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IN BRIEF
Canada opts out of U.S.
missile defense shield
TORONTO — Prime Minister Paul
Martin said Thursday that Canada
would not join the contentious U.S.
missile defense program, a decision
that will further strain brittle relations
between the neighbors but please
Canadians who fear it could lead to
an international arms race.
The Bush administration has tried to
make a public show of understanding
that Martin heads up a minority gov
ernment that could fall over such a
contentious debate. But after the an
nouncement, U.S. Ambassador Paul
Cellucci told reporters he was per
plexed over Canada’s decision, which
he said effectively allows Washington
to decide what to do if a missile was
headed toward Canada.
“We simply cannot understand why
Canada would in effect give up its sov
ereignty — its seat at the table — to de
cide what to do about a missile that
might be coming towards Canada,”
said the outgoing ambassador.
Bush challenges Putin
on Russian democracy
BRATISLAVA, Slovakia — Stniggling
to repair troubled relations, President
Bush prodded Vladimir Putin on
Thursday about Moscow’s retreat from
democracy, but the Russian leader
bluntly rejected the criticism and in
sisted there was no backsliding.
“Strong countries are built by de
veloping strong democracies,” Bush
said he told Putin. “I think Vladimir
heard me loud and clear. ”
“Russia has made its choice in fa
vor of democracy,” the Russian
leader replied.
Confronting criticism that he is
quashing dissent and consolidating
power, Putin said Russia chose
democracy 14 years ago and “there
can be no return to what we used to
have before.”
Four years after Bush said he had
gotten a sense of Putin’s soul and
found him trustworthy, the two lead
ers talked for two-and-a-half hours at
a hilltop castle in hopes of easing
mounting distrust between Moscow
and Washington. Bush said he had
not changed his opinion of Putin and
wanted to remain friends.
Senator lobbies against
cell phone use in cars
OLYMPIA, Wash. — Chatty drivers
using one hand to hold their phone
should not speed or break any other
traffic laws if one lawmaker’s crusade
against distracted drivers makes it
into law this year.
Sen. Tracey Eide has tried to get a
hands-free requirement onto the
books for years without success. This
year, her bill has passed out of the
Senate Transportation Committee
and could go to a floor vote within
the next few weeks.
If the bill passes, using a cell phone
without a headset would be consid
ered a secondary offense, which
means a police officer can’t pull peo
ple over simply because they’re on
the phone. They would have to be
committing some other type of viola
tion, such as speeding. The headset
violation would be considered a
moving violation, and they’d have to
fork over an additional $101 in fines.
Suicide bomber strikes
Tikrit police headquarters
BAGHDAD, Iraq — A suicide
bomber wearing a police uniform blew
up his car at police headquarters in
Tikrit, killing at least 15 people in Sad
dam Hussein’s hometown in the
bloodiest of several attacks Thursday
that claimed 30 lives. Two American
soldiers were among the dead.
The suicide bombings and other at
tacks came as politicians negotiated
behind the scenes to forge the alliances
needed to win enough backing in the
275-seat National Assembly for the
post of prime minister.
The U.S. command said two
American soldiers were killed and
two wounded in separate bomb at
tacks, one northeast of Baghdad in
Qaryat, and a second near Samarra,
west of Qaryat.
In the Sunni Arab stronghold of
Tikrit, 80 miles north of Baghdad, a
man dressed as a police lieutenant
drove through the station’s gates and
blew himself up as dozens of police
men were arriving to relieve col
leagues who had worked through the
night, police Col. Saad Daham said.
Gay issues cause split in
global Anglican church
LONDON — The U.S. Episcopal
Church and the Anglican Church of
Canada withdrew Thursday from a
key body of the global Anglican
Communion under pressure from
conservative church leaders dis
tressed by the election of a gay bish
op in the United States and the
blessing of same-sex unions in the
two countries.
Though the suspension of the two
churches was said to be temporary, it
marked the first formal split in the
communion over the explosive issues
of sexuality and biblical authority.
The statement, which also sum
moned the two churches to explain
their thinking on gay issues at anoth
er Anglican meeting in June, was is
sued a day earlier than planned after a
week of meetings in Northern Ireland
by leaders of the national churches.
The presiding bishop of the Episco
pal Church, Frank T. Griswold, said the
debate would continue and his fellow
church leaders had made room “for a
wide variety of perspectives.”
— The Associated Press
Democrats call Smith no
show on assisted suicide
BY MATTHEW DALY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON, D.C. The lack of
comment from Republican Sen. Gor
don Smith on a Supreme Court deci
sion this week to take up the Bush ad
ministration challenge of Oregon's
landmark assisted suicide law is draw
ing criticism from Democrats and ad
vocates of the law.
The rest of the state's congressional
delegation, including a fellow Republi
can, Rep. Greg Walden, have said they
oppose the administration's efforts to
overturn the 7-year-old law, which has
been twice approved by Oregon voters.
Smith's Senate colleague, Demo
crat Ron Wyden, said he was ready
to filibuster if necessary to defend
the law against a potential challenge
in Congress.
Smith's office said he was traveling
Thesday, the day of the Supreme Court
announcement, and could not be
reached for comment. Smith also de
clined to comment when then-Attor
ney General John Ashcroft filed the ap
peal in November, arguing that the
federal Controlled Substances Act al
lowed him to decide whether doctors
could prescribe lethal overdoses under
the Oregon law.
"Where is Gordon Smith? Why
won't he make his position clear to
Oregon voters?” state Democratic
Chairman Jim Edmunson said.
"Gordon Smith has worked actively
against Oregon's Death With Digni
ty law, and he needs to explain why
he's AWOL in the fight to protect the
rights of Oregonians."
A spokesman said Thursday that
Smith's views on assisted suicide are
well-known.
"Senator Smith has always been
up front and open about his opposi
tion to assisted suicide and his be
lief that the issue will eventually be
decided by the courts," spokesman
Chris Matthews said.
Smith's views on the issue are “not
about politics," Matthews added.
Smith, a Mormon, is morally op
posed to abortion and to assisted sui
cide. While he supported an effort six
years ago by then-Sen. Don Nickles, R
Okla., to overturn the Oregon law,
Smith has kept a low profile on the is
sue in recent years.
During a 2002 debate with then-De
mocratic challenger Bill Bradbury,
Smith acknowledged his opposition to
the law, but said he's not been an ac
tivist on the issue in the Senate.
"I believe in states’ rights, but I also
recognize that we fought a Civil War
that established federal pre-emption,"
Smith said in the October 2002 debate.
"I don't think government should be
involved in suicide."
Even so, Smith’s silence in recent
days as the issue earned front-page
headlines across the nation has puz
zled many in Oregon.
Barbara Coombs Lee, co-presi
dent of Compassion and Choices,
an advocacy group that supports
the Oregon law, said she has known
and respected Smith for more than
a decade since she worked as a staff
member on a state Senate commit
tee that included Smith.
"One thing about Gordon is that he
has always been straightforward with
his positions. I have always had an
enormous amount of respect for him
for that," Lee said.
Still, Lee called Smith's recent si
lence "odd,” especially since he de
clared in 2001 that his opposition to as
sisted suicide was "an issue of
principle upon which I’m prepared to
stake my political career."
Lee called it "remarkable that the
entire delegation, including Greg
Walden — except for Gordon Smith —
would help protect the state from the
aggression from Congress."
Walden, in a statement issued by
his office, called the issue a matter
of states' rights, adding that he
hopes the Supreme Court will de
cide with Oregonians.
In its announcement Thesday, the
Supreme Court said it will review a
lower court ruling that upheld the Ore
gon law, which allows doctors to pre
scribe a lethal overdose requested by a
terminally ill patient. But the patient
must administer the drugs to himself
or herself.
Since 1998, 171 people — most
with cancer — have used the law to
end their lives. Supporters note the
law has strict safeguards and the
fact that it is seldom used shows
even the terminally ill are careful
about their choices.
Lee said she was sympathetic to
Smith, especially because of his.son's
well-publicized suicide, but said, "the
distinction that Sen. Smith needs to
make is the distinction between sui
cide from mental illness, and aid in dy
ing, which is the opposite." .
0204061
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MISSING SOMETHING?
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Join us on Sundays for worship services featuring
Holy Communion. We have traditional services on
Sunday mornings and Marty Haugen services on
Sunday evenings.
Sundays 8:15 am, 10:45 am and 6:30 pm
Student/Young Adult Bible Study, Sundays, 7:30 pm
Central Lutheran Church
Corner of 18th &. Potter • 345.0395
__www.welcometocentral.org
All are welcome.
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