Wilson represented Texas' 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. House from 1973 to 1996 and was known in Washington as "Good Time Charlie" for his reputation as a hard-drinking womanizer. He once called former congresswoman Pat Schroeder "Babycakes," and tried to take a beauty queen with him on a government trip to Afghanistan.
Wilson, a Democrat, was considered both a progressive and a defense hawk. While his efforts to arm the mujahedeen in the 1980s were a success — spurring a victory that helped speed the downfall of the Soviet Union — he was unable to keep the money flowing after the Soviets left. Afghanistan plunged into chaos, creating an opening eventually filled by the Taliban, which harbored al-Qaida terrorists. After the Sept. 11 attacks — carried out by al-Qaida terrorists trained in Afghanistan — the U.S. ended up invading the country it had once helped liberate.
second thoughts on 'charlie wilson's war' from chalmers johnson: When imperialist activities produce unmentionable outcomes, such as those well known to anyone paying attention to Afghanistan since about 1990, then ideological thinking kicks in. The horror story is suppressed, or reinterpreted as something benign or ridiculous (a "comedy"), or simply curtailed before the denouement becomes obvious. Thus, for example, Melissa Roddy, a Los Angeles film-maker with inside information from the Charlie Wilson production team, notes that the film's happy ending came about because Tom Hanks, a co-producer as well as the leading actor, "just can't deal with this 9/11 thing."
reagan's bargain from consortium news: What’s left out of a movie about history often interests only a few experts in the field. However, the recent release of one that chronicles the successful sub rosa American effort to bleed the Soviet Army in Afghanistan in the 1980s may prove to be an exception.
more on 'charlie wilson’s war' from no quarter: I have received some back channel emails from several friends–retired military and intelligence officers – who knew Charlie Wilson or worked on the Afghan Task Force in some form or fashion. Folks have different views and thoughts...
some hard truth about 'charlie wilson’s war' from mark crispin miller: Here's a sharp piece on Charlie Wilson's War as a piece of propaganda (quite different from George Crile's book, on which the film is based). Melissa Roddy notes that the film whitewashes US involvement with the Mujaheddin in Afghanistan, leaving out the inconvenient fact that US aid flowed freely to Gulbaddin Hekmatyar, a warlord who redistributed that money to, and otherwise assisted, Osama bin Laden. In other words, Charlie Wilson and the CIA helped make 9/11 possible - a truth apparently too painful for Tom Hanks.
'war' isn't pretty, woman from news & observer: The movie pretty much cops out at the end by glossing over that Wilson's noble, patriotic actions may have contributed to the 9/11 attacks down the line. This was brought to full attention in Sorkin's original draft of the script, but the real Herring reportedly threatened legal action if that draft was produced. So not only is Roberts annoying in the movie, but the person she plays is a killjoy as well.
afghanistand-up from new york post: A feel-good comedy about a covert US effort to fund resistance to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan? What will Hollywood think of next? ... What a timid wimp-out for the liberal stars and filmmakers. Many of the US-funded weapons ended up in the hands of the Taliban - and this more or less directly led to 9/11 and the current war in Iraq.
'war' stops 30 minutes shy of greatness from houston chronicle: But when it ends, with the Afghan rebels triumphant over their Communist oppressors and Wilson being lauded by the intelligence community for his backdoor efforts pushing the largest covert operation in U.S. history, the film leaves a whopper of an issue unexplored. In brief: 9/11. What happened next in Afghanistan. How the United States lost hold. How the Taliban took power. How that country, those freedom fighters, turned our guns and good will against us after American money backed them in their fight against the Soviets.
this 'war' is a winner from popmatters: And Wilson may have been, in real life, a cad of unconscionable proportions, but the message this movie delivers is loud and crystal clear - the US funded covert war against the Soviets in the early ‘80s led directly to the rise of the Taliban, the establishment of Al-Qaeda, and the events of 9/11.
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from ap: Charlie Wilson, the fun-loving Texas congressman whose backroom dealmaking funneled millions of dollars in weapons to Afghanistan, allowing the country's underdog mujahedeen rebels to beat back the mighty Soviet Red Army, died Wednesday. He was 76. Wilson died at Memorial Medical Center-Lufkin after having difficulty breathing after attending a meeting in the eastern Texas town where he lived, said hospital spokeswoman Yana Ogletree. Wilson was pronounced dead on arrival, and the preliminary cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest, she said.
