The Times on Torture and William Haynes

The New York Times has a great editorial on why the Haynes nomination must be stopped -- by Republicans and Democrats alike. It notes that some of the key opposition to Haynes' nomination is coming from military personnel, including 20 retired military officers who've expressed "deep concern" about Haynes' fitness for the court and of course, Senator Lindsay Graham (R-DC) a former military lawyer and source of what the Times refers to as "some of the most pointed questioning" directed at Haynes. And then of course, there is Haynes' record itself:

Mr. Haynes was by many accounts a key player in the administration’s development of its shamefully narrow definition of “torture,” which gave the green light for a wide array of abuses. The decisions made in Washington cleared the way for abusive treatment of the detainees being held in Guantánamo Bay, and created the environment necessary for the Abu Ghraib torture scandal to occur. It is disturbing that while low-level soldiers have been convicted for their actions at the Iraqi prison, Mr. Haynes has been rewarded with a coveted judicial nomination.

We couldn't have said it any better ourselves. So we won't--check out the full editorial.