As the widely anticipated election of Barack Obama to the Presidency
of the United States grows closer, the priorities that will shape the
early days of his Administration require critical attention.

With the banking system still in crisis and financial markets on a
volatile rollercoaster, the pressure will be great for a President
Obama to focus on domestic issues. But the new Administration will also
be saddled with the increasingly unpopular War on Terror. How will
Obama deliver on his promise of change to Americans, as well as those
around the world who have greeted his candidacy with such enthusiasm?

The election campaigns have demonstrated Americans are more concerned
about their houses, retirement savings, jobs, healthcare and education
than they are about international issues, and Obama has successfully
distanced himself from the deregulation promoted by the Bush
Administration. But it will be critical for Obama to likewise detach
his Administration from the disastrous Bush foreign policy.

Three steps could signal a clear break with the past: ending the Afghan
war, closing down Guantanamo Bay and Abu Ghraib, and prosecuting war
crimes.

Senator Obama seems resolved to end the Iraq war quickly. But it
appears that he plans to escalate the Afghan war by sending in more
American troops. This has the makings of a disaster that could well bog
down his Administration in a quagmire.

American, British and Canadian forces have been unable to provide
security to Afghans, or stabilize the Karzai regime. Anger is mounting
in that country at the ongoing occupation. As a number of top military
commanders, including the British Commander, Brigadier Mark
Carleton-Smith, have acknowledged, the Afghan war is militarily
un-winnable. The only exit strategy is negotiation with the Taliban for
a political solution. The sooner the Obama Administration does this,
the quicker the mounting of casualties can be stopped.

Another Obama priority should be the immediate closure of Guantanamo
Bay, Abu Ghraib and all the secret prisons that the U.S. has set up
around the world. The Abu-Ghraib photographs, the graphic testimonies
of Moazzam Begg and other British detainees held at Guantanamo Bay, as
well as that of the young Canadian, Omar Khadr, all confirm a seemingly
cavalier use of torture at these prisons.

The investigation conducted by General Taguba substantiated allegations
of torture. In her recent Guggenheim prize-winning book, Jane Mayer of The New Times
describes how Vice-President Cheney publicly made the case for going
into the ‘dark side’ to win the war. One of the most pernicious effects
of this war has been the rationalization of torture, and the urgency of
closing the prisons cannot be overstated.

While shutting down the prisons would signal Obama’s rejection of
attempts to legalize torture, a critical third step that would
decisively transform the U.S. role in global politics would be the
prosecution of war crimes. The testimony presented at the Winter
Soldier Hearings, as well as General Taguba’s report confirm that war
crimes have been committed. Attorney Vincent Bugliosi has laid out a
case for the prosecution of George Bush in a U.S. Court, arguing not
only that Bush knowingly lied about the Iraq war, but that he should be
held responsible for the deaths of 4,000-plus American soldiers.

Taking swift action to investigate and prosecute war crimes will be the
clearest commitment that an Obama Administration could make towards
ending the imperial hubris of the Bush Administration, which tried to
make the case that it was above the law. Not only will this reflect a
commitment to hold Americans accountable to the rule of law, it will
also value the lives of all those killed in the two wars, regardless of
whether they were Americans or not. Although it is difficult to get
reliable statistics on the civilian death toll, the Opinion Research
Business estimated it at approximately one million in January 2008.

There will no doubt be much celebration in the U.S. and around the
world for an Obama victory on November 4. But if this victory is to be
meaningful, Obama will need to mobilize the American population to
transform its relationship to the rest of the world.

Acting quickly and decisively to end two of the arguably most ill
conceived wars in American history, end the use of torture, and hold
the United States and its citizens accountable to international (and
U.S.) law will be change we could all believe in. This would make
Obama’s meteoric rise to power a truly transformative moment in modern
history.

Sunera Thobani

Sunera Thobani teaches Women’s Studies at the University of British Columbia.