A prep course for the month-long World Cup soccer tournament, a worldwide pheno

ates supplied about 50 percent of the world arms market ; Russia supplied 17 per

cent . ( End optional trim ) U.S. arms sales were boosted by the Persian Gulf wa

r , which provided a showcase for advanced U.S. weapons technology , with `` sma

rt '' bombs disappearing on worldwide TV down the air conditioning ducts of stra

tegic buildings in Iraq . Governments able to afford such weapons lined up to pl

ace their orders ; The United States has even overcome its traditional reluctanc

e to arm the Third World . It increased its share of the military market in deve

loping countries from 12.8 percent in 1981 to 32.3 percent in 1991 . Over the sa

me period , the Soviet share dropped from 42.7 percent to 33.3 percent . Most of

 the arms-sales growth is in two regions the Middle East and Eastern Asia . Crit

ics assert that the United States in some areas of the world is engaged in an ar

ms race with itself by supplying weapons to both sides of potential conflicts . 

Turkey and Greece , historic foes , have been two of this country 's biggest cus

tomers . But the most dramatic example has been in the Middle East . Saudi Arabi

a placed a $ 9 billion order for 72 F-15XPs in 1992 . This year , Israel matched

 that with a $ 2.4 billion purchase of 25 ultra-sophisticated F-15Is . Some in C

ongress express concern that economic considerations are driving conventional-ar

ms sales overseas , jeopardizing national security . Legislation to set standard

s for U.S. arms exports has been introduced in both the House and Senate .

 WASHINGTON While Congress is away on a 12-day Memorial Day break , staff member

s of the Senate Finance Committee will be at work drafting a compromise health-c

are plan that could become the main hope for breaking a five-month congressional

 impasse on President Clinton 's top legislative priority . Committee Chairman D

aniel Patrick Moynihan , D-N.Y. , and ranking minority member Bob Packwood , R-O

re. , agreed before the break to have their aides work out language embodying ar

eas of agreement and have it ready for consideration when Congress returns June 

8 . No one is betting how far the bipartisan exercise will go , but there is agr

eement on both sides of the Capitol that it represents what may be one of the la

st hopes for a breakthrough on the health-care front . Chairman Edward M. Kenned

y , D-Mass. , of the Senate Labor and Human Resources Committee , which shares j

urisdiction with Finance , aims to finish his version of a health bill the first

 week back . Despite concessions that have won bipartisan agreement on some seco

ndary features of the plan , the bill as a whole does not seem likely to draw si

gnificant Republican support . That is clearly the case with the measure being w

orked on in the counterpart Education and Labor Committee in the House . A draft

 that cleared one of its subcommittees just before the recess is described by cr

itics as `` Clinton-Plus , '' promising even more benefits and imposing even mor

e regulatory burdens than the White House plan that has failed to enlist moderat

e Democratic or Republican support . The House Energy and Commerce Committee app

ears so deadlocked in its efforts to draft a bill that Chairman John D. Dingell 

, D-Mich. , has spoken privately of throwing up his hands and asking the House t

o discharge the panel from further consideration of the measure . Dingell has be

en unable to get a sufficient number of Democrats to accept his watered-down ver

sion of the Clinton bill , so he never began formal markup sessions . A middle g

roup of conservative Democrats and moderate Republicans on the committee has bee

n equally frustrated about trying to frame a compromise . The last of the Big Fi

ve health committees , House Ways and Means , has been slowed to a crawl , in pa

rt by the delay in getting cost estimates from the Congressional Budget Office ,

 and in part by the threatened indictment of its chairman , Rep. Dan Rostenkowsk

i , D-Ill . Although its health subcommittee finished marking up a major proposa

l more than a month ago , Ways and Means has not gotten beyond the general discu

ssion stage . Taken together , the problems with the other committees and their 

products have led such key legislators as Rep. Jim Cooper , D-Tenn. , to say , `

` We 're all hoping Senate Finance can find a fresh trail out of this swamp . ''

 Three developments have raised hopes that this is not just a wistful dream . La

st week three other moderate Republicans on Finance Sens. John H. Chafee , R.I. 

, Dave Durenberger , Minn. , and John C. Danforth , Mo. encouraged Packwood and 

Moynihan to explore a compromise . They reportedly told the chairman that the ac

t of drafting is the quickest way , as one of them put it , to `` turn Bob Dole 

away from political posturing and focus him on what really needs to be done . ''

 Sen. Robert J. Dole , R-Kan. , the Senate minority leader and a member of the F

inance Committee , is the man Moynihan has tried repeatedly to enlist as a partn

er , but pressure from conservative Republicans has made Dole increasingly criti

cal of anything resembling the Clinton plan . The second development that raised

 hopes of a Finance Committee compromise has been the series of trial balloons f

loated by Sen. John B . Breaux , D-La. , co-sponsor with Cooper of a managed-com

petition plan that once appeared to be the major rival to the Clinton bill . Las

t week Breaux proposed omitting for now any requirement that all employers buy h

ealth insurance for their workers . That `` employer mandate '' section of the C

linton bill has been denounced by Dole and other Republicans and is a major stic

king point to compromise . Instead , Breaux would rely on insurance reforms to b

ring coverage to more Americans but would require that in three to five years , 

if specified percentages of the uninsured have not been able to buy policies , `

` employer mandates '' would be applied . Dole 's initial reaction was skeptical

 . `` Congress is here every year , '' he said . `` We don't need to bind some f

uture Congress , and we can't do it anyhow . '' But he also said , `` Everybody 

is looking for a way to avoid mandates up front , but to bring them in if we don

't get to what the president likes to call universal coverage . '' The third pos

itive factor was the reaction of Senate Majority Leader George J. Mitchell , D-M

aine , also on Finance , to the Breaux proposal and the Moynihan-Packwood effort

 . Mitchell is regarded as the committee 's most influential protector of Clinto

n 's positions . But Mitchell said in an interview that `` the ` employer mandat

e ' is only one route to universal coverage , and if someone else Senator Breaux

 or Senator Packwood or Senator Chafee suggests a way to get there by other mean

s , we 'll look at it . '' Committee sources said Mitchell 's private reaction t

o the Breaux plan is more supportive than those public comments . But they also 

cautioned against assuming that it will be easy to bridge the differences on man

dates , cost containment and other intractable issues before Congress takes anot

her break on July 1 .

 IRVINE , Calif. . The Eagles certainly didn't take it easy in returning to conc

erts after 14 years . Instead of playing it safe by simply serving up the two do

zen or so of the best-known Eagles tunes in a nostalgia-to-the-max reunion packa

ge , the most celebrated Southern California band since the '60s gamely threw al

l sorts of surprises at the audience on Friday at Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre . 

Surprise 1 : Defying the conventional concert wisdom of saving your signature tu

ne for a climactic moment late in the show , the Eagles opened with `` Hotel Cal

ifornia . '' Surprise 2 : Instead of inviting the audience to then settle into a

 golden oldies mode by following with such peaceful , easy trademark hits such a

s `` Take It Easy , '' the band followed `` Hotel California '' with more challe

nging fare four more songs from the `` Hotel California '' album , including `` 

Wasted Time '' and `` Pretty Maids All in a Row . '' Surprise 3 : After devoting

 most of the opening hour to old Eagles material , the quintet shifted emphasis 

dramatically in the second half to focus on new Eagles tunes and the members ' s

olo works . Surprise 4 : The group didn't perform `` The Long Run , '' `` Best o

f My Love , '' `` Last Resort , '' `` Sad Cafe , '' `` On the Border , '' `` Tak

e It Easy ` ` or `` Peaceful Easy Feeling '' at all . The result : Only 13 of th

e 29 songs were from the Eagles '70s catalog . Biggest Surprise : The show still

 worked . `` Good party , '' a beaming Glenn Frey said at one point , looking ou

t at the 15,000 cheering fans as he stood on a stage whose set resembled a Mad M

ax-like industrial wasteland in keeping with the apocalyptic nature of some Eagl

es songs . `` Real good party . '' The audience was equally enthused . Fans , so

me of whom had come from as far away as New York and Kentucky to toast the start

 of the group 's first tour since their bitter 1980 break-up , shouted , `` Than

k you '' and `` We love you '' throughout the show . Many sang along with all th

e hits and danced in front of their seats to the upbeat tunes . Yet the selectio

n of songs suggested that the Eagles had more on their minds than merely the app

lause of the night . Amid all the talk about the tour simply being a one-time , 

money-driven affair , the Eagles were intent on demonstrating that , indeed , th

e band is in for the long run that the reason Frey , Don Henley , Don Felder , J

oe Walsh and Timothy B . Schmit came back together after all these years was to 

resume writing and recording together . And that issue the recapturing of the ba

nd 's old creative spark is the real challenge facing the Eagles . The band wast

ed little time Friday in passing Test One of the reunion campaign . Midway throu

gh the opening hour , it was clear that the Eagles remain the masters of such '7

0s trademarks as sweet , seductive harmonies and precise but flavorful musicians

hip . It was also apparent that the band 's best songs including `` Hotel Califo

rnia '' and `` Desperado '' speak of social and personal morality in ways that r

emain relevant . The question is whether the Eagles will be able to come up with

 new songs that continue to reflect on human rituals and rites with equal insigh

t and skill . That is the more important Test Two and an answer isn't likely unt

il the band delivers an album of new material , possibly next summer . ( Optiona

l add end ) Meantime , the group is trying to encourage fans to look forward not

 just backward . The solo material notably Henley 's `` Heart of the Matter , ''

 `` New York Minute '' and `` Boys of Summer '' served as a bridge and helped ad

d a more contemporary edge to the evening 's tone . Similarly , the turning of t

he microphone over to Frey , Walsh and Schmit for solo turns was a reminder that

 the band isn't just a Henley or Henley-Frey proposition . Of the four new tunes

 being introduced on the tour , the most striking is the fiery `` Get Over It , 

'' a wickedly satiric reflection by Henley and Frey on '90s political correctnes

s , with a strong commercial feel to it . The Eagles , who were joined on variou

s numbers by four support musicians , haven't tried to add flash to their perfor

mances . The quintet still simply relies on its music and that music still serve

s them well . The Eagles are once again flying high .

 WASHINGTON President Clinton 's planned defense against the sexual harassment l

awsuit by a former Arkansas state employee raises questions of presidential priv

ilege that have been debated since the founding of the republic , and that court

s and presidents have grappled with ever since . White House Counsel Lloyd N . C

utler last week sketched out one possible legal argument for Clinton : that the 

Constitution generally protects a sitting president from being sued for damages 

. The balance in this case in which Paula Corbin Jones waited three years before

 bringing suit and has no urgent need for recompense tips in favor of forcing he

r to delay her lawsuit until the end of Clinton 's term , Cutler said on the Mac

Neil-Lehrer News Hour . Clinton has not yet decided what he will have his privat

e lawyers argue in court , but sources close to the president said he may go bey

ond simply arguing that the case should be put off until after he leaves office 

and contend that , in this case , Jones has lost her chance to sue by waiting un

til after Clinton became president . But the sources said Clinton does not plan 

to contend that a president or former president is absolutely immune from being 

sued in any circumstances over his private conduct . The issue has never been de

cided by a court , and the debate reflects the tension in American law between t

he fundamental precept that no one is above the law a departure from the English

 rule that the king could do no wrong and the need , rooted in both practical an

d constitutional considerations , to protect the office of the presidency . Cour

ts are more likely to side with the claims of presidential privilege in civil su

its than in criminal cases , where the needs of prosecutors or criminal defendan

ts may take precedence . In the Watergate tapes case , the Supreme Court ruled u

nanimously that then-President Richard M. Nixon could not assert executive privi

lege as a grounds for refusing to turn over the tapes to the special prosecutor 

. Presidents have also testified as witnesses in criminal proceedings , but have

 at the same time been granted more procedural protections than ordinary witness

es . Presidents Gerald R. Ford and Jimmy Carter gave videotaped testimony in cri

minal cases while in office , and President Ronald Reagan gave a videotaped depo

sition in the Iran-Contra prosecution of former national security adviser John M

. Poindexter . Even in criminal cases , however , the president may be entitled 

to unique protections . Although the issue has never been decided , the Justice 

Department argued when a federal grand jury was investigating then-Vice Presiden

t Spiro T. Agnew that a sitting president could not be criminally indicted . Ins

tead , the department said in a filing by then-Solicitor General Robert H. Bork 

, the president cannot be prosecuted until he is impeached or otherwise leaves o

ffice . In civil cases like the suit now pending against Clinton courts have bee

n particularly protective of the president . In 1982 the Supreme Court ruled 5 t

o 4 in Nixon v. Fitzgerald that a president can never be sued for damages for hi

s official actions no matter how egregious his conduct , and even after he is ou

t of office . The court described a Pentagon whistle-blower 's claim as a `` mer

ely private suit for damages , '' noting the `` lesser public interest '' in civ

il cases than in criminal proceedings . The reasoning in the Nixon case can be u

sed to argue either for or against extending similar protection to a president b

eing sued for his private actions . On the one hand , the court relied heavily o

n the need to ensure that the president , empowered `` to make the most sensitiv

e and far-reaching decisions entrusted to any official under our constitutional 

system , '' should not have to worry about being subjected to a civil lawsuit ev

ery time he acts . Because Jones is complaining about Clinton 's conduct before 

he became president , Clinton will not be able to argue that the court should sh

ield him in order to preserve his ability to exercise his authority and judgment

 as president . On the other hand , the court also emphasized what it described 

as the `` unique position '' of the president within the constitutional system a

nd raised two other concerns that Clinton will be able to use to bolster his cas

e : the threat of proliferating lawsuits against a target as attractive as the p

resident and the drain on a president 's valuable time and energy of defending h

imself against a lawsuit .

 TOKYO At last Japan can rest assured : Hachiko 's wan-wan was not a weak one . 

This is an important cultural discovery . But to understand why , you need to un

derstand some Japanese dog lore . Between the world wars , in Tokyo 's Shibuya s

ection , there lived a golden brown Akita dog named Hachiko . The famous tale of

 her loyalty and devotion to her master is so familiar here that she is universa

lly known as `` chu-ken Hachiko , '' or `` faithful dog Hachiko . '' If a nation

al election were held to pick America 's favorite dog , the votes would probably

 be split among such diverse candidates as Lassie , Snoopy , Goofy , Old Yeller 

and Millie Bush . But in this more homogeneous nation , where everybody tends to

 agree with everybody else on these big cultural questions , there would be no s

uch confusion . Unquestionably , unequivocally , the choice for Japan 's favorit

e dog would be Hachiko . Hachiko died in 1935 , but millions still visit her eac

h year , in stuffed form , at the National Museum in Tokyo . There are countless

 books , movies and CDs , plus statues and plaques commemorating the faithful do

g all over Japan . Because 1994 is the Year of the Dog in the Oriental calendar 

cycle , and because it is also the 60th anniversary of the most famous Hachiko m

emorial , Japan this spring has launched into a new burst of Hachiko hagiography

 . The biggest scoop yet in the media 's Hachiko Wars occurred over the weekend 

, when the Culture Broadcasting Network obtained a hitherto unknown recording of

 Hachiko 's bark . It was an old LP record , broken into three pieces . But tech

nicians at Culture Broadcasting repaired the disk with laser surgery so that it 

could be broadcast . After a breathless buildup , a dramatic introduction and ma

ny commercials , the faithful dog 's voice was played for a national audience Sa

turday . Hachiko said , `` Wan-wan . '' Wan-wan is the Japanese word for `` bow-

wow '' that is how the Japanese render the sound of a dog 's bark . For that mat

ter , cats in Japan say `` nyaah-nyaah ' ' instead of `` meow , '' and frogs her

e say `` kero-kero . '' The Japanese word for what a rooster says is `` ko-kek-k

o-ko , '' which is , if you think about it , a lot closer to the real thing than

 `` cock-a-doodle-doo . '' Having a hefty `` wan-wan '' is considered a sign of 

health and good karma for a dog here . And to everyone 's relief , Hachiko had a

 healthy , hearty wan-wan . Even a wimpy wan-wan , however , might not have dimi

nished the national affection for Hachiko , because her true story crystalizes t

he characteristic trustworthiness and loyalty that dog-lovers everywhere have co

me to expect from Man 's Best Friend . Hachiko , born in 1922 , was the pet of P

rof. Eisaburo Ueno of Tokyo University , an institution roughly as prestigious h

ere as Harvard , Princeton and Stanford combined in the United States . Ueno liv

ed in Shibuya , then considered a suburb but now a very trendy , up-market Tokyo

 neighborhood . Every morning , the professor would walk from his home to Shibuy

a Station to take the train to work and every morning Hachiko came with him . Ea

ch afternoon , when Ueno came back home on the afternoon train , Hachiko would b

e waiting on the platform to meet him . All the other commuters and the merchant

s of Shibuya came to know and love the dog and await her daily vigil . One day i

n 1925 , Ueno died suddenly while at work . Faithful Hachiko waited and waited a

t the station that night , but her master did not come home . So Hachiko came ba

ck to wait for her master again the next afternoon . And the next , and the next

 . In fact , she kept coming back to the station , through rain , snow and the o

ccasional earthquake , every afternoon for the next 10 years . Word of this real

-life wonder dog spread around Japan and the world . American dog-lovers were so

 moved that the Los Angeles Friends of Animals raised funds to commission a stat

ue honoring `` Faithful Dog Hachiko . '' It was erected at Shibuya Station in 19

34 and become the most famous of many subsequent memorials to the dog . Hachiko 

died in 1935 and was buried next to her master in Tokyo 's Aoyama Cemetery . But

 she remained alive in drama , books , movies , songs and a million bedtime stor

ies . During World War II , Japan 's military dictators took an ambivalent stanc

e toward Hachiko . They made her story mandatory reading in the schools , to pre

ach the importance of unthinking loyalty to one 's superiors . But they also mel

ted down the famous statue to get metal for shipbuilding . Hachiko is a powerful

 retail agent in Japan , and the department stores here sell Hachiko cookies , c

ups , calendars , coasters , calculators , chopstick holders and other memorabil

ia . The Tokyu Department store in Shibuya offers , among much else , a Hachiko 

necktie ( with `` Wan Wan ! '' printed on it ) for $ 50 and a $ 58 wristwatch wi

th Hachiko 's face and this message , in English , on the dial : `` The most hea

rtful Japanese , A dog . He goes to station to meet with his master . '' As for 

the statue that became a war casualty , it was replaced in 1948 and became natio

nally famous once again so much so that when Shibuya Station was rebuilt to acco

mmodate increased population , the architect had to design around Hachiko 's sta

tue so that it would not be disturbed . Hachiko 's brand of loyalty to a leader 

is an important social virtue in Japan . But so is promptness . Accordingly , th

e Hachiko statue at Shibuya Station is also famous as the locus of many lover 's

 quarrels . A couple makes plans to meet at Hachiko , and then gets into an argu

ment on the theme of `` Why didn't you get here on time ? '' To avoid confrontat

ion , the Japanese have placed , at Hachiko 's statue , a machine that lets you 

punch in on arrival and issues a card saying what time you arrived . That way yo

u can prove to your lover that you did arrive at Shibuya Station right on time j

ust as Faithful Dog Hachiko did for all those lonely years .