White House to change Afghanistan generals
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- The White House plans to replace the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan during the drawdown of forces from the country, officials say.
The assistant commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. Joseph F. Dunford Jr., will be nominated to replace Gen. John Allen, who had led U.S. and other forces in Afghanistan since mid-2011, the Los Angeles Times reported Saturday.
Allen is not being fired, but President Barack Obama "wants somebody who can take a fresh look at the effort in Afghanistan and isn't an architect of the current strategy," said David Barno, a retired Army general.
Barno headed the war in Afghanistan from 2003 to 2005.
The last of the 30,000 additional "surge" troops deployed to Afghanistan in 2009 are to leave the country this month. The remaining 68,000 U.S. troops are scheduled to withdraw by the end of 2014.
Allen will receive a promotion when he departs in January. U.S. officials said Allen will be nominated to be Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, which would make him the top military officer for NATO.
His nomination must be confirmed by the U.S. Senate.
Dunford has no experience in Afghanistan, but he commanded the 5th Marine regiment during the invasion of Iraq in 2003.
GOP address: Cut red tape, repeal ACA
WASHINGTON, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- Nothing is more important than "getting the middle class back to work" an Arizona congressional candidate said in the Republican Party's weekly radio address.
Former Paradise Valley Mayor Vernon Parker, the GOP nominee for Congress in Arizona's newly drawn 9th Congressional District, said Saturday the question he is most frequently asked is what he would do to increase employment.
"I tell them nothing is more important than getting the middle class back to work," Parker said.
"I tell my neighbors it doesn't have to be this way," he said. "We have employers who want to hire and workers who want to work, but government won't get out of the way."
Parker said the United States has the world's highest corporate tax rate and "that just pushes jobs away, overseas, to India, to China, to all our competitors."
He called for the repeal of the Affordable Care Act and said it should be replaced "with common-sense reforms that protect Americans' access to the care they need, from the doctor they choose, at a lower cost."
"While we're at it, we need to look at reining in all the excessive red tape that is making it harder to live, work, hire, and do business," he said.
"I agree with Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan that we need to stop all the looming tax hikes and develop a pro-growth tax code that brings jobs home and keeps jobs here," Parker said.
Parker is running against Democrat Kyrsten Sinema, a former state legislator.
Okinawa rides out Typhoon Jelawat
TOKYO, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- A major typhoon crashed into Okinawa Saturday with winds that gusted as high as 180 mph, U.S. Air Force officials said.
Typhoon Jelawat was comparable to a Category 3 hurricane and was on a beeline to strike the Japanese mainland this weekend, CNN reported.
The Japanese Meteorological Agency said Jelawat's top sustained winds were about 100 mph Saturday. The storm was expected to lose some strength as it headed north into colder waters.
Okinawans and U.S. troops based on the island rode out the storm. Buildings on Okinawa are built to withstand frequent gales, which was limiting damage.
Nevertheless, folks on the island told CNN there was some damage, including overturned vehicles.
"The winds are screaming through the streets," storm chaser James Reynolds told CNN.
TSA: More guns found at checkpoints
NEW YORK, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- The number of guns found at U.S. airport security checkpoints has risen in the past two years due to a rise in gun sales, security experts said.
The Transportation Security Administration reported 1,105 firearms have been found at airport security checkpoints this year, on a pace to top 2011's total of 1,320. The agency said 1,123 guns were found in 2010.
Firearms sales have seen similar growth across the nation, The New York Times reported Friday.
Requests for background checks through the National Instant Criminal Background Check System of the FBI in 2011 was 16.4 million, up from 14.4 million in 2010 and 8.9 million in 2001, FBI data show.
Guns discovered at airport checkpoints reflect "the pervasiveness of concealed-carry weapons, which have gone up enormously in the last 10 years because concealed permits have got easier to get," said Matt Bennett, a co-founder of Third Way, a Washington research group that provides centrist views on divisive topics.
David Castelveter, a spokesman for the TSA, said most travelers who try to bring their guns with them through airport security do so unintentionally.
"I'm a Vietnam vet, and when I went through training I was taught that my gun was my best friend -- and God forbid you should ever lose sight of that fact. I would never, ever not know that I have a gun in my bag," he said.
Calif. bans open carry of shotguns, rifles
SACRAMENTO, Sept. 29 (UPI) -- California Gov. Jerry Brown signed legislation prohibiting people from carrying rifles and shotguns openly in urban areas.
The measure, signed Friday, was opposed by gun-rights activists.
The bill's author, Democratic Assemblyman Anthony Portantino, said the goal is to prevent potential shootouts on the street. He said the ban would avoid situations in which police officers had to approach someone toting a possibly loaded shotgun or rifle in a public place.
The Los Angeles Times said the bill was inspired in part by recent actions by gun-rights advocates who entered coffee shops and other places carrying rifles as a demonstration of their right to bear arms.
Brown also signed a bill allowing movie and television producers to use working sawed-off shotguns as props while filming in the state. Such weapons are banned in California.
