From the World Can't Wait Steering Committee

Today the US military, at Trump's order, dropped an 11-ton bomb on Nangarhar province in eastern Afghanistan. It is being called the "mother" of all bombs - the largest bomb dropped in any war since the United States nuked Hiroshima and Nagasaki. No to wars for empire and no to the "mother" of all bombers, the Trump/Pence Regime. We are still learning the effect of this explosion, but it is an escalation only one step away from full-scale nuclear war on a nation on which our government has been waging war for 16 years.

Eglin Air Force Base, via Associated Press

The crimes under Obama include the 26,000 bombs dropped during his final year of presidency, the basis for kill-lists, extrajudicial murder and leaving Guantanamo in place. These are all being escalated at a rapid pace and taking new direction under Trump. This can be seen from the ratcheting up of wars including expanding war zones, increasing the defense budget, explosive civilian death tolls (1k in March alone), waging threats against Iran, and drone strikes at five times the pace of his predecessor.  It can be witnessed by Trump’s continued insistence that, “all options are on the table" when it comes to North Korea – from a man who has regularly advocated the bombing of North Korea's nuclear reactors and whose tweets state “North Korea is looking for trouble” and that “we will solve the problem.” It has been further clarified by White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer’s statement that Trump’s mission in the Middle East is to “destabilize the region.”

While some are telling you that these moves are a departure from Trump’s campaign promises, this isn’t really true nor is it the heart of the matter. Supporters’ belief that he was anti-intervention doesn’t make that belief reality. What we are beginning to see is the manifestation of his commitment to “bomb the shit out of” the Middle East.  He is doing precisely what he said he would do in his pledge that US “military dominance must be unquestioned, and I mean unquestioned, by anybody and everybody.” His plan for predominately Muslim nations is nothing short of extermination. It is a genocidal program and can only be stopped through independent mass resistance.

Trump is a blood-thirsty fascist who is putting “America First” when he bombs villages, mosques and airfields. There is nothing humanitarian about bombing Syria and fanning the flames of a widening war. A regime that ordered an airstrike on a mosque in Al-Jineh, Syria on March 16, killing 46 civilians and twice attempted to ban Syrians from entering the US as refugees clearly doesn’t care about babies. This isn’t about protecting people but protecting empire. Continued bombings of a nation at civil war, where none of the warring partiers offer a future for the 23 million Syrians, will only kill more innocent people, polarize the situation further and invite more intervention and weapons into the country. Moreover, launching an attack on a country that isn’t threatening one’s own is the supreme international war crime.

The Trump/Pence Regime must be driven out before this program is further consolidated. We must do this not just for ourselves but for the people of the world, especially our Muslim sisters and brothers who sit squarely in this regime’s crosshairs. The past week has made starkly clear that there are no saviors. It’s up to us to end U.S. aggression. The Trump/Pence regime is escalating the wars on the Middle East and into Africa at rapid fire pace. Together, we must be the emergency response team that pulls people away from rallying behind, relying on, and making excuses for the Democrats and instead drives this fascist regime from power.   World Can’t Wait is working hard to support Basta Ya/Enough! 10 Days of Resistance called for by Refuse Fascism. From April 22-May 1, the end of the first 100 Days of the Trump/Pence Regime, can – and must – become a big leap in a movement to drive this fascist regime from office. The stakes are nothing less than the future of humanity and the planet. Bring World Can’t Wait signs and join a Refuse Fascism contingent at the March for Science, the People’s Climate March and the May 1st Immigrants’ March.