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| My War with Charlie Wilson and Bill Casey's Victory |
| 2007-12-30 |
| THERE ARE A LOT of words one could use to describe former congressman Charles Wilson--drunkard, sleazy, womanizer, patriot--but the one that most comes to mind in my dealings with him was simply "persistent." Or an old-time Democrat who understood sometimes you need to fight. Wilson, whose role in supporting the Afghan mujahedin in their war against the Soviets in the 1980s has become the stuff of a best selling book (Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile, a long-time CBS news producer) and now a ticket-selling movie success of the same name, was a tall, lanky populist Democrat from East Texas. Wilson had first been elected to Congress in 1973 and, by the time the Afghan war had broken out, by hook and by crook, he had made his way well up the seniority ladder of the all-powerful House appropriations committee. It was there he could protect aid to Israel, keep money flowing to Somoza in Nicaragua, and--eventually--pour money into the "covert war" the CIA was quasi-supporting and quasi-directing in Afghanistan. I say "quasi" because the Agency, especially in the early 80s, was letting the Pakistanis call many of the shots when it came to running the war and was as often as not applying the brake to folks who wanted to up the ante when it came to fighting the Soviets. CIA's analysts were insisting that the Soviets could not possibly lose the war, and the folks from the operational side at Langley were saying: "Let's bleed 'em, but let's not start World War III either." |
| Posted by:Brett |
| #3 Great post, Brett. It's good to get the inside story. |
| Posted by: Odysseus 2007-12-30 12:20 |
| #2 good for everyone except the American taxpayer. The WHO? |
| Posted by: Elitist Washington Bureacrat 2007-12-30 10:01 |
| #1 good for everyone except the American taxpayer. |
| Posted by: Broadhead6 2007-12-30 05:01 |