small team of volunteers (including Debra) and 12 vets are working together to get to thousands of students.
In the future these emails will come from WeAreNotYourSoldiers.org. The WorldCantWait.org site will continue, as will our projects FireJohnYoo, War Criminals Watch and Sudan’s Struggle.
We are excited that in the very near future, we will be announcing our new fiscal sponsor to enable you, once again, to make tax-deductible donations to We Are Not Your Soldiers. So stay tuned.
On this Veterans Day, we’re sharing with you a letter to the editor written by Charles W. Sweet, Debra’s father, in 2010 when he was an 86 year old WW II veteran. He sent it to his local Wisconsin paper when he found out that an event coming up was being used “to promote militarism, support the war on terror and to boost military recruitment.” Please take a read.
A word from Debra: The original World Can’t Wait was prescient.
The Bush regime is setting out to radically remake society very quickly, in a fascist way, and for generations to come. We must act now; the future is in the balance.
Millions and millions are deeply disturbed and outraged by this. They recognize the need for a vehicle to express this outrage, yet they cannot find it; politics as usual cannot meet the enormity of the challenge, and people sense this.
There is not going to be some magical “pendulum swing.” People who steal elections and believe they’re on a “mission from God” will not go without a fight…
Sound timely now, as Congress is changing, while the fascist regime is still in the White House and SCOTUS? I will continue to work on this as part of the national organizing team for RefuseFascism.org. Read our mission here.
The final lines of the World Can’t Wait Call are as timely as ever.
The point is this: history is full of examples where people who had right on their side fought against tremendous odds and were victorious. And it is also full of examples of people passively hoping to wait it out, only to get swallowed up by a horror beyond what they ever imagined. THE FUTURE IS UNWRITTEN.