We're afraid to leave here because we know that we have a responsibility to you to continue to bring you the information. Last night at 135, the second attack on Iraq, we were here to bring it to you, the second aerial raid. We would like to bring you a complete picture of what's going on there. We would like to be able to tell you, I hate to use the word would like together with casualties, but we would like to report you the truth. How many casualties in Baghdad? How many casualties in Kuwait? How many casualties in Saudi Arabia? Is it just one U.S. soldier that has died? We know his name now. They have just released the fact that he is, I think it's 33 years old. He's a young man who died in the raid over Baghdad. His name is Lieutenant Commander Michael S. Speaker. Speaker was listed as missing in action after his F-A-18 attack jet went down during a raid on Iraq before dawn today. He was the only U.S. flyer lost in massive allied raids against the Iraqi military targets in Iraq and occupied Kuwait, this according to the Pentagon. The Defense Department did not give Speaker a hometown, but one defense official said he flew off the aircraft carrier Saratoga, which is based at Mayport, Florida, near Jacksonville. We know his name. I would like to know the names of the Iraqis who died. I want to humanize this war. I want to let you know who it is that is affected by this, 212-279-3400. If you support that kind of desire to get you information, please give us a call. Pledge what you can. $65 gets you a tote bag, it gets you a T-shirt or a baseball cap, but most importantly, you let other people know about WBAI by wearing them. $60, you get a speech by Noam Chomsky talking about the Persian Gulf, talking about the United Nations, what consensus means, what the New World Order means. $75, a four-hour teach-in that includes Chomsky and other people. By the way, we tried to get Chomsky on tonight, but he is away for a week. We're asking for your support, 212-279-3400. Keep calling in. One important thing about this war, one thing that I find different, at least on the American side, is the attempts by many to humanize it, to make us see the faces of the soldiers, to know the names of the soldiers. I wish it were true of both sides. I wish we could know the names of the Iraqis as well. Unfortunately, it is not so, but as long as we keep the war on a human level, as long as we know that these are individual people just like us over there who are fighting and dying for no good reason, basically for oil companies, as long as we're able to do that, we won't be able to forget the rage that we feel knowing that this is going on. It's very important to keep that in the forefront. You heard Hanan Ashrawi, if you were listening to us, just about a half an hour ago. She spoke between 11 and 11.30. She lives in Ramallah. She's a professor at Birzeit University. She said she was watching CNN a few nights ago when the pilots said, or two nights, last night, when the pilots, seems like a long time ago, when the pilots said they looked down on Iraq and it looked like a Christmas tree. She said, no, we are not a Christmas tree. She said, just as CNN reports the highs, you've got to report the lows. She said, the Arabs feel pain. She said, this must be reported. This was a very emotional statement she was making, talking about the Palestinians and the West Bank and what's happening now as they also crowd into their rooms so that in case there was a chemical attack, they wouldn't be affected, although they don't have gas masks to cover themselves. 212-279-3400. No, the view from the sky is not a Christmas tree. This is not the 4th of July. We're not talking about independence here. 212-279-3400. Pledge your support to WBAI. Tune in to WBAI to find out how it is that the United States got the consensus of many countries around the world to go to war with Iraq. What were the quid pro quos? These are the kind of issues that we deal with at WBAI. 212-279-3400. We want to thank all those people who have been calling up. We're going to go into a little bit of music now and then we're going to come back and talk to some folks in Germany about the opposition to the war there. Please keep those calls coming in during this musical break, 212-279-3400. And the more you call in while we are doing our actual programming, the less time we have to stop to pitch. Tonight we brought you four hours of programming. In fact, we had no choice. For God's sakes, Iraq attacked Israel as they promised they would if United States attacked Iraq. We were here to bring it to you. We brought you also analysis. Phyllis Bennis talked with Hanan Ashrawi. We spoke with her in Ramallah. We spoke with other people here in the studio. You had reports from Tel Aviv, from Jerusalem, when other radio networks could not reach people there. We were talking to them throughout. We spoke with Peretz Kadron, our reporter in Jerusalem, for a number of hours tonight. Yes, that cost us money, but certainly it was worth it. Please show your support now for that kind of uninterrupted programming, 212-279-3400. Every minute that we don't pitch, of course we're making a decision. We're saying, can we afford not to do it? Of course, in some ways, it's almost disgusting to pitch. It's almost disgusting during a war to sit here and say, please give us money. But how else can we be here for you 24 hours a day if you don't support what we do? 212-279-3400. Pledge whatever you can. Keep those phone calls coming in. And as the music is going on, we will be in Talley, taking your calls personally. Please pledge everything you can pledge. It's very important that we stay here. And the only way we can do that, the only way we can pay our doubled rent on our transmitter on top of the Empire State Building, which has now come to half a million dollars, that's half a million dollars, is to get support from you now, 212-279-3400. Keep those calls coming in at 12 minutes after 12, 12 after 12. Pretty ominous. 212-279-3400. And if you've called up and pledged something to us, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If you're thinking about it, please do the right thing. 212-279-3400. We'll be right back. Well yeah now, all the world needs is trouble, and living ain't easy, the world needs trouble. You got to believe it, the world needs trouble, and living ain't easy, I said the world needs trouble, you got to believe it. Cast away all evil spell, don't play our hero, you're laying down in hell, you've got your troubles and doubts of mind, let's work together to make things right. Got to be sure of all things we do, preserve our lives to be pure and true, the things we feel and see were meant to be, it's not fulfillment or prophecy, I said the world needs trouble, and living ain't easy, I said the world needs trouble, you got to believe it, the world needs trouble, and living ain't easy, I said the world needs trouble, you got to believe it. Oh yeah, oh right now. See, after all these things shall come to pass, the end shall not be near, and after all these things shall come to pass, the end shall not be near. There shall be hijacking, kidnapping all over the earth, oh yeah, hijacking, kidnapping all over the earth, oh yeah, got to get together, yeah, cause the world needs trouble, and living ain't easy, the whole wide world needs trouble, you got to believe it, the world needs trouble, child, and living ain't easy, I said the world needs trouble, you got to believe it, oh yeah, the whole wide world needs trouble, the whole wide world. Phone number to show your support, 212-279-3400, help keep BAI going. As I walk through this wicked world, searching for light in the darkness of insanity, I ask myself, is all hope lost, is there only pain and hatred and misery? And each time I feel like this inside, there's one thing I want to know, what's so funny about this love and understanding? What's so funny about this love and understanding? And as I walk on through troubled times, my spirit gets shut down harder sometimes, so where are the strong, and who are the trusted, and where is the harmony, sweet harmony? Cause each time I feel it slip away, it just makes me want to cry, what's so funny about this love and understanding? What's so funny about this love and understanding? What's so funny about this love and understanding? So where are the strong, and who are the trusted, and where is the harmony, sweet harmony? Cause each time I feel it slip away, it just makes me want to cry, what's so funny about this love and understanding? What's so funny about this love and understanding? What's so funny about this love and understanding? from Germany, I almost said West Germany, but of course that no longer exists. He's with the campaign against the draft, and I guess the first thing that I should say is we're sorry for keeping you waiting so long, you've been waiting for about an hour and a half to get on the radio and talk to us about the anti-war movement in Germany. Good morning, I guess it is for you over there. Do you want to tell us what has been happening? Good morning, it's Friday morning, 6 o'clock, and in some minutes they will start a big blockade here in Berlin, and they will start a big blockade of the city's main highway. Around 500 people will start to blockade the streets and to stop the traffic. This is only the first action starting today, and we expect around 12 o'clock in the afternoon a big five-minute symbolic general strike of all the workers in the city. It's probably all over Germany that the workers will strike at 12 o'clock for five minutes. The protest here in Germany is developing really, really big. Especially here in Berlin we have a lot of mass demonstrations. Yesterday we had in the morning a demonstration with 60,000 people, in the evening with over 100,000 people. In the East and West demonstration all the people from the East and West met together in the middle of the city around the Brandenburg Gate. And the whole actions were starting last Saturday, where there was the first big demonstration with around 100,000 people. So it's really like the majority of the people are starting to move. Over 100,000 people, and that's what you've been getting on a regular basis? No, no, no. It's only for Berlin. The average is 10,000 or 20,000, but 100,000 is really... It was for eight years the biggest demonstration here in Berlin. And nobody was expecting so many people. The police said one week before there would only come 5,000 people, and it was really crazy. Would you say this is being reflected all over Europe, that the peace movement is growing by this amount? Yes, it's all over Europe. I know, for example, in Italy the two biggest unions have also called for a general strike today. But we don't know how this will look like. In Italy and France and everywhere there are big, big, big demonstrations. I think maybe in Germany at the moment it's the biggest demonstrations. They are in Germany at the moment, but not only in Berlin, but all over Germany. And in all the cities there are a lot of demonstrations, a lot of actions going on. I'm meeting in churches and in schools here in Berlin. All the high school students are on a strike today. They had a big demonstration yesterday. Let me ask you a question. Why do you think it's so widespread in Germany in particular? What is special about this particular case? One thing is, of course, German history. A lot of people have learned something out of it. There were opinion polls at the beginning of this week by the German television that showed that 79% of the German population is against the war. Even more people are against the German troops going to the war. As you know, within the NATO troops in Turkey, there are some German soldiers taking part in these NATO troops. There are a lot of demonstrations against this, especially that the Germans are taking part. I believe the deployment in Turkey is the first time since World War II that German troops have been sent outside the border. So I imagine the feeling for that isn't all very strong over there. Now, can you tell us what specifically will be happening in the week ahead in Berlin? In the week ahead? Yes. How many demonstrations are planned? I think in the moment it really depends on how the development of the war will be. Tomorrow there will be in the morning a big demonstration around 10.30. This is how far the plans go. The strategy is changing at the moment. For example, yesterday evening on the big demonstration, the main demand was that the people should go on a general strike, not just a symbolic five-minute strike, but a real general strike. In a way, the strategy of the peace movement is starting to change, from demonstrations to other actions. We're speaking with Thomas Ermer of Berlin. He's with the Campaign Against the Draft. Thomas, our news director, Amy Goodman, wants to ask you a question. Go ahead, Amy. Good evening, Thomas. I guess it's your good morning. We heard a report that two days ago on German television, a U.S. woman, the wife of a U.S. soldier, said that her husband had gone into hiding. He was deserting, and about 500 U.S. troops were deserting in Germany, and that he was told that he could get a fair trial if he came out of hiding. He came out, and apparently he and about 100 other U.S. troops who had wanted to desert were handcuffed and brought to Saudi Arabia. Did you hear anything about that? What we know is that here in Berlin, there are 53 soldiers, which is the official number, 53 soldiers which have deserted the army. Is that U.S. troops? U.S. troops, yes, and they are hiding at several places in the city. So there's 53 U.S. troops? There's supposed to be an even higher, darker number of people. We don't know the number, but there's supposed to be much more soldiers which have already left the army in West Germany. But nobody knows the exact number, but what we know is that there are 53, 53 up to now. These are U.S. soldiers, correct? U.S. soldiers, yes. And did you hear? But there's, I mean, the whole information is not so, between around Germany, the whole information, the independent information is not so good. And so there are supposed to be much more soldiers who have left the army, but up to now we know for sure from 53. So you haven't heard anything about them being handcuffed and brought to Saudi Arabia? Yeah, we have heard. Oh, I'm sorry. We have heard about this, yeah. But we've also heard that this decision was not legal in a way, that it was illegal to take them illegally to Saudi Arabia. Where did you hear that? We heard it on, it was in an independent newspaper. Called? Can you tell us the name of that newspaper? That's the target site, which is a German independent alternative newspaper. There was a report about it. Thank you. Okay, now can you speak to us as an individual person? There are a lot of peace activists in this country that are listening right now, and obviously the movement in Germany is far, far larger than it is in the United States at this point. And I suppose we could speculate as to why that is, because of the firsthand dealings with war that Germany has had. Seeing blood spilled on your land must make an incredible difference. But what would you say to those peace activists here that are trying to organize more and more people to take part in peace demonstrations? What advice would you give us? I don't know your conditions. The main thing is trying to get as much people on the street and show your protest. That's the main thing. What you can do is show public pressure and ask people to stop supporting this whole war and this mad military logic and everything. That's the only thing you can do at the moment. How far do you go in your protest? Do you go as far as to get arrested? Do you use civil disobedience? There's a lot of civil disobedience. For example, yesterday a lot of high school students made sit-ins in front of the Berlin U.S. headquarters of the U.S. Army here in Berlin. And the same is happening around the U.S. military base in Frankfurt in West Germany, Frankfurt Wiesbaden, the main military base, where every day they are starting 14 Galaxy transporters to Saudi Arabia from Frankfurt. And there's a big chain around it where they're giving a hand to each other and trying to make blockades in front of the entrance of the base. And on Saturday there's a big, all around Germany, there's a big mobilization for a demonstration on Saturday in Frankfurt because it's the main U.S. military base in Western Europe. And this is one support line. Now, Thomas, you live in Berlin, and Berlin has always been a city that's been exempt from the draft, the military draft that all German youth are required to go through. I imagine quite a bit of this has to do with the changing rules. Is that correct? Yeah, of course. There's a lot of, especially under high school students and university students, the ones who have to go to the army, there's a big movement against the draft. Meanwhile, it's supported by a lot of groups in the city, and it is growing and growing. There are two main strategies. One is the refusal of the draft, and the other thing is that a lot of people are doing a so-called total refusal. They don't want to do army or civil service, nothing of it. And even this is growing. So a lot of people prepare for this total refusal, which in the end means that they have to go to prison. Thomas, let me ask you one final question. Are you aware of much of a reaction from Eastern Europe? Are there demonstrations going on there as well? Yeah, of course, yeah. As you've heard, of course, there was this attack of the Soviet military in the Baltic countries. So I think the people are really, at least they are much more concerned at the moment, especially in the Soviet Union, looking to the Baltic countries and what's happening there. So you believe the situation in the Baltic republics is overshadowing the Gulf situation? Yeah, yeah, of course. Because a lot of people think that because all the world is looking to Iraq, the Soviet conservatives will take the opportunity to go to the Baltic countries and to stop the movement there. All right, Thomas Ermer from Berlin with the campaign against the draft there. We want to thank you very much for being so patient tonight and for talking to us over our airwaves. We wish you the best of luck, and hopefully we'll be hearing about what's going on over there in the newspapers and hopefully you'll be hearing about the movements over here. Yeah, okay. Thank you very much and good morning to you. Goodbye. And you are listening to WBAI in New York. We have just received a $500 matching fund. What that means is if people can call us up and make some pledges and match that $500, in effect the first $500 we get will turn into $1,000. So that's very helpful for everybody. And this is your opportunity to make your dollars count twice as much. If you've been waiting to support us, this is probably the best time you could pick the call up, 212-279-3400. Because we have so much to bring to you, we're going to trust that you call up and that you help us out here so we don't have to spend all of our time asking for money. We want to continue to be able to bring you a lot of the features that we have. So again, the number is 212-279-3400. Do give us a call. Call up a friend. Wake them up. Tell them to call us. Do what you have to do because it's so important to keep this place going. I've been here for a while, I mean for a couple of years, but I've never really seen the importance of this place in quite this way until tonight, until I came in and saw people running around like lunatics, trying to get feeds from other cities, other countries, trying to get information that was not available anywhere else. And I can tell you, people here do not get paid. So why do we do this? Are we crazy or are we just committed to bringing you a different viewpoint on these things? Well, a little bit of both, obviously, but you have to take that into account. You look at the people on the networks and how they bring you the news and they have their million-dollar contracts. It's not quite the same thing as people running around like crazy just because they want to do it. Now, the money that you send to us does not go to pay these people. It goes towards things like equipment, maintenance, transmitter, rental, all those mundane, horrible things that we have to deal with. But if we don't deal with them, we don't transmit anymore. And believe me, WBAI can easily be taken over by another entity that wants a major radio station in the middle of New York City. Think of how many big companies and radio executives would do very horrible, immoral things to get a station like this. And I'm sure there are schemes and plots going on out there right now, even as I speak. But WBAI, like it or not, whether you hate the programs that we have or whether you love the programs we have, you have to admit this. It's not something that's being duplicated in other parts of the dial. Go to another radio station and see if you can find its twin somewhere else on the dial. You probably will pretty quickly because most radio formats are duplicated and set up in many, many different cities all across the country. WBAI is unique. There are a few other Pacifica stations throughout the country in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Houston, and Washington, D.C. But that's it. That's not much for a country our size. New York City is very lucky to have this radio station. It was originally part of a very generous donation, probably what you might refer to as the first BAI donation. When the person who owned this radio station, which used to be a MUSAC station, believe it or not, and it still had the call letters WBAI, I believe it stood for World Broadcasters of America or something like that, one day listened to something that Pacifica was broadcasting on one of the other stations and said, Hey, I'm going to do something that matters. I'm going to do something that makes a difference. And he called up Pacifica and said, Hey, I've got a 50,000-watt radio station in the middle of New York City, and I'm prepared to give it to you as long as you promise not to have any commercials on it ever and as long as you promise to keep this kind of programming coming. It sounds like a fairy tale, but it really happened. That's really how WBAI was born. And let me tell you, when he made that call, he was hung up on a few times because the people on the other end thought he was crazy, but obviously he wasn't crazy or we would not be here today. So our phone number is 212-279-3400. We're not asking you to donate a 50,000-watt radio station to us, although if you have one, it certainly would be nice, I guess, to have one in another place. But donate what you can, what you can afford. If you can afford to make a sacrifice that's slightly larger than other people would be able to make, make that sacrifice because you will feel good about it. You will feel like you've done something. A lot of people are walking around saying, What can I do? I feel so helpless about the way things are going, about the world situation. And it's true. It's very easy to feel helpless, to feel like there's nothing you can do. And, you know, that's a very desirable feeling to have from the powers that be. I mean, how would they feel if everybody, every individual felt like they could change the world? Very insecure, I would suspect. But if everybody feels kind of cowered into a corner and submits to whatever it is that happens around them and doesn't raise a fuss and doesn't try to change in any way, then it makes it all the easier to do what they want to do. And that cannot be good for anybody. So make your change. Make the change that you can afford to make because by all pitching in together, it makes such a difference. You may not think that a $45 pledge goes very far. Believe me, it does. It shows in the faces of the people in the tally room as they take the call and see the number jump up by another $45 and another pledge comes in after that. Before you know it, we've made $500, and we've matched that pledge, and that means that we grow by $1,000. 2-1-2, 2-7-9, 3-4-100. We know a lot of people have been tuning in to BAI over the last couple of days, and we're deeply sorry for the reasons that they are tuning in. We really are. There's not a lot of joy around this place except, of course, when the phone rings and people are showing their support. But believe me, there's not a lot of joy about the things that we have to report. We don't like to report bombing raids. We don't like to be reporting casualties, civilians taking cover in any country, in any country in the world. We want an end to this madness, as I'm sure most people do. I've been very, very impressed with the American public over the past couple of weeks. I've seen demonstrations in the street. I've seen demonstrations in schools. I've seen people speak out, that most people do not want this kind of madness. There's no gung-ho reaction anymore, like we saw in the past, you know, the people driving around in pickup trucks saying, nuke Iran, and, you know, let's kick some ass in Vietnam. You don't see that. People realize that war is a terrible thing. It's not a glorious thing. People are learning, and we're learning with them, and we're helping to bring alternative views, and sometimes we bring you the news before the networks bring you the news because we have, I should say, rather imaginative ways of getting out to the world. 212-279-3400. We ask for your support because the only support we get comes from you. We don't get commercials. We don't get money from commercials. We don't accept advertising. There's a very important reason for that, a very important reason. You may say, I'm sure you could get advertisers, right? You could put advertising on your radio station and then make all the money you need, and that's right. We would make all the money we need. Probably in a day we'd make all the money that we need, but there is no way that we would be able to broadcast the kind of information that you have been listening to. No way. You could never hear that with a huge company running things, running commercials. Do you think you'd want to hear a Coke commercial after we report about bombing raids and about the injustices to Palestinians and to the hell that goes on in all the other parts of the world and to the racism that goes on in New York City and to all the unfairness and inequities in the world? Of course not. Commercial sponsors do not like controversy, and WBAI is the most controversial radio station in New York City. It should be our slogan, except we don't like slogans. WBAI may be the most controversial radio station in the world, except for one of those ones that's being taken over by a junta somewhere. If this government ever goes that way, you can bet WBAI will be the first place they storm because of the things we say, because of the things that we get out over the airwaves. So show your support by calling up 212-279-3400. I see a very lively switchboard there, and that's good to see, especially at this time of night. We know a lot of people are up, glued to the TV set, glued to the radio, and again, as we've been saying all this time, it's not a pleasant thing. It's not something that we take a lot of joy in, and we did not plan this. We did not plan to have our marathon in the middle of the bombing raids. We've been planning this out for over a year, so we had this planned out before Saddam Hussein even went into Kuwait. We have to continue with our marathon. We have to raise the money one way or the other. We have not been having as many pledge breaks as we usually do, not by far. So if you've been tuning in and hearing a couple of pledge breaks, these are the ones we're airing to make up for all the ones we haven't been airing. And when we don't air them, people don't think to call in and support the radio station. We have to get the word out. You know, I just noticed something hanging up on the wall there. I see a WBAI tote bag. Boy, this is, I mean, it's not Channel 13 or anything, but it's real impressive. Imagine, imagine the pride of walking around on the streets of New York or Connecticut and New Jersey riding the subway or PATH trains with your WBAI bag, where you can carry all kinds of things inside it. I don't quite know how you're supposed to get them, but if you make a pledge of some sort, I'm sure you will get a WBAI bag. Call 312-279-3400 and ask about that. There's all kinds of other special premiums that we have to help make it easier for you. We have the speech by Dr. Martin Luther King and all kinds of other things. Our tally room people, who are listeners just like you, who come in and help us out, they will give you all the information that you need as far as that goes. Any pledge, though, however small or however large, will get a copy of the folio. The folio is our monthly program guide. Not many radio stations have monthly program guides, and there's a reason for that. Not many radio stations have programs anymore. Very few radio stations do anything except play their particular kind of music hour after hour after hour. We have programs that change from the hour, from the day, from the week, and you really need the WBAI program guide to keep up with it all and to realize the true potential of this place. By calling 312-279-3400 and making your pledge, you will be at least getting that, and you'll be getting possibly other things, and you'll certainly be getting a warm feeling in your heart as you help us out. 312-279-3400. Manuel, I just wanted to tell you what's going on in tally. We have a lot of phone calls coming in right now and a lot of people to be thanked. We have a new student subscription from Michelle Rosenshine. Thanks so much for calling in, Michelle. Thank you, thank you. Pat Myers, thanks for calling in and becoming a new member here at a contribution of $50. Thanks to Carl Toussaint, who's called in from Floral Park and pledged $200 to WBAI as a new subscriber. Let's see if we could match that in the next 2 minutes. Thanks so much, Carl, and thanks so much, Floral Park. And this is all going for our $500 matching fund that we already have, so all this is counting twice, which is terrific. Thanks very much for those calls. And Kevin Delaney has sent a message. He says, say goodnight to Deegan and Ocean, and he's pledged to WBAI, made a donation. Remember, if you pledge $75, you can get a 4-hour teach-in on the Persian Gulf, a countdown in the Gulf, but the next question has already been answered, war or peace. That for a contribution of $75. Thanks so much to David Hollander, who's pledged to WBAI and made a donation from Manhattan. Thanks to Patti Lee Parmelee for calling in and Bronwyn DeSangis for calling in and pledging support to WBAI. Thank you to Richard Wandel from Long Island City, pledging this is the $500 match that has... Oh, that's the $500 match, okay. Yeah, this is the $500 match that has been pledged to WBAI. By the way, if you pledge on MasterCard or Visa, we get the money faster and you get your premium faster. Richard Wandel will be getting a number of premiums, including the Dr. King series of tapes, including Why I Oppose a Vietnam War. He'll be getting the WBAI tote bag and the baseball cap. He'll be getting the 4-hour teach-in on Countdown in the Gulf. And another thing about using your Visa or MasterCard to make that pledge, you can spread the payments out however long you wish. If you want to pay whatever the minimum is, $10 a month or $5 a month, whatever it is they charge you, make it easier on yourself that way. Or if you're like me, just make a purchase on your Visa card and it just sort of gets absorbed into the total and you never really know what it was. So if you have a Visa card or a MasterCard, it is a far preferable way of doing it. We get the money faster and you have more time and more options to pay it off. Please keep those phone calls coming in. Peter Zernite from Flemington, New Jersey. Thanks for calling in. He'll be getting Countdown in the Gulf. Thanks so much for Ronald Bezek, who's called in from New Jersey City. A new subscription to WBAI. A gift subscription to a friend. And thanks to Lydia Arnold for calling in from Brooklyn. And a number of people have said, I appreciate the war coverage. Dennis DeFolco for calling in from Staten Island. That's one of the few Staten Island pledges we've gotten. Thanks so much for pledging your support. 212-279-3400. And thanks to Joyce Faust, who's a new subscriber here at WBAI. We're looking for new subscribers. Amy, I know something you don't know. We just got another $500 pledge. From an anonymous donor in Brooklyn. We want to thank them very, very much. Thank you very, very much. Because people like you will change things. And you will make us feel so much better, for one thing. You'll make us stronger. And you'll make us continue to bring you programs like that. And as a result of that strong showing, I'm going to go directly into our next feature. Without any more pledging, except to give the phone number out one more time. 212-279-3400. Please call during the feature if you have not already. And this concerns the protests that have been taking place throughout New York City. Again, we will continue bringing you information on protests as they take effect or take place throughout New York, throughout Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut, wherever else. What do we have here? A news update? I can barely read this. We should change the teletype ribbon here. Lieutenant General Dan Shomron, Israel's Chief of Staff, said Friday that Iraqi missile attacks cannot go without a response. This is from Reuters, by the way. Such an incident requires a response, he told Israel Television. Asked whether Israel could respond in view of the need of its U.S. ally to maintain an anti-Iraqi-Arab coalition with Arab partners, Shomron replied, I want to say the great American ability doesn't alter the principle that the protection of the civilians of Israel is the responsibility of the State of Israel, and we have the ability to respond, and I say this incident cannot go without a response. And I don't think he means just an insult or two hurled over a telephone. I think he means something a lot more than that. Well, he also said, I think it's still understandable that I don't intend to enter into details, but I'm sure any educated person can understand that we are in for some very stressful times ahead, very stressful times indeed. We're going to go into the piece on the activism, on the protests in New York City, and after that we'll be talking a little bit about the draft. So if you're interested in the military draft, stay tuned to WBAI New York. Peace for all. Peace for all. Peace for all. Peace for all. Peace for all. Peace for all. Peace for all. Peace for all. Peace for all. Peace for all. Peace for all. Peace for all. Peace for all. Peace for air. Peace for all. Peace for all. Peace for local. Peace for eyes. Peace for eyes. Peace for eyes. There's a gentleman here with two children, children one in his arms and one about three four three three and I passed him he was explaining what the the march meant to them and I was saying to them that this is a march against war that I was saying to Christina and Andrew that it's a march for people to express their feelings about getting out of Saudi Arabia and the Middle East and to have no more war murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murderers, murder Tel Aviv, on the radio, confirmed. Tel Aviv has been bombed. Three bombs on Tel Aviv have just been confirmed on the radio. Three bombs in Tel Aviv confirmed on the radio. Three explosions in Tel Aviv just confirmed on the radio. Three bombs just hit Tel Aviv. Apparently. I don't know. It's confirmed on the radio. Three explosions just confirmed in Tel Aviv. Three explosions in Tel Aviv just confirmed. It's sickening. It even rings. Crazy son of a bitch. Three explosions in Tel Aviv confirmed. Three explosions in Tel Aviv just came on the radio. Confirmed. Three explosions in Tel Aviv just confirmed. Three explosions in Tel Aviv just confirmed on the radio. The people united will never be defeated. The people united will never be defeated. Are you listening to news? Tell me what's been going on? I mean, just like lately? Well, apparently there's a confirmed report that eight Scud missiles have hit Tel Aviv and Haifa so far. And it's considered a major attack. I think it was confirmed it was a major attack on CNN. Were there chemical weapons involved? Do they know yet? They're not sure, but apparently they're prepared for that. But it's not confirmed whether there were chemical weapons involved. But apparently it got through. But they feel totally powerless to stop the politicians. And I think it's an incredible tragedy. I hope that somehow they can change their minds and stand up. Well, my reaction, as you said, is total horror. I can't imagine all the people that will be killed needlessly. Innocent human beings that will die for what? Oil? A gallon of gasoline? I don't know what to say. That was a most remarkable piece of work there as far as capturing the spirit not only of New York City tonight, but I think the spirit of the nation as a whole. Just utter bewilderment and dismay at the kind of things that are going on. And to realize that the people that we know are being sent over there, possibly to die, but you know, dying is only one thing that can happen to you. There's lots of things that can happen in a war. You could kill. You could be wounded. You could be maimed. You could just go crazy. Because war does that to you. War does horrible things to you. The way that we feel right now, we're not even over there. We're here. We're far, far away from the conflict as usual. We're far away from it. But we feel it. We feel the horror. We feel the tension. We feel the pain. We feel the anxiety. And we've been feeling it for quite some time, knowing that something was coming. We're dealing with stubborn people on all sides, and that there's so few ways to get through to those stubborn people. So few ways indeed. And as always, the people at the bottom, the individual people, or actually are the people at the top in my view, but the people at the bottom, the common people, the vast numbers, millions of citizens of these countries, they're the ones that feel it. They're the ones that suffer. They're the ones that die. They're the ones that lose relatives. They're the ones that lose limbs. You name it. You name it. Think of all the horrors of war that have gone on for centuries. And the only thing that's changed is the technology. Oh, the technology has changed. The technology has changed. We've gotten so good, so efficient at wiping other people out. Imagine. Imagine the funds, the money that is going towards this. You know, I saw something on TV today that really made me mad. They were reporting, I think it was on Channel 4, how there were now blood banks forming. You know, blood banks, and you should go and donate blood now. And they were making a big deal about this blood bank and how all these people are getting involved. Hey, I have nothing against that, a worthy cause, but where the hell were they during the AIDS crisis, which I think is a much more serious war. Where were they then? Why aren't we uniting to fight that war? Why can't we unite with the rest of the world? Why can't we get them together like we've gotten them together here, and fight something that is a threat indeed to every last one of us? Well, things do change. And naive as it may sound, we can change things. But we have to believe that we can. And as we were saying earlier, if we fall victim to that belief that you're incapable of changing anything because you're so small, then you're playing right into the hands of the people that don't want you to even try. So make a difference. Get out there. Talk. Speak. Go to these demonstrations. Call your congressman. Think about it. Think to yourself about the horrors that are going on right now. We're going to talk about, speaking of the improvements in technology, the improvements in technology that make it much easier for you to be drafted, assuming that you are of age to be drafted. I know a lot of our listeners are. If there's any joy to be felt out of all this, the number of young people that have gotten together, people under the age of 20, that are out there demonstrating, out there thinking, talking to their friends, talking to us here, it's a good sign for the future that you're so awake, even if you're awake this late at night. Please keep it up. Please spread the power that you have in your hands. Talk to other people. Get the word out. And don't be discouraged because you've got a lot of support behind you. Ironically enough, these are the very people that will be the victims if the draft is reinstated. You know, you think it's not possible. You think it's not going to happen. Well, what would you say if I told you that there could be a decision made tonight? A decision made right now at this very moment to reinstate the draft. And you know, mailgrams will be sent out in tomorrow morning's mail. Think about it. It's a lot closer than you think, and if we keep moving the way we're going, there's no telling where it could end. Wake up. Stay tuned. 1, 2, 3, 4 1, 2, 3, 4 1, 2, 3, 4 It's up to you not to heed the call of You must not act the way you were brought up Who knows the reasons why you were thrown up Who knows the plans of why they were thrown up It's up to you not to heed the call of I don't want to die It's up to you not to heed the call of No, I don't want to kill For he who will die Is he who will kill Maybe I want to see what we feel Over Kiev and down to the sea It's up to you not to heed the call of I don't want to die It's up to you not to heed the call of I don't want to kill I don't want to kill All the young people down the ages They gladly march up the dark Proud city fathers used to watch them It's up to you not to heed the call of I don't want to die It's up to you not to heed the call of I don't want to kill For he who will die For he who will die Is he who will kill There is a rose that I want to live for Although God knows I may not have met her There is a dance and I should be with her There is a town unlike any other It's up to you not to heed the call of You must not act the way you were brought up Who gives you up and why should you do it? I can't help it Fifty-five minutes past eleven There is a rose But to drink from I have to drink from But to drink from I have to drink from But to drink from I have to drink from Yeah, it's up to you not to heed the call of the wind. It's up to you not to hear the call of the wind. One, two, three. One, two, three-o! One, two, three-o! One, two, three-o! One, two, three-o! One, two, three-o! One, two, three-o! One, two, three-o! One, two, three-o! One, two, three-o! One, two, three-o! One, two, three-o! One, two, three-o! And we want to thank very much the people that have been calling up. Even though we haven't been giving out the phone number, it's great to see people showing their support for WBAI. You know, I'm going to make a pledge myself because I just realized how important this place is. 212-279-3400. And boy, what an incredible night this has been. And I don't mean incredible as in a great night. No, it hasn't been a great night. It's been a very sad night. And I have a feeling we have some sad days ahead too. Maybe a whole sad period. Oh yeah, the stock market went up by 100 points. That's going to make us feel good. That's like shooting up for a little while. You know, you're going to come down off it at some point. Okay, let's really cheer people up now and talk about the military draft, which has not been in effect here since 1972, but it could be reinstated at any time. This is from an article that appeared in the Los Angeles Times fairly recently. There's clearly no groundswell for reviving the draft even now, despite suggestions made at recent congressional hearings. Reinstituting it would require action by both houses of Congress and the signature of the president, a process likely to provoke heated debate. Still, the Persian Gulf crisis has piqued public interest in the standby draft created in the wake of the Iran hostage crisis in 1979 to 81, and staffed by a few thousand military reservists and civilian volunteers. According to Glenn Ford, operations officer for the regional draft headquarters in Denver, we're expected to open up the draft mechanism overnight in the event of a national emergency. Folks, we're one step away from a national emergency. I'm not sure how many people realize that. Ford continues, administrative offices have been pre-identified, local boards have been appointed and trained. If the draft were to be activated, officials say they now have an equal opportunity system at the ready that could fill training camps with 100,000 civilians in barely a month. Gone are the days when national draft officials set regional and state-by-state quotas, or when the whims and prejudices of local board members could dictate who was drafted and who was not. Much of the flexibility has been bred out of a system that was widely criticized during the Vietnam War for enabling large numbers of middle and upper class whites to escape military service. According to current law, men must register for the standby draft when they turn 18 and the data is fed into a nationwide computer. That's right, folks, there weren't computers like there are computers today back in 1972. A lot has changed. Women are exempt. That hasn't changed. But the data bank currently has the names of 15 million draft-eligible young men on file. You folks that have been registering, obeying the law, well, you might get your reward for that real soon. I don't mean to make anybody panic or anything like that, but it's just, this is reality and I think we should be awake to the possibilities of reality. Within hours of a call-up, which, by the way, is the name of the song we just heard from The Clash, a secretly located data processing center near Chicago could begin spewing overnight mail-gram draft notices across the nation. It's a secret location in Chicago, or near Chicago, and that is where these mail-grams will come from. Fearing sabotage, officials declined to reveal the exact site of that computer. In 24 to 72 hours, we could have our first induction orders in the mail, explained Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Ronald Milstrup, Deputy Director of the Selective Service System's regional headquarters in Illinois. Local boards would be limited to granting deferments, and even that power has been severely curbed. Draftees could still argue hardship, conscientious objector, or ministerial claims to the boards, but student or job-related deferments, the most popular ways to delay or evade military service in the old days, have been eliminated. And I know that was something that a lot of people used back in the 60s and early 70s. Student or job-related deferments have been eliminated. I enjoyed that luxury of staying at the University of Florida, receiving those letters from the draft board, asking how I was doing in school, said Douglas Maddox, who is now the Secret Service, I'm sorry, the Selective Service Director in Florida. Oh, boy, how ironic. Now, he says, if you are at college, you will be allowed to finish the semester that you are currently enrolled in, then you will be drafted. If you're a senior, you will be allowed to graduate. The age group with primary vulnerability would be 20-year-olds. See, 20-year-olds, you go first. A lottery would be held to determine draft priorities by birthday. Then following the dictates of that lottery, the Chicago area computer would spit out draft notices to 20-year-olds. Next would come 21-year-olds, 22, 23, 24, and 25-year-olds. And last in line would be 18 and 19-year-olds. And in case anybody cares, the famous salutation of the old draft has been changed. Instead of opening with the word, greetings, the new draft notices would get right to the point. They would simply say, order to report for induction and include a travel voucher to the nearest induction center. Travel vouchers. These would be given 10 days to report. And that's from the Los Angeles Times. Those are facts, folks. Those are facts. That's exactly what is going to happen in the event of a national emergency, which we are rapidly heading towards. I think that could very well be why so many young people are taking an active role here. It's a damn good reason to take an active role. And if you value our young people, you should be taking an active role, too. Because for centuries, centuries, governments have taken children from their parents to put them in the line of fire, and we have got to stop that. We've got to put an end to it. And the power is in our hands to do that. They can get 100,000 people marching in Berlin. We had about 10,000 tonight in New York. We can do better. There are rallies in Washington, D.C. this Saturday and next Saturday. There's buses leaving from all over the place. Listen to BAI for more details on that. Believe me, they have to listen. I know it's popular among many crowds to say, oh, there's nothing you can do. They're not going to listen to you. But they will listen. They know when cities are crowded with people chanting anti-war slogans, they know. Everybody in the world watches CNN. And if it gets on CNN, they know. So the answer is to get out there, to be vocal, to be visible. Some real bad news. Some of you may have heard about a march last night that went to the Brooklyn Bridge. And some of the marchers were attempting to stop traffic, which they did for the most part. But unfortunately, there was one drunk driver that did not stop. He fell out into a crowd. One person has died. A young woman has died from injuries. Several people were knocked off the bridge. They fell off the Brooklyn Bridge, a distance of about 50 or 60 feet, I understand. I talked to a young man that was at the scene, only a few feet away from the car when it sped through. One of our listeners, Maria, called in to say that Laura Beatty, who was a dancer, graduate of Columbia College, 1990, was seriously injured. Two broken legs, and two broken legs, a horrible thing for a dancer to get. You know, I heard something on a TV station today, something that made me so angry that I called them up and demanded that they retract what they said. They said, there are demonstrations now in support of the war. People are saying they support President Bush, which certainly is within their rights. But then they went on to label the two classes of demonstrators. They said, so now we have the anti-war demonstrators, and we have the patriotic demonstrators, the patriotic demonstrators. And it took me a while to dial the phone. That's how angry I was. I mean, who the hell are they to say that we're not patriotic because we oppose the war? That's the craziest thing I've ever heard. If you use your brain, if you think things out, and if you know why you are doing what you are doing, and you believe you're doing it for the best reasons, it sounds to me like you're supporting your country, and damn it, we're patriots too. So don't let anybody say that you're not patriotic, that you don't deserve to live in this country, because you do. Someone that questions that is showing something about themselves. Don't allow that kind of thing to be said about you. People that marched in Brooklyn last night, they fought a war too. One person died in that war. Sure, we didn't expect to be killed in New York City marching against the war, but when you are part of something like this, you unite. You know you're going to be attacked by some people, that some people are going to yell at you and look down upon you. Some people might even try to hit you or throw things at you, and occasionally horrible things like what happened last night happened, although I understand that was an accident. From what I've heard, it was an accident and not a deliberate act. But these kind of things do happen, and these people are fighting just as hard for their causes. It's a war that's going on right here, and the people fighting that war are every bit as brave and noble as the people fighting on the other side of the world. And I also urge people not to put down the folks that are over there, because they certainly didn't have a choice in the matter. In fact, in many ways I consider them to be hostages just as much as anybody else. 510,000 hostages are over there, or however many thousand there are. They can't leave. They're not allowed to change their mind. They're stuck over there. Whether or not they want to be over there, they cannot leave. And even if someone is over there and they believe they're doing the right thing, it's important to respect that, to respect an individual's right to make that kind of a decision. But if you believe that the policy that sent them over there is wrong, then it is up to you to speak out against it, and don't let anybody tell you that you're going against the interests of the country by doing this. It's the same kind of rationale, the same kind of feeling that almost silenced the debate in Congress. Oh, we'll be sending the wrong signal to Saddam Hussein if we have a debate. We'll be sending the wrong signal to a dictator to prove that we're a democracy. Let's be dictators too. I don't buy that. I don't buy what people are saying about how we have to all stand up now and unite behind our president. I don't think that's right at all. I think we have to think this through ourselves, stand up as individuals, because that is what we are a nation of. Well, I have another article here about the draft, and again, I feel obligated to give out the phone number, 212-279-3400, for those of you that feel so moved to offer their support to this radio station, and show your support by making a pledge to WBAI in New York, 212-279-3400. Amy Goodman is back. Emmanuel, we just got two interesting calls. One is from a woman who called Alphonse D'Amato's office to express her protest about the war and the young man she spoke with there, after she expressed herself very vehemently, said, leave the country. She said she thought Bush should be impeached, she thought he was a murderer, and he said leave the country. He said that 95% of the calls to Al D'Amato's office are pro-Bush, so she wanted people to call Alphonse D'Amato and change that percentage if he was telling the truth. I think now would be a good time to read some phone numbers. Wouldn't you say that would be a good time? Yeah, it would. OK, if somebody in Talley or wherever in the station could bring in that list of phone numbers. Well, for one thing, we can say that the Congressional switchboard number is 202-224-3121, and you can call that number and ask for the Congress member of your choice. You can also call the White House Opinion Line, 202-456-1111. I would say that your chances of getting through are about as much of a chance of us getting a telephone call through to Iraq right now. It's constantly busy, but there are better numbers there in the White House. OK, try this one. The President's Direct Line, 202-456-2858. That rings President Bush's personal secretary, and I've heard that they've stopped answering that phone at some points because of the number of calls they've been getting, but you've got to make yourself heard, folks. And also the switchboard for the White House, they'll switch you to wherever you want to go inside the White House, theoretically that is, 202-456-1414. And there's plenty of other numbers. If you need the numbers for your elected officials, call the League of Women Voters. They're very good for providing that kind of information. They'll provide you with the address, the phone number of any elected official that you want to get a hold of. The other thing, Emmanuel, is a lot of people have been calling in to express their concern for the more than half a dozen protesters who got hit by the car last night on the Brooklyn Bridge. Unfortunately, one young woman died this afternoon, a very tragic, tragic story. And another woman called in named Maria. She called in to say that her friend Laura Beatty was one of those who got hit, and she has two broken legs. She's a graduate student. She graduated from Columbia in 1990 and was a dancer. She has two broken legs now, and her friend Maria wanted everyone to know about it. A lot of people have called in about that, are very upset about that. Now, we've got just a few minutes before Bob Fass' show, and we've got volunteers, unusual for this time of night, waiting to take calls. A lot of action out there. A lot of people are concerned. Our number is 212-279-3400. Show your support for this radio station. Keep us going. Keep the funds coming in. We did not plan to be asking for money during this crisis, because we planned the fundraiser before the crisis came up, and that's a sad fact. We do have to continue asking for support, because we want to be able to bring you uninterrupted coverage as things happen, as we have done over the last couple of nights. Emmanuel, if we can raise $500 in this last three minutes before Bob Fass comes on in, you will hit a goal of $3,000, which certainly shows support for the kind of work we've been doing tonight. A lot of people have called in to support the war coverage. Who would have ever thought we would be talking about the war coverage? In the newsroom right now, there's a big sign-up that we had from New Year's that says, Happy New Year. Who would have ever thought this was what we would see in the new year? 212-279-3400. 212-279-3400. Fill up the board, $50 makes you a regular subscriber to WBAI, and you get the folio every month. If you donate $25, you can get a four-hour teaching, $100, a series of cassettes by Martin Luther King. And pledges of any amount are greatly appreciated. With any pledge, you will get the WBAI folio for an entire year. It comes out every month. And when you see your first issue of that, you will realize how many radio programs that we have. Of course, most of them are being postponed or canceled as a result of the horrible events of the world. But we expect to one day resume a normal schedule and hope that the world becomes a happier place. 212-279-3400. There's a lot of calls coming in, and this makes us really feel strong motivation to keep going. And not only by supporting WBAI, we want you to show your awareness by speaking out, by showing up at important things. Get the issues through and be true to yourself. 212-279-3400. Okay, we don't want to delay things much longer, so we're going to play our last selection. I mentioned that I had another article about the draft. What I'm going to do, because of the strong response we're getting tonight, on the next Off the Hook program, which is on alternate Wednesday nights from 9 to 10 p.m., wasn't on yesterday because it was preempted. It won't be on next week because that's not the week it's supposed to be on, but it will be on the week after that, whatever date that winds up being. And we will do a special on the technology involved in selective service and in the draft. So mark that down in your calendars. Not next Wednesday. The Wednesday after that, from 9 to 10, Off the Hook will be talking about the computers and technology involved in summoning our nation's youth to fight, kill, and be killed. I wish we could be talking about something a little more cheerful. 212-279-3400. This is Emanuel Goldstein. I'm heading out of here and Bob Fass is heading in. Thanks so much to those of you that have called up. If you're thinking about calling in, please do. Please do. We need to hear from you. And we need to see you in the days and the weeks ahead. We need to see action out there. Thanks very much. Good night. I realize the tragic significance of the atomic bomb. Having found the atomic bomb, we have used it. We shall continue to use it until we completely destroy Japan's power to make war. Only a Japanese surrender will stop us. When the clouds opened up over the target at Nagasaki, the target was there pretty as a picture. I made the run, let the bomb go. That was my greatest thrill. He wanted to drop a bomb on the Japanese, I really got to make my baby proud. I want the machine gun and I want to be head out in the world. I want to show old man Hitler that sonny boy don't mean him no good. I want to drop a bomb and set the Japanese city on fire. I want to show old man Hitler that sonny boy don't mean him no good. I have got the victory blues because I know I have got to go. I have got the victory blues because I know I have got to go. Not to keep the dirty Japanese from slipping in through my baby's back door. Who do you represent? I am a representative, basically we are representing all Jewish of the great world. Can you explain because most people would assume that Israel would be supported by the Jewish community. Yes, that is the greatest mistake that has been going on in the world for over 40 years. And the practice has shown that the greatest misfortune that has happened to the Jewish nation is...