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Debra Sweet is the Director of World Can't Wait, initiated in 2005 to "drive out the Bush regime" by repudiating its program, forcing it from office through a mass, independent movement and reversing the direction it had launched. Based in New York City, she leads World Can't Wait in its continuing efforts to stop the crimes of our government, including the unjust occupations of Iraq and Afghanistan and the torture and detention codes, as well as reversing the fascist direction of U.S. society, from the surveillance state to the criminalization of abortion and immigrants. She has worked with abortion providers for twenty-five years, organizing community support and helping them withstand anti-abortion violence. Since the age of 19, when she confronted Richard Nixon during a face-to-face meeting and told him to stop the war in Vietnam, she has been a leader in the opposition to U.S. wars and invasions. Debra says, "Stop thinking like an American, and start thinking about humanity!"
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, January 20, 2016 Protests in U.S., London, and Mexico City Demand: Shut Down the U.S. Torture Camp at Guantánamo - World Can't Wait
Protesters across the U.S. and at U.S. embassies in London and Mexico City last week demanded the closure of the U.S. torture camp at Guantánamo Bay first set up by the Bush regime on January 11, 2002. The camp has operated seven years under Obama, as long as it did under Bush, though Obama promised in 2009 to close it within a year.
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, November 30, 2015 What Sorts of Public Gatherings Get Banned During a Crisis?
Leaders of 150 governments are meeting this week for the UN climate change conference. A huge protest was planned for Sunday, but was banned.
Soccer games, shopping and festivals continue; it's only protests against polluting governments -- and presumably, war -- which are banned.
(2 comments) SHARE Thursday, April 30, 2015 What to Say to People Who Drone on About How Good Drones Are
A few points on the U.S. drone war which will not surprise you, but should be in your arsenal of arguments for people who think drones are an acceptable form of mass murder.
(5 comments) SHARE Tuesday, August 13, 2013 Obama Wants U.S. "Comfortable" with Vast Surveillance
Barack Obama pulled out the "we're not Big Brother" line again Friday in the ongoing to effort to bamboozle people alarmed about the vast National Security Agency surveillance of whole populations exposed by Edward Snowden. The important thing to him is not that the surveillance is curtailed, but that you feel comfortable with it.
(14 comments) SHARE Saturday, July 27, 2013 Does the U.S. and its Commander in Chief Operate like a "Global George Zimmerman?"
Cornel West, on Democracy Now! Monday, went right after Obama's statement about Trayvon Martin. Immediately Dr. West caught all kinds of criticism, for criticizing the President -- a situation I personally identify with. I heartily support and agree with Dr. West's comments. I would like to hear what you think.
(4 comments) SHARE Wednesday, July 24, 2013 Manning Trial Coming to Conclusion: All Out to Support
Closing arguments in Bradley Manning's court martial begin Thursday at Ft. Meade. The government has been allowed by the judge to keep the "aiding the enemy" charge against Bradley...
(3 comments) SHARE Tuesday, June 25, 2013 Indict the Criminals Responsible for Vast Government Spying -- Hands Off Edward Snowden
WE DEFEND Edward Snowden for his courageous action in revealing vast, unlawful surveillance by the United States.
WE CALL on others to join us in opposing the U.S. government's plans to gain custody of him, to try and imprison him on espionage charges.
WE JOIN with a large section of the U.S. population and billions worldwide in outrage at the unconstitutional, illegitimate surveillance of whole populations by the U.S
(3 comments) SHARE Sunday, May 19, 2013 Why Obama Can & Should Close Guantanamo NOW
Obama, however, as people rightly point out, has promised to close Guantanamo. For his own reasons, whatever they may be, he repeats what most of the world thinks, that the continued existence of the illegal prison in Guantanamo, set up to avoid U.S. law by the Bush regime, doesn't serve the U.S. public image as the land of freedom and democracy.
(5 comments) SHARE Friday, March 29, 2013 The Guantanamo Hunger Strike Starts to Get Attention... and Gets More Dangerous
On day 50 of the continuing hunger strike at Guantanamo this week over 30 of the 166 prisoners were confirmed on strike, possibly 100-130
At least eleven are being force fed. The physical condition of the inmates is dire. On Monday the International Red Cross arrived .
(40 comments) SHARE Sunday, September 2, 2012 12 Steps to Overcoming Addiction to Voting for the "Lesser of 2 Evils"
Were you opposed to the policies of the Bush regime? Did you used to think critically and attend anti-war protests but now find yourself justifying Obama's wars in Iraq, Libya, Afghanistan & Pakistan?
Are you unsatisfied with Obama but stay with him out of fear of Mitt Romney becoming president? If you answered yes to more than one of these questions, you are probably in a self-destructive relationship with the Democrats
(3 comments) SHARE Friday, August 3, 2012 Torture called legal for 10 years, but "we don't torture"
Ten years ago today, lawyers for the Bush Regime sent memos up the chain of command which quickly reached the military and the CIA. The August 1, 2002 "torture memos" authored by attorneys in the Office of Legal Council at the White House gave the green light to torture, calling it "harsh interrogation" and completely legal.
(5 comments) SHARE Friday, May 11, 2012 War Criminals to Meet in Chicago, But Somehow Protest Will be the Danger?
The most heavily armed empire in world history occupies and has destroyed whole countries, has a system of indefinite detention and torture for Muslims in place, and is expanding secret military operations across the region.
But the biggest danger to peace is some hundreds or thousands of people protesting the Chicago meeting of the NATO military alliance next week?
(3 comments) SHARE Friday, October 28, 2011 Despite Police Violence, Occupations are "SO Not Over"
Occupy Oakland is back, bigger than ever, and for the time being, the city has backed off with the heavy police presence, at least for now. Occupy Wall Street is sending them $20,000 and new tents.
We need our own version of mass support for the occupations. If you can't get to one right now, get into print, get online, get on the phone, and weigh in:
"Hands off Occupy!
(3 comments) SHARE Monday, October 10, 2011 To General Atomics: Stop Making DRONES
General Atomics is a manufacturer of parts for drones. Given the 10th anniversary of the US occupation of Afghanistan, and the mobilization of an occupation/encampment which began on October 6, at Freedom Plaza in Washington, we quickly decided to protest General Atomics.
SHARE Tuesday, October 4, 2011 Why is the U.S. war in Afghanistan such a central issue?
With more than 1,100 U.S. bases in countries around the world, U.S. power amounts to a world-wide empire, and the U.S. has a larger military budget than all other countries combined. Think about the destruction of the global environment caused by this military machine, the largest user of fossil fuels in the world, again, more than most countries.
SHARE Wednesday, April 27, 2011 Caught in between; searching for alternatives to Empire & Fundamentalism
Our approach is not to throw up our hands, saying "there is no good solution," but rather to seek solutions that would be in the interests of humanity. Hearing those ideas will in turn stimulate people to see beyond a simple polarity of U.S. empire or Islamic government, both of which currently reinforce each other.
(43 comments) SHARE Thursday, March 31, 2011 This is no "Humanitarian Intervention" in Libya
I've talked to a number of people in the last 10 days who describe themselves as "hoping for the best" from the US intervention into the North African country of Libya. They choose to believe the US arguments that the intervention is 1) for humanitarian reasons limited to "saving civilian lives"; 2) is legitimate because it has the backing of the UN and NATO.
But the facts don't support those hopes.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, March 30, 2011 This is no "humanitarian" intervention in Libya
The people of Iraq suffered under a no-fly zone for 12 years, when 500,000 children died due to the sanctions. No-fly zones are hardly no-killing zones; they only mean that much of the killing is from the air. There is no way an anti-war movement should support this U.S. intervention.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, March 16, 2011 Listening to the Victims of U.S. Wars
The other woman is a Westerner who has lived in Afghanistan for 8 years, trying to represent a different face to the Afghan people than the military. She writes to me about the change in her thinking as the occupation has escalated. She no longer thinks that U.S. forces can do good there.
(9 comments) SHARE Tuesday, March 8, 2011 Nakedness, Justice and Bradley Manning
On March 2, the U.S. military announced 22 more charges against Bradley Manning, the accused Army Private imprisoned in solitary confinement since May 2010. One of the new charges, "aiding the enemy," is potentially punishable with death. This a most outrageous development, echoing the months of right-wingers screaming for his death. View the charges. Word comes that Brad is now held naked overnight, and forced to stand at a
(5 comments) SHARE Friday, February 25, 2011 The U.S. Government Must Stop Supporting Repressive Regimes
In Libya hundreds of people are being slaughtered in the streets by mercenaries. Though Qaddafi's government has appeared more oppositional to the U.S., the U.S. reestablished full diplomatic relations with Libya, under pressure from U.S. oil companies. Military aid followed. But in the wake of the absolutely righteous upsurge of the people against Qaddafi's repression, will the U.S. take the opportunity to install...
(1 comments) SHARE Thursday, February 24, 2011 More on Driving out a Regime
Last week, I posted this photo of masses of Egyptians in Tahrir Square in late January 2011 with the question, "Now do you know what we were talking about?" I sent the message to tens of thousands of supporters of World Can't Wait, established in 2005 as The World Can't Wait -- Drive Out the Bush Regime. The photo and one line got a lot of response.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, February 2, 2011 State of the Union: War on Terror Goes On and On, and On"
Last I heard, the Defense Department is balking at even a 2014 pull out date of Afghanistan. The unjust, immoral, illegitimate occupations continue, and with them, the "war on terror" against civilians across the region. It's up to us to bring out that reality to people.
(3 comments) SHARE Wednesday, February 2, 2011 Reaching students who can't remember before the war
What if people in other countries watching CNN saw streets in the United States filled with people protesting the crimes of this government? World Can't Wait is committed to bringing that into being.
(1 comments) SHARE Wednesday, January 19, 2011 Call to Action: March 17-19 Iraq War Protests
People, it's time to put political opposition to these wars back on the map, in a mass, visible, and determined way.
(1 comments) SHARE Tuesday, January 11, 2011 In support of 173 men detained without end...
Protests are planned around the country Tuesday to mark the beginning of the tenth year of the US detention center at Guantánamo , from which, it appears, some men will never leave.
SHARE Thursday, January 6, 2011 What the U.S. Prison at Guantanamo Accomplished
The voices almost never heard in the discussion of torture, indefinite detention and Bush's Guantánamo are the men who were themselves detained. Over 600 have been released, in a tacit admission by the U.S. that they committed no crimes. 174 are still detained, even though Obama's own commission found last year that more than 90 should be released immediately. We should hear these voices.
(1 comments) SHARE Friday, December 31, 2010 Determination is Part of Stopping Unjust Wars
We need controversy dividing every institution in society, from religious to educational, over whether these wars, and those who advocate them, are legitimate. We must find a way to bring in those under 18, who may not even remember the evil Bush regime, but who will be pressed into service for Obama's successor.
(2 comments) SHARE Tuesday, December 28, 2010 Going on 9 Guantánamo Years
It's not only that Guantánamo should have been closed, and isn't, but that the virulent Islamophobia, the illegitimate "war on terror;" the secret renditions begun under Bill Clinton; the covering for torture by the allies in Iraq and Afghanistan continue.
(1 comments) SHARE Monday, November 29, 2010 "Cablegate" Raises Question: How Does a Superpower Dominate?
The danger to civilians is in being militarily occupied, economically controlled and dominated by an unchecked superpower. Everything we can do to rouse people living in the United States to act to end these occupations is needed, now!
(3 comments) SHARE Sunday, March 28, 2010 Predator Chief Feted at Fordham
CIA covert operation chief, Michael Sulick was an invited speaker at Fordham University last week. Debra Sweet, national director of World Can't Wait, reports on what transpired when former CIA analyst and Fordham alum Ray McGovern, a harsh critic of CIA abuses, was unexpectedly invited on stage.
SHARE Tuesday, May 12, 2009 Protesting Torture Across the US May 2009
Recent polls suggest an alarmingly high percentage of Americans believe there are times when torture is "OK." If that is true, America is slipping deeper & deeper into a moral morass.