Charlie Wilson's War

I've spent parts of the last few days reading Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of Our Times. (Disclaimer: Amazon affiliate link. And they've "updated" the name of the book. The hardcover copy I read is titled Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History. I definitely prefer the second title.)

From the book jacket:

Charlie Wilson's War is the untold story of a whiskey-swilling,
skirt-chasing, scandal-prone congressman from Texas, and how he conspired with a
rogue CIA operative to launch the biggest and most successful covert operation
in U. S. history.

It reads like a spy novel, but it's a true story. It tells how the U. S., with great help from Pakistan and other countries, assisted the Afghan mujahideen in their fight against the Red Army after the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in late 1979.

The book had been in my house about a month and I was getting ready to send it back to the library; then Benazir Bhutto was assassinated. I decided to hang onto it and plow through the 535 pages. I'm glad I did. It is an amazing tale.

From pages 401-402:

[Charlie Wilson's] office, meanwhile, was coming to resemble a zany
Hollywood stage set as an unlikely procession of exotic figures began appearing
with greater and greater frequency: bearded mujahideen commanders, Pakistani
generals, Mossad agents from Israel, Saudi princes, Egyptian arms merchants and
field marshals, CIA station chiefs, division chiefs, intelligence analysts,
Russian experts, demolition experts, Pentagon weapons designers. The talk
was always about war - about killing Russians in a campaign thousands of miles
away, a conflict that few in America seem[ed] to know or care about . . . The
incongruity of it all struck each and every one of the visitors as they . . .
were greeted by the beaming cowboy congressman, who acted as if he alone spoke
for America when it came to Afghanistan.

My husband and I went to see the movie when I was about 3/4 of the way through the book. I was questioning the casting of Tom Hanks as Charlie Wilson until I saw the movie. The story was told with a lighter touch than that used in most war movies. (The film is nominated in the Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical category by the Golden Globes; how many war movies would fit that description??) Hanks, Phillip Seymour Hoffman (as Gust), and Julia Roberts (as Joanne Herring) are all nominated in their respective acting categories, as well.

Charlie Wilson developed an almost father-son relationship with Zia ul-Haq, Pakistan's president and military ruler during this time period. Zia was the leader who had executed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto's father, in early 1979. One of the meant-to-be-funny parts of the movie (but it is really sad when you think about it, considering that Charlie has no remorse) is when Zia tells Charlie that he has learned that Charlie is a man with many moral shortcomings. Charlie later remarks to one of his assistants that you know you're in the bottom of the barrel when a dictator who killed his predecessor points out your character flaws.

I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in learning more about the background of the current war on terror. The movie is only entertainment after you've read the book; you won't learn anything new. Be warned: there is plenty of unwholesome language, sexual content, drinking, and drug use in the book and movie, along with female/male nudity in the movie. The movie definitely earns its R rating.

ADDENDUM

Imagine my surprise when I went to church the day after I posted about Charlie Wilson's War, and Charlie Wilson's photo appeared on the screen during the sermon. The speaker was preaching on Proverbs chapters 1 - 3, and used Charlie as a modern-day representative of "the fool" spoken about in those chapters. How true that is. Charlie wanted nothing to do with the wisdom and discipline of the Lord.

Did the Lord use Charlie (even though Charlie wanted nothing to do with the Lord) to assist the mujahideen in their war against the Soviets? Was it His perfect will for the U. S. to arm those fighters and help them defeat the Red Army? Or did He only allow it to happen? In the book (and in real life), Joanne Herring (a Christian) is convinced that the Lord wants Charlie to aid the mujahideen, and the mujahideen are fighting the war for their god (Allah).

Of course we'll never know the answers to these questions unless the Lord decides to enlighten us. But I think they are interesting thoughts to ponder, especially in light of our current situation where some of those very arms and fighters (or descendants of those fighters) now have the U. S. and our allies in their sites.