This is from Newsmax Via Sightings

Russia And China Bidding On Huge US Air Base In Panama

Back in 1977, when Jimmy Carter was pushing for the United States Senate to adopt his Panama Canal Treaty, turning over the U.S. strategic waterway to the Panamanians, Admiral Thomas Moorer warned Congress that the Russians and other communist powers would fill the vacuum. Already we knew that Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa, a company with close ties to the Chinese government, controls ports at both ends of the Canal. Now we learn that Admiral Moorer may have been quite prescient. As it turns out Russian and Chinese companies are reportedly bidding to take control of Howard Air Force Base, the former U.S. military outpost situated near the canal. Howard Phillips, head of the Conservative Caucus, a group that has spearheaded efforts to preserve U.S. interests in Panama, just returned from a fact-finding tour of Panama with Judicial Watch chief Larry Klayman. Phillips says Panamanian officials told him that two Russian companies and two Chinese companies are bidding for control of Howard Air Force Base. The Panamanians are expecting to reap upwards of $3.5 billion from the sale. Phillips is dumbfounded that such a strategic base - one that was used as the main U.S. military base for Central America - could fall into unfriendly hands. "Any U.S. senator or congressman who looks at that base, and fails to keep it in U.S. hands, is doing great harm to our country," Phillips told NewsMax.com.

Phillips said there are several other bidders, including Texas billionaire Ross Perot, but he fears that Chinese and Russian companies may use illicit means to win the bidding process.

End.

-- Zdude (zdude777@hotmail.com), February 26, 2000

Answers

I like Ross Perot! Wish he were running now, and wonder what happened that scared him into dropping out the last time. Always got the idea he know alot more than he could ever really talk about, and that he was trying to save our country. Heard he got caught up in this MIA/POW issue and somebody didnt like what he was finding out. Anybody have any knowledge on this?

As for Panama falling into the Chinese or Russian hands, that would be a real dark day for America.

-- suzy (suzy@nowhere.com), February 26, 2000.

Did you ever play the game RISK? That's what this feels like!

-- Sheri (wncy2k@nccn.net), February 26, 2000.

Lol! Every time I see one of these threads I know that the source is either Newsmax or World Net Daily.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), February 26, 2000.

i guess i don't get why you are laughing, hawk?

the panama takeover and the fact that the company now controlling both ends of canal is china owned is very mainstream news. the only difference is the mainstream media downplay the significance of turning over the canal and the new owners.

i also actually heard the news reports (mainstream media) when we were clearing out of the military bases and the statements of the service personnel and commanders who were leaving. so why do you find it difficult to believe the panamanians are selling the empty bases?

i also heard the admiral and other military leaders discussing how difficult it would be for us to gather military resources and go back in if we had to defend the canal because we are GONE from panama.

also, on Janet Parshall's America (www.wava.com) you may listen to a pretty interesting discussion on the turnover in which some reputable folks discussed very grave concerns on the future of the canal and possibly our future too?!!!

The Panama Canal AIR DATE: 12-06-1999 GUEST: Frank Gaffney, Dr. Thomas Cabal, Richard Delgaudio Frank Gaffney with the Center for Security Policy, Dr. Thomas Cabal, a Panamanian journalist and Richard Delgaudio with the National Security Center discussed next weeks hand-over of the Panama Canal.

truly, i am very thankful for worldnetdaily. i have personally actually never caught them in a major error but i have caught them revealing stories long before they hit the mainstream. and they happen to be one of the few sources of information for things the mainstream media won't print. although i don't like the owner of the times, the washington times (interestingly enough) is also another publication that is "outside" the mainstream media.

-- tt (cuddluppy@aol.com), February 26, 2000.

We kicked the commies out of Granada. Maybe we will have to kick them out of Panama.

They may not have stealthy weapons like us but they sure are patient.

We win!

-- Mark Hillyard (foster@inreach.com), February 26, 2000.

Truly amazing.

Hawk can dream up an MD-80 crash theory that truly is harder to believe than any conspiracy theory and flies in the face of common sense and physics, but then he tries to downplay any article that comes from NewsMax or WorldNetDaily.

Twisted reality?

-- (-@-.-), February 26, 2000.

"i guess i don't get why you are laughing, hawk?"

I'm laughing because these guys are so predictable. They use unsubstantiated sources and rumors in order to manufacture fear-mongering fictional scenarios designed to increase support for their conservative agenda. In other words, they publish politically motivated propoganda, consistently.

"the panama takeover and the fact that the company now controlling both ends of canal is china owned is very mainstream news. the only difference is the mainstream media downplay the significance of turning over the canal and the new owners."

That's because the mainstream media still has a little bit of what is known as "ethics." I know conservatives don't know what that word means, but it includes things like having credible sources for the information you print.

"Howard Phillips, head of the Conservative Caucus, a group that has spearheaded efforts to preserve U.S. interests in Panama, just returned from a fact-finding tour of Panama with Judicial Watch chief Larry Klayman. Phillips says Panamanian officials told him that two Russian companies and two Chinese companies are bidding for control of Howard Air Force Base."

Isn't this the same guy that said Russia was going to nuke us into oblivion during the rollover transition? Oh that's right, that was Nyquist, who now seems to have gone into hiding.

-- Hawk (flyin@high.again), February 26, 2000.

Panama is getting some pretty powerful earthquake activity. I think I was told it was 20 miles long when I went through in 1985- a series of man-made lagoons, really. Noticed a 6.1 quake today. More on the way. I wouldn't stay awake nights over this one.

-- romain morgan (watchr@hotmail.com), February 26, 2000.

If there's anything good about the situation, it's that Howard Air Base doesn't have a very long runway, only eight thousand feet. It's too short for heavily loaded aircraft to take off for maximum range flights. The Chinese or Russians couldn't do much with the base other than run recce missions out of there and use the base for an intelligence gathering site. In fact there's probably an old NSA site there.

One of the issues the Air Force fought with over the last ten to fifteen years was larger and larger planes needing to use Howard and no way to lengthen the runway. There are hills and mountains surrounding the airfield prevent expansion.

When the canal treaty was signed the US made agreements to build a base in Honduras. That base has a runway which can handle anything that flies. Even the space shuttle, if need be.

WW

-- Wildweasel (vtmldm@epix.net), February 26, 2000.