Erik Prince

I'm a business guy just trying to make - provide great services to the customers that need us. ”

I put myself and my company at the C.I.A.'s disposal for some very risky missions. But when it became politically expedient to do so, someone threw me under the bus. ”

I'm no hero. The world knows all too well about my mistakes. But I was never meant to play the villain. ”

We now know that gun-free zones, though well intentioned, do not prevent attacks. ”

Troops fighting for their lives should not have to ask a lawyer sitting in air conditioning 500 miles away for permission to drop a bomb. ”

I built Blackwater to stay connected to the SEAL teams and to serve that whole community. ”

I think faith gives us a structure around which to try to organize our lives. I'm also a big believer, and very thankful that there's forgiveness. ”

Any systems can always be made better. ”

In Afghanistan, the viceroy approach would reduce rampant fraud by focusing spending on initiatives that further the central strategy, rather than handing cash to every outstretched hand from a U.S. system bereft of institutional memory. ”

I've certainly been mortared and rocketed a few times. ”