This is a dramatic change from Gonzales and Mukasey’s refusal to answer a direct question. In his nomination testimony, Eric Holder says flatly that waterboarding is torture. This is a major step in the rehabilitation of the country’s world-wide image and a step toward fundamental decency.

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.