Most people on the call had been actively involved in trying to stop the U.S. invasion in 2003; a few got active during and after that time.  I spoke to how illegitimate (based on lies), immoral and unjust the occupation of Iraq remains, and how the U.S. war of aggression was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands, and the displacement of millions.

The war on the people there destroyed Iraq's infrastructure, economy, and opened the door for sectarian fundamentalist forces to destroy it further, as the U.S. continues fighting in Syria and backs the Saudi war on Yemen.  Our interests are with global humanity, not with the crimes of our government.

• Thanks to Terri  for raising the very appropriate matter of what should be done now in response to U.S./NATO heavy funding of weapons against Russia as they fight over Ukraine and the U.S. threats to China.  People in the U.S. are very heavily influenced to back every increase in U.S. support for war; and seem unaware or accepting of the danger of the superpowers using nuclear weapons.  How do we wake people up?
• Carl Dix brought in the proposal of the revcoms for nationwide protests Sunday April 2 & May 1 demanding: NO to U.S. War with Russia! Stop U.S. Threats Against China! No World War 3! It's This System, Not Humanity, That Needs to Become Extinct! We Don't Accept Their Future - It's Time to Get Organized for a Real Revolution!" Protests are set for NYC, LA, Chicago and San Francisco.  Carl characterized the U.S./NATO - Russia war over Ukraine as a "proxy" war and brought some of his experience being imprisoned for refusing to go to Vietnam. The capitalist-imperialist system, he said, is responsible for threatening the globe with nukes. April 2nd— Mobilize Against the U.S./NATO Proxy War with Russia... & the Growing Danger of WW3
• Carolyn reported on the drastic increase in U.S. war preparations on Hawai'i, aimed at China, and the deliberate isolation of U.S. military there, kept on base and away from civilians and anti-war sentiment.  She said people in Hawai'i are very alarmed at war preparations.  We on the mainland need to know more on this, as it's not at all in the news.
• Joe Urgo, Vietnam veteran and organizer of the Winter Soldier Investigation of 1971, spoke to beginning a transformation from being pro-war when he saw anti-war protests in the 60's, and how important it is globally for the expression of internationalism in the U.S. to be manifested in protest. He said that protests directly influence those running the system, and suggested people watch The Movement and the Madman, a documentary on Nixon's plan to use nukes on Vietnam, premiering Tuesday March 28 on PBS.
• Stephanie and others, commented on the horrifying 2023 IPCC report on climate change, indicating increasingly dangerous and irreversible threats to life on the planet if CO2 emissions are not limited to stop warming above 1.5 degrees.  This, while Biden just OKed the massive Willow drilling project in Alaska.  We noted that the biggest user of fossil fuels is the U.S. military.
• Barbara raised the fact that Palestine still is not admitted to the United Nations, even while Israeli military, settlers and paramilitary burned the West Bank village of Huwwara.  Where is the justice?  And, hundreds of thousands of Israelis are protesting Netanyahu's proposal to restrict the power of the Supreme Court to check the government, an act some there call "fascist."
• Phyllis brought in the alarming and fascist efforts to ban books and the teaching of Black history in the U.S. and LGBT+ history and culture, endangering what people know and how they think. Along these lines, I suggested a Refuse Fascism podcast hosted by Sam Goldman, who was World Can't Wait development director some years ago: Foundation 451: Defying DeSantis' Book Bans

Several attendees then wrote me to suggest that we do this discussion regularly as a place for us to hash out what's going on, our response to it, what we should work on.  Thoughts? Send to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .