HONOLULU (AP) _ Barack Obama stepped out onto the driveway of the beachfront home where he was vacationing in Hawaii Monday to condemn Russia's escalating warfare against Georgia.
The presumptive Democratic nominee for president, on the third full day of a weeklong vacation, scored Russia for its aggression and called for the country to stop its bombing and withdraw its ground forces.
“No matter how this conflict started, Russia has escalated it well beyond the dispute over South Ossetia and has now violated the space of another country,'' he said. “Russia has escalated its military campaign through strategic bombing and the movement of its ground forces into the heart of Georgia. There is no possible justification for these attacks.''
He urged Russia to accept a Georgian offer of a cease-fire and called for humanitarian assistance for the people of Georgia and the casualties on both sides.
After making the statement, Obama returned to the home for a couple of hours before traveling with his wife, Michelle, to the other side of the island to Honolulu to spend more time with his grandmother, watch the film The Dark Knight at a theater and have dinner. Unlike previous days where he spent a lot of time outdoors, he spent almost all of his time indoors on Monday.
With heavy security and more than a dozen members of the media waiting outside, Obama spent about a half hour with his 85-year-old maternal grandmother, Madelyn Dunham, at her modest condominium where he lived for several years.
The 12-story building is just a couple of blocks from the Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop where he worked as a teenager. It's also within walking distance to Punahou School, where he graduated in 1979.
His grandmother's home was also one of the first stops he made after his arrival to the islands on Friday.
Obama, who was born and raised in Honolulu, usually visits his aging grandmother in the wintertime, but his campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination prevented a visit last year.
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