Problems with OBJECT tag linking in IE

[RevThwack]

This one is really starting to drive me nuts. I've searched all over and havn't been able to find an answer for it. What I'm trying to do is to declare different object tag sections inside the page to build a multi-level menu system that's calling and loading different .htm files into parts of the primary page, allowing me to streamline code. My code is working as intended in both Firefox and Opera, but in IE it keeps opening the links in new windows. Cany anyone help?

This is how the site is laid out:

Main page:
<div id="nav">
<object data="nav.htm" class="imbeded"></object>
</div>
<div id="subnav">
<object data="subnav.htm" class="imbeded" name="subnav"></object>
</div>
<div id="content">
<object data="news.htm" class="imbeded" name="content"></object>
</div>
<div id="copyright">
<object data="copyright.htm" class="imbeded"></object>
</div>

Menu:
<a href="news.htm" target="content" id="home_b" class="nav_b" />
<a href="art/subnav.htm" target="subnav" id="art_b" class="nav_b" />
<a href="info/subnav.htm" target="subnav" id="info_b" class="nav_b" />
<a href="links/subnav.htm" target="subnav" id="links_b" class="nav_b" />

Thanks in advance.