<table cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" ><tr><td valign="top" style="font: inherit;"><div id="yiv2074052281">Israel's bombardment of <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230497710_0">Gaza</span> "bears all the hallmarks of <span style="border-bottom: medium none; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230497710_1">war crimes</span>", <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial; cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230497710_2">Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu</span> said in a statement on Sunday.<br>
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"In the context of total aerial supremacy, in which one side in a conflict deploys lethal aircraft against opponents with no means of defending themselves, the bombardment bears all the hallmarks of war crimes."<br>
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The attacks, in retaliation for rockets fired by the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230497710_3">Palestinians</span>, would not contribute to the security of <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230497710_4">Israel</span>, he said.<br>
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"It is a blight not only on the <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230497710_5">Middle East</span>, but on the entire world - and particularly <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230497710_6">world leaders</span> who have consistently failed the people of Palestine and Israel over the past 60 years."<br>
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set_id=1&click_ id=3&art_ id=nw20081228135 838626C247461<br><br><span style="font-style: italic;">Here we can see Obama's great service to US imperialism--he does a much slicker job justifying Israel's vicious crimes against Palestinian people than the Bush manages...to cite just one element, he condemns Hamas for being "deeply influenced by other countries,"?!</span><br style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Jay</span><br><br>
Obama 'monitoring' <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230498241_0">Gaza</span> strikes: <br>
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spokesman<br>
1 hour ago <br>
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HONOLULU, Hawaii (AFP) — US president-elect <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230498241_1">Barack Obama</span> is "monitoring" the deadly violence in the <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230498241_2">Gaza strip</span> while he is on vacation in <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230498241_3">Hawaii</span>, a spokesperson said Saturday.<br>
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Obama, who takes office on <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230498241_4">January 20</span>, "is closely monitoring global <br>
events, including the situation in Gaza," said his chief national <br>
security spokesperson <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230498241_5">Brooke Anderson</span>.<br>
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Anderson however emphasized that "there is one president at a time," a statement Obama has said often since he was elected on November 4. In a July interview with <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230498241_6">The New York Times</span>, Obama said he didn't think that "any country would find it acceptable to have missiles raining down on the heads of their citizens," in reference to rockets fired from Gaza into <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230498241_7">Israel</span>. "If somebody was sending rockets into my house where my two daughters sleep at night, I'm going to do everything in my power to stop that," Obama said. "And I would expect <span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230498241_8">Israelis</span> to do the same thing."<br>
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As for talking with Hamas, the Islamist movement in control of Gaza, Obama said in the interview that it was "very hard to negotiate with a group that is not representative of a nation state, does not recognize your right to exist, has consistently used terror as a <br>
weapon, and is deeply influenced by other countries." <br>
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Punishing Israeli air raids into the Gaza Strip Saturday left at least 210 people dead and more than 300 wounded, in retaliation for rocket fire in one of the bloodiest days of the decades-long <span class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230498241_9">Middle East conflict</span>.<br>
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<span style="border-bottom: medium none; background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 0%; cursor: pointer; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" class="yshortcuts" id="lw_1230498241_10">Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice</span> said in a statement that Washington "strongly condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza." <br>
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dIBHFQFafA<br><br><div id="RTEContent"><div id="RTEContent"><div><strong> </strong><em></em><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="color: rgb(255, 0, 0);">Declare It Now! Wear Orange!</span><br>Impeach Bush & Cheney for War Crimes<br>& Crimes against Humanity!<br></span></span><span style="color: rgb(0, 127, 64); font-weight: bold;"></span></div></div></div></div></td></tr></table><br>