Free Republic

Unilateral leader With 16 executive orders and 11 memorandums issued to the executive branch in his first 30 days in office, President Barack Obama leads all of his predecessors in volume of unilateral action. These facts are being tracked by the American Presidency Project, a Web site developed by a pair of political scientists at the University of California-Santa Barbara.

Dec. 19, 2003 The Herzliya Initiative The gist of the insta-analysis of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's long-anticipated speech was: nothing new. Don't believe it. This was a landmark speech that changes the incentive structure of our virtual peace process and could define events for decades to come. Many are dismissing the speech because Sharon did not announce the immediate dismantling of a single settlement. This was a ludicrous expectation to begin with. Israel, and even more so the United States, remain committed to the road map, which requires – first of all – an end to Palestinian terror, and...

Dec. 19, 2003B> Palestinian reactions to Sharon's speech By JOSEPH NASRSharon's remarks at the Herzlyia Conference were disappointing to optimistic and skeptical observers alike, wrote the Jerusalem-based Palestinian daily al-Quds on Friday. In his long-awaited speech at the Herzlyia Conference, Prime Minister Ariel Sharon was expected to specify what are his "unilateral steps" of disengagement, wrote al-Quds. In the build-up to the speech, the circulation of the expression "unilateral" was meant to threaten the Palestinians, in that if they don't rush to the negotiating table – according to Israel's terms – they will not get "painful Israeli concessions", published al-Quds'...