Dec. 28 Meet the Press: Bush Will Be Judged Harshly

Israel's foreign minister Tzipi Livni says Hamas is to blame and don't you forget it. Israel attacked Gaza Strip after 2 weeks of rocket fire attacks by Hamas, which rules Gaza Strip. Haaretz, an Israeli newspaper, says that Israel has been planning the attacks for 6 months. Haaretz is also reporting that Hamas has threatened to kill Livni and Ehud Barak, Israel's defense minister. 

ABC: The Israeli Army says that over the last week militants have fired 300 rockets or mortars at targets in Israel. One Israeli died in a rocket attack on Saturday according to a report by the Associated Press.

Israel's response of killing nearly 300 people, many civilians, seems a little over the top. The New Republic says no it wasn't. 

Livni said it's acceptable for Hamas to stay in power if it accepts the requirements of the national community -- to accept Israel's right to exist. Hillary! We need your tenacity in the Mid-East.

David Axelrod was also on the show. David Gregory tries to squeeze something new out of him on Blago, taxes and Rick Warren, to no avail.

During the roundtable, it is a foregone conclusion, Bush really blew it (contrary to what Condi Rice says) and his lack of smarts ruined a lot of people's lives. But we can't really blame Bush because we elected him. Going forward, I'm hoping that we will be very careful about who we elect as leaders. It seems the election of Obama set a new tone, which says America is awake. Reset. 

Watch the whole show:

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Some facts about Hamas:

Here are some facts about Hamas:

CAPABILITIES:

* Hamas is believed to have thousands of short-range rockets, as well as scores of longer-range Grad rockets that could strike Israeli population centers up to 40 km (25 miles) from the border with the Gaza Strip.

* Hamas is believed to have a limited number of shoulder fired missiles that could be used against helicopters or slow moving planes, but has little defense against Israel's force of fighter jets, the most technologically advanced in the region.

* First deployed on the streets of Gaza in May 2006, Hamas's main security apparatus, initially dubbed the Executive Force, has grown from an estimated 3,000 members to more than 13,000, divided in several security branches. At least 180 of Hamas's security men were killed in Israel's air strikes.

* Hamas's main security force has grown since its takeover of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, in part because the Islamist group has money to pay salaries. The core of the force is mostly members of the Hamas armed wing, the Izz el-Deen al-Qassam Brigades, but it includes some members from allied militant factions such as the Popular Resistance Committees. More

Obama Meets with Israeli Palestinian Leaders

Obama's on a roll. He's doing the U.S. proud.

JERUSALEM — Senator Barack Obama opened a day of talks with Israeli and Palestinian leaders on Wednesday, sharing breakfast with Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak before traveling to the West Bank to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

Mr. Obama, who shuttled between morning meetings at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem, also visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial. Wearing a white yarmulke, he rekindled a flame and paused for a few moments of quiet reflection as he laid a wreath on a tomb that contains ashes from Nazi extermination camps.

“At a time of great peril and promise, war and strife, we are blessed to have such a powerful reminder of man’s potential for great evil, but also our capacity to rise from tragedy and remake our world,” Mr. Obama said after visiting the memorial. “Let our children come here, and know this history, so they can add their voices to proclaim “never again.” And may we remember those who perished, not only as victims but also as individuals who hoped and loved and dreamed like us, and who have become symbols of the human spirit.”

Mr. Obama later met with Mr. Abbas and the prime minister of the Palestinian Authority, Salam Fayyad, for one hour — 15 minutes longer than scheduled — at the Mukata, the Palestinian president’s compound in Ramallah.
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Mr. Obama received a warm reception from President Shimon Peres of Israel, who said his fondest wish was for a “great president of the United States. That is the greatest promise for us and the rest of the world.”

As he strolled with Mr. Peres just before their meeting, Mr. Obama said: “I’m here on this trip to reaffirm the special relationship between Israel and the United States, my abiding commitment to Israel’s security and my hope that I can serve as an effective partner whether as U.S. senator or as president in bringing about a more lasting peace in the region.”

“You are a person who has forgotten more than I will ever know on these issues and so I look forward to a robust discussion, having an opportunity to get your insights and your wisdom,” he told Mr. Peres.

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Mr. Obama also met with the opposition leader, Benjamin Netanyahu, who told reporters that Israeli-Palestinian relations and Iran were the main points of his morning conversation. “The senator and I agreed that the primacy of preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power is clear, and this should guide our mutual policies,” Mr. Netanyahu said in a statement.

He added that Mr. Obama told him “he would never seek in any way to compromise Israel’s security, and that this would be sacrosanct in his approach to political negotiations.”