War Criminals Watch exists for one reason: to ensure that prosecutions of high officials of the Bush administration or any subsequent administration who are guilty of "high crimes and misdemeanors" take place now. Key officials must be held accountable and prosecuted for the crimes they stand accused, in world public opinion, of having committed. Editorialists may demand action. Even some politicians may call for it. But only an energized and politically active public can make those prosecutions happen. War criminals must be publicly shamed and prevented from occupying powerful or influential positions within our society. As in other cases where authorities have gone beyond US and international law as well as the laws of decency, only a public accounting will restore lawful conduct.

War Criminals Watch calls on people of conscience to publicly scrutinize those whose acts require prosecution. Former Bush officials now have new roles in society: professor, lawyer, corporate manager, etc., etc. Some have moved on into the Obama administration.  Students and professors, especially, have an obligation to act, to let the war criminals know that there will be no safe haven on campuses. It is our responsibility to call them out and to demand that legal proceedings take place and in a timely fashion.

It was thought by many that President Obama would put a stop to the madness, to the wars, to the Bush administration’s nightmarish approach to national security.  After one year, this is "the change" we have:

• The expansion of the war in Afghanistan with tens of thousands of additional troops as well as an equivalent number of military contractors.  The military strategy is under the direction of Gen. Stanley McChrystal, an expert in "counterinsurgency" in Iraq.
• Drone strikes in Pakistan have continued and increased in numbers and intensity killing quickly growing numbers of Afghani and Pakistani civilians, including women and children.
• Several of those who have been accused of Bush-era war crimes have continued into the Obama administration – for example, McChrystal, Gates, Petraeus and Fredman, all of whom have been concerned with "national security" issues militarily and domestically.
• Withdrawal from Iraq is fading into the future.  And, when and if the troops do go, the military contractors remain.
• 7 billion now spent per year on recruiting efforts to increase US military forces.
• Obama has insisted on “moving forward” by avoiding the recognition of crimes committed by the government, allowing the worst offenders of the Bush years to avoid prosecution. He has both granted amnesty to the CIA agents involved in torture and offered legal defense if anyone else were to prosecute them. 
• On February 19, 2010 the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) issued its report on whether John Yoo and Jay Bybee should be held accountable for their actions associated with their role providing legal cover for torture, indefinite incarceration without trial, rendition, massive spying and other practices. DOJ found that they engaged in "intentional professional misconduct” by ignoring legal precedent and providing poor legal advice. But it did not hold them accountable for the crimes committed under the cover of their “legal” memos. Associate Deputy Attorney General David Margolis, then downgraded the report’s conclusions to “poor judgment.” As a result, two slaps on the wrist are all that have emerged from an investigation into one of the darkest periods of modern US history.
• Obama has proposed "preventive detention": imprisoning people because the government claims they are likely to engage in violent acts in the future.
• Prisoners are being rendered not only to "black sites" in Afghanistan but possibly to other countries.
• Prisoners are still enduring prolonged isolation, sleep and sensory deprivation and force-feeding. These techniques cause extreme mental anguish and permanent physical damage and they are not permitted under international law. Make no mistake, the US still engages in torture. And we do know that solitary confinement is also taking place on US soil, as in the case of Syed Fahad Hashmi, a Muslim American student held for two and a half years in downtown Manhattan under Special Administrative Measures (SAMS).
• Guantanamo still has not been closed.  If it does close, there is talk of moving the remaining prisoners to a jail in Illinois under the same conditions of confinement.
• Prisoners in secret detention centers or "black sites" around the world are not allowed to gain access to courts, lawyers or even to know the charges or evidence against them.

Is this the change we want to see? Is it really okay if Bush policies are carried out by Obama?  Have the wars ended? No, they are being expanded. The Obama administration is condoning the Bush war crimes by not prosecuting the Bush officials and by carrying some of them over into the new administration. This makes the Obama officials complicit with the Bush war crimes.

People of conscience must insist on accountability for the actions of U.S. officials, no matter who is president.  It is our obligation.