Erik Prince Quotes

What's been happening in Iraq, what young Americans wearing flak jackets, helmets and flight suits have done is... created the circumstances under which Iraq can become our closest ally in that part of the world and still have a representative government. And that's going to be a very good thing considering what's going on in that neighborhood.

I've traveled with Jack Murtha to Iraq three times to learn more about the region, talk with our diplomats and military leaders, and meet with our troops. Those visits are the main reason that I opposed the War in Iraq since its inception.

As we continue to make great progress in the war on terror, now more than ever, it is important that members of the international community stand-by and bolster the efforts of the emerging diplomatic leaders in Iraq and Afghanistan.

We were told this war would be over in a matter of weeks, and that the Iraqis would be able to finance it with oil sales. We were promised it was not a mission of nation building.

In Iraq we must succeed. Failure is not an option.

Wars such as those which have occurred in Iraq only allow hatred, violence and terror to proliferate.

I can't tell you if the use of force in Iraq today will last five days, five weeks or five months, but it won't last any longer than that.

I want the troops from Great Britain and the U.S. to be successful, but by the same token, Afghanistan has always been a screw-up.

Someone should tell the president that U.S. forces would need to be in Iraq for two to five years, and they will not have an easy time there.

The possibility of the United States winning the war and losing the peace is real and serious

Thinking about the war now and the occupation later is not an acceptable solution.

I don’t think our troops ought to be used for what’s called nation-building. I think our troops ought to be used to fight and win war.

The initial [Iraq] war was won in about 6 weeks, but the peace was lost soon thereafter.

Since 2001, NATO or its leading member states have initiated military operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Lybia. All three campaigns led to various forms of regime change, and. in the case of Iraq and Lybia, the deterioration of the state.

We can stay in Afghanistan and the Middle East forever, and it won't make a difference.

I think more and more, in places like Benghazi, in places like Iran, we have to be asking the question, can we trust the local government to protect our people?

There is only one option in Iraq: that we win.

I think when war becomes your life, I think it's very difficult to have the proper perspective to be able to create a fully balanced policy.

The ongoing strife in Iraq, and the billions of dollars that the President is seeking to continue that war, give me little comfort that this Administration has learned from its mistakes in Iraq.

Leaving Iraq without military assistance during its transition, and before it is stable enough to ensure its own citizens' security, would pose a tremendous risk. We must complete our mission.

The Gulf War was like teenage sex. We got in too soon and out too soon.

We wanted this war and now we've got it, and I'm not sure that we know what to do with it.

I would hate to see operations in the Congo held hostage to Sierra Leone but I really think that's the way it's got to be. At one point we've got to decide to get it right and we've got to be professional.

The crises in North Korea, Iran, the Middle East, show how quickly things can change and how they can go wrong. We must be prepared. And right now the Army is not.

For the security of the UK, it matters a lot for Somalia to become a more stable place.