Lord of War

"Conflict diamonds are a common currency in West Africa, also referred to as "blood diamonds" since bloodshed is what they generally finance. By the late 90s, my wealth had caught up to my lies about my wealth, even surpassed my lies. I could even afford to become a patron of the arts."

"Fortunately, back then a video camera was a big as a bazooka. Here, Ive been running away from violence my whole life, and I shouldve run towards it. Its in our nature. The earliest human skeletons had spearheads in their rib cages."

"The problem with gun-runners going to war is that theres no shortage of ammunition. This was the chaos that the Old Guard had always feared. As far as they were concerned, I was giving arms dealers a bad name. But they could hardly report me to the Better Business Bureau. And Ukraine wasnt the only former state with an unpaid army and stockpiles of guns. There was Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, Belarus all there for the taking. Of all the weapons in the vast Soviet arsenal nothing was more profitable than Avtomat Kalashnikova model of 1947, more commonly known as the AK-47, or Kalashnikov. Its the worlds most popular assault rifle, a weapon all fighters love. An elegantly simple nine pound amalgamation of forged steel and plywood. It doesnt break, jam, or overheat. It will shoot whether its covered in mud or filled with sand. Its so easy even a child can use it, and they do. The Soviets put the gun on a coin, Mozambique put it on their flag. Since the end of the Cold War, the Kalashnikov has become the Russian peoples greatest export. After that comes vodka, caviar, and suicidal novelists. One thing is for sure: no one was lining up to buy their cars."

"You dont have to worry. Im not gonna tell you a pack of lies to make me look good. Im just gonna tell you what happened. My name is Yuri Orlov. When I was a boy, my family came to the America, but not all the way. Like most Ukrainians, we congregated in Brighton Beach. It reminded us of the Black Sea. I soon realized wed just swapped one hell for another. Even in hell, an angel sometimes makes an appearance. Id worshipped Ava Fontaine since I was 10 years old. Of course, she didnt know I existed. I was starting to think she had a point. For the first twenty-odd years of my life, Little Odessa was to me what it is to the Q train: the end of the line. Oh, I did lie about my name. Its not really Yuri Orlov. There have been few occasions in the 20th century when its been an advantage be a Jew. But in the 70s, to escape the Soviet Union, our family pretended to be Jewish. Little about my life has been kosher ever since."

"Growing up in Little Odessa, murder was in everyday part of life. Russian mobsters had also migrated from the Soviet Union and when they came to America, their baggage came with them. There is always some gangster getting whacked in my neighborhood, but I have never seen with my own eyes. I had the knack of showing up five minutes before something went down or five minutes after, not that day. It hit me. It couldnt have hit me harder if I was the one who was shot. You go into the restaurant business because people are always going to have to eat. That was the day I realized my destiny laying for fulfilling another basic human need."

"Thank God there are still legal ways to exploit developing countries. The only problem with an honest buck is theyre so hard to make. The margins are too low. Too many people are doing it."

"There are only two tragedies in life. One is not getting what you want. The other is getting it."

"There are over 550 million firearms in worldwide circulation. Thats one firearm for every twelve people on the planet. The only question is: how do we arm the other eleven?"

"The next sabbath, I went to temple with my father. However, it wasnt God I was trying to get close to. My contact at synagogue landed my first Israeli-made Uzi submachine gun."

"Thats Vitaly, my younger brother. He was as lost as me. He just didnt know it yet."

"My father took his assumed identity to heart. He was more Jewish than most Jews. Which drove my Catholicism mother crazy."

"The first and most important rule of gun-running is: never get shot with your own merchandise. The second rule of gun-running is: always ensure you have a foolproof way to get paid, preferably in advance, ideally to an offshore account. That is why I choose my customers so carefully. Say what you like about warlords and dictators. They tend to have a highly developed sense of order. They always pay their bills on time."