Much has been made of an undisclosed underlying motive for the invasion of Iraq - the securing of a cheap oil supply for the US.

Even before September 11th, the possibility of military invasion to replenish dwindling oil supplies was recommended by influential (and now published) reports commissioned by Bush's administration. [1]

The American economy is hugely dependent on oil security, a fact of which Dick Cheney, former head of oil giant Halliburton was well aware. In the early stages of the war, Halliburton had already been awarded a $900m contract to operate in post-war Iraq. [2]

Furthermore, the evidence of weapons of mass-destruction that was mooted as a basis for the invasion of Iraq was doctored and manipulated to drum up support for a war Bush's administration knew was illegal.

Not only did the US originally sell Saddam Hussein the chemical weapons they later condemned, but when presenting vital materials to the UN on Iraq's weapons stock, the US removed 70% of the document, thus deliberately presenting a stilted and unrepresentative version of events for their own, illegal ends. [3]

It is clear that Bush sought to exploit the volatility of a post-September 11 world, and jumped at the chance to illegally grab Iraq's huge oil reserves. This unjustified war is one crime amongst others, that must all be investigated.

[1]: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/10/06/1033538848021.html

[2]: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2837477.stm

[3]: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/2589149.stm

There is strong evidence to support the charge that Bush mandated the use of torture techniques.

Indeed, much of the Bush adminsitration's defensive rhetoric now amounts not to whether waterboarding takes place, but rather to querying whether it can be defined as torture.

Since waterboarding simulates the experience of being drowned to death, a simulated execution, it is a practice that is defined by almost all authorities as torture, and as illegal under international law.

Eric Holder, Obama's nominee for Attorney General has reversed the Bush position on waterboarding, declaring on January 15 that "water-boarding is torture", and that "the president does not have the power" to authorise it. [1]

This is an early sign that Obama's administration is not afraid to challenge Bush's illegal and immoral torture practices, and that it is willing to clarify that such actions were illegal.

[1]: http://content.usatoday.com/communities/theoval/post/2009/01/61401940/1

In order to avoid as far as possible condemnation for his illegal actions, Bush authorised the use of extraordinary rendition, in which a terrorism suspect is kidnapped without charge, and forcibly removed either to Guantanamo Bay or to a third-party country that is willing to cooperate in torture. [1]

He also instituted the construction of a prison at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba specifically to hold indefinitely, and without charge or chance of legal representation, any persons his administration felt might be responsible for "terrorist" actions. It has been called a 'legal black hole' in which suspects are held without the right to "an appeal to any court, whether state, federal or international, in the United States or anywhere else in the world." [2]

The sheer arrogance and cowardice of this approach undermines his own country's legal system, and goes a long way to showing that Bush was happy to ignore basic human rights to pursue issues of national security on scanty evidence. Many detainees have been released after years of imprisonment and torture, without ever having been charged and without an apology.

Obama must purge this cancerous establishment from America's system, and begin to make amends by investigating and charging President Bush with gross and wilful violations of human rights.

[1]: http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/International_War_Crimes/Thousands_Renditions.html

[2]: http://www.federalunion.org.uk/world/guantanamo.shtml

Bush is widely regarded as one of the most unpopular and incompetent Presidents in US history.

Obama should try, as far as is possible, to cleanse America's reputation as the land of liberty; Bush, as a progenitor of and figurehead for all that was ugly and immoral about his regime, should be tried according to the laws of his country.

The evidence against Bush and his administration is overwhelming. If these actions are ignored, they will fester in the American national consciousness and provide a serious block to any successful peaceful foreign policy Obama might wish to undertake. [1]

Only then can America claim to practice any kind of justice and freedom.

[1]: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/251/story/41514.html