I wish we had been doing diplomatic security in Benghazi. I can tell you that Benghazi would not have happened if Blackwater were on the job there.

I love the U.S. military. I want them to be the most effective and the most cost-effective and I think there is so much spending and so much bloat and so much bureaucracy that it actually hinders them from having a lot of the mission accomplishments that they should.

I loved being a SEAL. I loved working with those kind of guys and a sense of mission, and Blackwater was started to continue that sense of mission.

Some people will always hate the name Blackwater. They might not like me.

Bad things usually don't happen by themselves in Iraq.

I'm an American working for America. Anything we do is to support U.S. policy. You know the definition of a mercenary is a professional soldier that works in the pay of a foreign army. I'm an American working for America.

I represented everything Democrats loathed.

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

The greatest threat to our freedom and prosperity is not al-Qaida, the Taliban, Iran or even China. It's an idea, the idea that we can spend our way out of our problems without tightening our belt and paring down the very bloated government.

Sometimes motorists do irrational things.

We're very excited about Africa - it can be the breadbasket of the world.

Let's stop trading freedom for the illusion of security.

I believe there is significant overreach by the NSA in how it monitors American citizens.

I can relate to ranchers and roughnecks and professional game guides and farmers and homemakers.

I give people ideas on how to solve intractable problems.

My dad built his business by providing products he figured the customers would want.

Some of the most dedicated, most passionate people I've ever met have been part of the United States armed forces.

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

I think everybody wanted to help the U.S. government in some way after 9/11.

I started a private equity fund and we invest in energy, mining, agriculture kind of things in Africa.

C'mon now, I'm not going to make it easy for the terrorists to get me.

If the Chinese are sensitive about anything, it's not having their people die.

You pretty much remove the entire political texture from Blackwater when you come to China. What they look at is our 100 per cent success rate.

China trading with its neighbours and building infrastructure brings only benefits.