I just finished reading George Crile’s Charlie Wilson’s War. It was not a light read. It gave a much different picture than the movie staring Tom Hanks. Charlie Wilson was a US Congressman from Texas from 1973 to 1986. He quickly earned an appointment to the House Appropriations Committee. He knew that controlling the money gave him the power.
In the movie, Wilson was portrayed as a hero who almost single handedly caused the fall of the Soviet Union. In actuality, He was a womanizing drunk. You can’t hold that against him, after all he was a politician.
Wilson was a lot smarter than many politicians today. When he got in trouble, he did not try to cover it up, and instead, he admitted his sins and asked for forgiveness. The voter’s of the Texas second congressional district always forgave him. He also took care of the people in his district with federal money.
Wilson became a powerful member of the House because of his seat on the House Appropriations Committee and the fact that he would vote for almost any and all government spending any of his colleagues wanted. He did make it clear he wanted their vote in return when he wanted something. This practice is what has led to the spending and debt problem we face today.
Wilson was raised during the cold war. He had served in US Navy, and considered the Soviet Union and communism to be the greatest threat to the US and the world. He was committed to fight communism in any way he could.
Wilson worked with a rogue CIA agent, Gust Avrakotos, to fund, arm and train the Mujahideen in their war with the Soviet Union in Afghanistan. The plan also involved working closely with Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Pakistan was essential as a supply route and they made a fortune from the US for their involvement. (They still do.) Wilson talked Saudi into matching US funds for the war effort.
This operation reached 90 million US dollars in 1989. The Mujahideen were supplied and trained with all kinds of new weapons for a Jihad war with the Soviet Union. The Mujahideen were a warrior culture, but we trained them in modern gorilla warfare. Afghan fighters, who had never seen a flush toilet, were trained to bring down Soviet Hind helicopters with ground-to-air missiles.
This was a new kind of war and Charlie Wilson claimed victory. The cost of the Afghan war may have played a role in the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Mujahideen and radical Islamics around the world credited the victory to Allah with no consideration for the billions America and a Saudi Arabia had contributed.
Wilson died in 2010, so he lived to see 9/11. Did he ever question his partnership in the Islamic Jihad war? Jihad does mean death to infidels, and there is no distinction between Americans and Russians. Did we help turn Afghanistan into a haven and training center for radical Islam?
After 9/11 we invaded Afghanistan to capture or kill Osama bin Laden. Was he ever in Afghanistan or was he always living comfortably in Pakistan? Isn’t Pakistan our ally that we send millions of dollars to every year?
Afghanistan is a country of Islamic warlords. The British tried to invade Afghanistan in the 19th century and were beaten back. The Soviet Union was beaten in Afghanistan. Now we are so ignorant of history that we think we can win a war in Afghanistan after we trained and armed them. Is Russia giving them support just like we did?
Our involvement in foreign countries may be well intentioned, but have bad consequences. We need to step back and look at history.
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