” ‘These events occurred on my watch,’ [Donald] Rumsfeld said [in testimony about prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib, on May 7, 2004]. ‘As Secretary of Defense, I am accountable for them and I take full responsibility. …I feel terrible about what happened to these Iraqi detainees. They’re human beings. They were in U.S. custody. Our country had an obligation to treat them right. We didn’t and that was wrong. So to those Iraqis who were mistreated by members of the U.S. armed forces, I offer my deepest apology.’ Later in the same hearing, the defense secretary said, ‘I would resign in a minute if I thought that I couldn’t be effective.’ ”
– Elisabeth Bumiller, Condoleezza Rice: An American Life, Page 240