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Turkey Agrees to Purchase Raytheon Stinger Weapon Systems Launchers TUCSON, Ariz., June 20 /PRNewswire/ - Raytheon Company has signed a direct commercial sale agreement with the Turkish Undersecretariat for Defence Industries (SSM), paving the way for the sale of Stinger launcher systems to Turkey. Once Congress approves the sale, which is valued at approximately $34 million, Raytheon will provide more than 150 Standard Vehicle Mounted Launchers (SVML), more than 170 Air-to-Air Stinger launchers, as well as spare parts and logistics support. "This pending sale opens the door for future business with SSM, including the potential sale of Stinger launchers for...

With the detention of Jose Padilla (aka Abdullah al-Mujahir), the Bush administration has made an extraordinary assertion of power. It is sweeping and unnerving. The administration contends that, by merely designating a person as an "enemy combatant," the government can hold him in prison without according him a trial. Indeed, the government does not have to charge him with any criminal offense, much less present evidence of an offense. That is true even if the person in question is an American citizen and is apprehended on American soil. Civil libertarians are justifiably alarmed at such an ominous shadow over the...

EU Leaders Agree on Immigration Steps By ROBERT WIELAARDAssociated Press Writer SEVILLE, Spain (AP)--European Union leaders vowed Friday to curb immigration but held off on punishing poor nations that do not stop their citizens from seeking illegal work in Europe. The leaders at the summit in Seville, some of whom slipped away to watch World Cup games, said they would create order in the hodgepodge of national immigration and asylum laws, and move toward a more equal treatment across the region. They also would seek ``cooperation and partnership'' accords to reward nations that curb the movement of illegals to Europe,...

The Sept. 11 Parallel "Nobody Noticed" Friday, June 21, 2002 We know the ratings for Fox's short-lived X-Files spinoff The Lone Gunmen were bad, but this is ridiculous. Six months before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks — March 4, 2001, to be exact — Gunmen premiered with an episode featuring a terrorist plot to fly a commercial airliner into the World Trade Center. The climactic sequence actually shows the plane heading into one of the Twin Towers, but at the last minute, it's pulled upward and just misses the building.Shockingly, this horrifying bit of foreshadowing was never widely reported...

<p>SALT LAKE CITY (AP) --  The drifter wanted for questioning in the kidnapping of 14-year-old Elizabeth Smart was caught Friday at a West Virginia hospital after checking himself in under a fake name with drug-related liver damage.</p> <p>The capture of Bret Edmunds, 26, shed no immediate light on the June 5 abduction and police said again that he is not a suspect. But authorities said they were looking forward to talking with him and searching his car.</p>

Americans are famous for ignoring good advice, such as don’t get involved in a ground war in Asia, don’t cheat on your accounting and, especially, don’t tune your guitar when you’ve been drinking. All sound thinking, and all ignored at our peril at one time or another. Then there is advice that sounded good at the time, but turns out to have been misguided—as in “Only you can prevent forest fires.” Who would have thought Smokey Bear would have to turn in his broad-brimmed ranger hat for the villain’s mantle? For the last 150 years in the American West, the...

Turks Take Over Kabul Peacekeeping Louis Meixler, .c The Associated Press, KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Turkey, NATO's only Muslim member, took command Thursday of the 19-nation international peacekeeping force guarding the Afghan capital, renewing a military association which dates back 80 years A Turkish soldier salutes as his national flag is raised at the ISAF command handover ceremony in Kabul June 20, 2002. Britain handed over control of a multinational peacekeeping force in Afghanistan to the Turkish military in a colourful ceremony on a soccer pitch and at a crucial time in the war battered country's history. REUTERS/Caren Firouz Turkish...

It's Here...The Federal ID card By Hari Heath Right now the U.S. House of Representatives is debating in committee what could be the single most federal power expanding bill in American history -- HR 4633, the "Driver's License Modernization Act of 2002." Since its passage last October during the post-Sept. 11 hysteria, many Americans thought the more ominously Orwellian "Provide Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism (PATRIOT) Act" was intended to bring about the federally-enforced police state. However, if you read the PATRIOT Act while comparing it with existing U.S. Code, it was mostly a housecleaning bill (The...

Colombian Military Expansion Poses Problems for Venezuela 21 June 2002 Summary U.S.-backed plans by Colombian President-elect Alvaro Uribe Velez to substantially bolster defense spending will alter the regional military balance of power over the next several years. This will be especially upsetting to Venezuela's armed forces, which have suffered significant political difficulties and slippage in operational readiness since Hugo Chavez became president in 1999. Analysis Colombian President-elect Alvaro Uribe Velez has pledged to double the size of his country's armed forces, create an armed civilian defense force of up to 1 million members and invest significantly more resources in fighting...

<p>ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) --  President Bush put the 2002 fund-raising tally for himself and Vice President Dick Cheney over the $100 million mark Friday with a Florida dinner boosting brother Jeb Bush's gubernatorial re-election.</p> <p>The president, told by a reporter that his White House team has far outpaced Bill Clinton in the money chase, replied: "Thank you. I appreciate that compliment."</p>

After watching the news the past week I have felt I need to get something off my back. Fox News is completely superior to CNN. Some people might remember me on this board bashing Fox News for their bad news coverage, even though their analysis programs are great. I've completely changed my mind. Fox have been professional, effective, accurate and fast this week in reporting news. For example they've reported on terrorism threats, the arab terrorism in Israel, the Smart abduction and others. On the other hand CNN has been innacurate and sluggish. They leaked NSA intercepts and tried to...

Mister Chretien is in his third term as prime minister of Canada. Canada has no term limits. He is not elected by Canadians -- just by the members of his own Liberal political party and only to be party leader. He wants to stay in office for life. Editors who write about this subject -- the Montreal Gazette -- get fired immediately.

<p>WASHINGTON (AP) --  In a few short days, the Federal Election Commission has created numerous exemptions to the new law meant to reduce the influence of huge "soft money" donations on political campaigns.</p> <p>Q: What is the law intended to do?</p>

Man Accused in Wall Street Journal Reporter's Murder Says Police Fabricated EvidenceHYDERABAD, Pakistan June 21 — The chief defendant in the kidnap-slaying of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl accused Pakistani authorities Friday of fabricating a case against him to "please America," as the trial enters its final stage. Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, one of four defendants on trial since April 22, told a judge that police manufactured evidence, illegally detained him and tortured two of his fellow defendants. Reporters are barred from the proceedings but defense lawyer Rai Bashir briefed them and provided a six-page written summary of the...

The Real NazisNope. It’s not the Norwegians. I've gotten a lot of traction out of my seemingly banal observation that it is highly improbable that the United States will ever become a Nazi-like or otherwise totalitarian nation. For some reason, this is the sort of obvious statement which strikes lots of folks as shocking or controversial, even though it's only slightly less of a "Well, duh" assertion than saying, "The oceans will not turn into diet Mr. Pibb in our lifetimes." The feedback on my syndicated columns and G-File on the allegedly outlandish claim that America is a reliably good...

Speiberg pulls of a winner, may set a new record for product placements, dark with great cinematography, consumerism run amok. Based on the Philip K. Dick short story set in 2054, the future is bleak, go long on Visine, the retinal scans get overplayed to the Nth degree. Eye popping special effects, Cruise control on the Lexus was breaking the speed limit. Squealberg changes pace in the blink of an eye. Strange (negative)Religious overtones worshiping the precogs in the Temple. Keep your retinas peeled durring the surgical recoverery scene, backgrond video shows a Fox promo for O'Reilly. I Cant believe...

<p>XIANNING, China -- On a misty October morning, Xu Yudong set out to visit his former boss at a state-run factory in this downtrodden industrial city. As he left home, he waved off his father's suggestion that he take an umbrella. Instead, he zipped on a blue and white windbreaker, tucking his family's watermelon knife inside.</p>

Firefighter Arrested for Pandering Web Editor: Sean Rowe Last Modified: 6/21/2002 1:28:07 PM An Atlanta firefighter is out on bond Friday after allegedly trying to solicit sex from underage girls at an East Point apartment complex, East Point police said. Officers had arrested Moses King Thursday afternoon after finding him in uniform at the Mira Head Terrace Apartments, located in the 3000 block of John Freeman Way. They charged him with three counts of pandering and one count of criminal trespass. Police began looking for King after learning that he had allegedly been trying to solicit sexual favors from two...

ROME -- Italian state broadcast station RAI is considering taking legal action against soccer ruling body FIFA because of refereeing errors it believes led to Italy's defeat at the World Cup.In a statement, RAI said it had asked its legal department to study building a case showing that FIFA was responsible for the poor quality refereeing."(The case) would seek to have FIFA reimburse damages suffered by (RAI) following the exit of the Italian team from the World Cup on the basis of universally recognised refereeing errors, errors that were so blatant they could only be described as the product of...

WASHINGTON (AP) --  Iran and Iraq have served as corridors for al-Qaida fighters going home to Arab countries from Afghanistan, and Iran has sheltered some members of the terrorist organization, U.S. officials said Friday. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, briefing reporters Friday, accused Iran's government of helping terrorists fleeing the U.S. war in Afghanistan. "Iran had served as a haven for some terrorists leaving Afghanistan," he said. "It is also true it has permitted the transit of terrorists, and the supporters of terrorists, through Iran." Some of those allowed to stay in Iran include an al-Qaida leader, Abu Musab Zarqawi,...