Oliver North

Without any intended hubris, I've lead a pretty exciting life. What I've tried to do in Mission Compromised is draw on those experiences to create a sense of excitement and realism within the story.

I want to make it clear that I honestly answered every question put to me during the so-called Iran-Contra hearings. But if they didn't ask me about something, I wasn't about to reveal things that would put other people in jeopardy.

As a Marine officer in combat, I was responsible for the lives and safety of all the Marines who served with me.

The National Security Council's real role is to coordinate the various activities of the government of the United States in the furtherance of American foreign policy.

I'm still in touch with a lot people who continue to serve our country well.

It's one thing to say don't commit atrocities on the battlefield. It's another thing to say don't get caught doing atrocities.

I don't think there is another person in America that wants to tell this story as much as I do.

I am here to accept responsibility for that which I did. I will not accept responsibility for that which I did not do.

I haven't, in the 23 years that I have been in the uniformed services of the United States of America, ever violated an order - not one.

And of course there is so much of World War II that is documented that we never have seen.

I think as a rifle platoon and company commander your view is about 1,000 meters in front of you and you hope you can cover that ground and not have to back up and give it up again.

In my first book, Under Fire, I wrote that I revered Ronald Reagan. That was a dozen years ago. I still feel that way. I think he changed the world for the better for my children and my children's children.

Bill Clinton is not my commander-in-chief.

Writers are storytellers. So are readers.

In uniform, I had to make judgments about the best course of action in combat when the only choices were 'bad' or 'worse.' As a member of the media, I only had to decide how to get the best 'shot' - preferably without getting shot.

I like to tell people that I have the best job in the media. All I do is hang around with heroes. I do that every week for my 'War Stories' documentary series - and when FOX News wants - I go off and cover the young Americans we send to places like Afghanistan or Iraq.

We've been in the nation-building business since World War I, and especially since WWII. The goal is not a Jeffersonian Democracy in Afghanistan, but a representative government that respects human rights, protects its own people, and is a friend of the West. These are very realistic - and necessary - goals.

The American people need to tell their member of Congress that we need a strong defense to protect us and to prevent wars. We can't get away with simply leading from behind and gutting our defenses.

In North Korea, grass is a vegetable eaten by the people, and they've got nuclear weapons and intercontinental ballistic missiles. So, something more stringent than what's been done to North Korea is going to have to work; otherwise, a military strike is the only option.

The Obama administration has turned a blind eye to radical Islam since before they came to office. If you look at everything that's transpired since the famous Cairo speech in 2009, it's all been an embrace of those who are the most radical elements in that part of the world. That is not a good sign for America's foreign policy.

Nothing is going to change the fact that I believe Ronald Reagan is the greatest president in my lifetime - may well be the greatest president this nation ever had.

I'm a military guy. I'm not a political character.

If you could have imagined that someone is happy that Obama is president, it has to be Jimmy Carter because he is no longer the worst president in our history.

All of my high school male teachers were WWII and/or Korean War veterans. They taught my brothers and me the value of service to our country and reinforced what our dad had shown us about the meaning of service.

The terrorists that we are up against today do not rely upon cell phones and SAT phones and emails. They rely on couriers. You cannot intercept what a courier is telling somebody.