Obama Administration Condemns 'Waterboarding' as Torture

U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder ruled out the use of "waterboarding" as an interrogation technique for terrorism suspects on Monday, calling it a form of torture that the Obama administration could never condone.

Holder's declaration underscored President Barack Obama's break with the former Bush administration's anti-terrorist policies, which were condemned by human-rights groups, civil liberties advocates and U.S. allies abroad.

"Waterboarding is torture ... My Justice Department will not justify it, will not rationalize it and will not condone it," Holder, who his heading a review of the treatment of terrorism suspects, said in a speech to the Jewish Council of Public Affairs in Washington.

"Too often over the past decade the fight against terrorism has been viewed as a zero-sum battle with our tradition of civil liberties. Not only is that school of thought misguided, I fear that in actuality it has done us more harm than good," Holder said.