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15-01-09 AG Nominee Holder:Waterboarding Is Torture

Attorney General-nominee Eric Holder Jr. forcefully broke from the Bush administration's counterterrorism policies Thursday,declaring that waterboarding is torture and pledging to prosecute some Guantanamo Bay detainees in U.S. courts.It was the latest signal that President-elect Barack Obama will chart a new course in combatting terrorism.As recently as last week,Vice President Dick Cheney defended waterboarding,a harsh interrogation tactic that simulates drowning,saying it provided valuable intelligence.The CIA has used the tactic on at least three terrorism suspects,included alleged Sept.11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.In past Senate hearings,Attorney General Michael Mukasey and his predecessor,Alberto Gonzales,frustrated senators by repeatedly sidestepping questions about waterboarding.It was the first topic discussed at Holder's confirmation hearing,and he made an unambiguous statement about its nature:"Waterboarding is torture."