Former Bush administration official Richard Armitage has said he would have resigned had he known what he knows now about the torture committed on his watch. In an interview with Al Jazeera’s Avi Lewis, Armitage admitted the Bush White House authorized forms of torture.

Avi Lewis: “So when you knew that the administration, of which you were a part, was departing from the Geneva Conventions and sidelining them, why didn’t you quit?”

Richard Armitage: “In hindsight, maybe I should have. But in those positions, you see how many more battles you have. You maybe fool yourself. You say how much worse would X, Y, or Z be if I weren’t here?”

Armitage went on to say, “I hope, had I known about it at the time I was serving, I would’ve had the courage to resign.” Armitage served as Deputy Secretary of State from 2001 to 2005.