Free Republic

Alaska is considering mounting a legal challenge to President Obama's plan to set aside 187,000 square miles in the state as a "critical habitat" for polar bears, a move that could add restrictions to future offshore drilling for oil and gas. Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell questioned the decision, saying the designation was not supported by sound science or good economic analysis. "This additional layer of regulatory burden will not only slow job creation and economic growth here and for our nation, but will also slow oil and gas exploration efforts," he said in a written statement on Wednesday. "We are...

Time for another reassessment By Arye Eldad In light of the recent NPT Review Conference results, Israel should rethink the value of all US promises, regardless of how or where they were made. The term “reassessment” entered the diplomatic discourse between Israel and the United States in 1975. Secretary of state Henry Kissinger sought to pressure prime minister Yitzhak Rabin into an “interim agreement” with Egypt, by which IDF forces would withdraw from the Yom Kippur War cease-fire lines to the Mitla and Gidi passes in Sinai. Kissinger froze US arms shipments and hinted that more drastic measures would follow....

The US president has said that his country's relationship with Israel means he has to be "honest" with the country over such controversial issues such as settlements and their obstruction to peace. Barack Obama told NPR, a US radio network, in advance of his trip to the Middle East that he wanted to see a "new dialogue" in the region in order to forge a solution to the Middle East conflict. "I think there have been times where we are not as honest as we should be about the fact that the current direction, the current trajectory, in the region...