Charlie Wilson's War

[pscot]

It's a movie now, starring Tom Hanks. I read the book a while back. Josh Marshall recommended it. Wilson struck me as the perfect blue dog Democrat. He was a hard livin' good ole boy with a great admiration for Israel and a knack for inside wheeling and dealing. Couple of things stood out for me. One, was the willingness of the Israelis to arm certain Arabs when it served their ends. The other thing was the insight into the way the Congress worked at that time. Made me wonder if things are really so different now. We think we understand what the Congress is doing, but those people are spending Billions of dollers, and there is precious little accountability for any of it. It was the slush that made Wilson's war possible. If you have idealistic notions about how Democracy is supposed to work, this book won't do much to ease your mind. If you like a ripping yarn, this might be your cup of tea.

[defendandprotect]

1. Brz says we/US went into Afghanistan 6 MONTHS before Russians entered --- !!!

And that we went into Afghanistan "in order to bait the Russians in" . . .
"in hopes of giving them a Vietnam type experience."

This is also where we/CIA created the Taliban and their off-shoot which we named "Al Qaeda"
via Pakistan/ISI -- US $$$

[rusty quoin]

2. No. No more idealistic notions about how Democracy is supposed to work. n/t

[durrrty libby]

3. I can't wait to see the movie. Yahoo has a bunch of interviews up

with Charlie Wilson conducted by 60 minutes. Very intriguing

[pscot]

4. I'm looking forward to the movie

Hanks is always interesting, and he should really get a chance to spread himself in this one.

[ingac70]

5. That movie is a celebration...

of the creation of Al Qaeda. I mean, that is what the outcome ended up being..... Good thing Charlie Wilson never bothered to become President, we probably would have had a repeat of that scumbag warmonger Lyndon Johnson.

[pscot]

6. I would say the Taliban

rather than al quaida. And I srael had a major role in that creation. As for Lyndon, I truly hated him while the war was going on, but he's been dead for a long time, and he paid dearly for what he did. In fact, it killed him. But when it comes to evil, LBJ is no match for Beelzebub jr., who is sitting in the White House today.

[ingac70]

10. see post #9...

And Johnson gets cut way to much slack for his war profiteering (Bell Helicopter mainly). I show no partisan differences between money grubbing warmongers.

[TheWraith]

7. That's not exactly accurate. We were arming the Afghan Mujahideen fighters.

The guys who eventually became the Taliban were one of the factions under that umbrella. Yes, we helped train and equip them. But that's not the same as helping to create the Taliban, which didn't organize until 1994 during the Afghan civil war.

[ingac70]

9. The Mujahideen is were Osama Bin Laden got his start.

An article from 1999...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/yemen/Story/0,2763,209260,00.html

Headline: "Frankenstein the CIA created"

"Since the fall of the Soviet puppet government in 1992, another 2,500 are believed to have passed through the camps. They are now run by an assortment of Islamic extremists, including Osama bin Laden, the world's most wanted terrorist.

Bin Laden arrived in Afghanistan from Saudi Arabia in 1979, aged 22. Though he saw a considerable amount of combat - around the eastern city of Jalalabad in March 1989 and, earlier, around the border town of Khost - his speciality was logistics."

[TheWraith]

8. It should be added that the screenplay was written by Aaron Sorkin.

If the name isn't familiar, think "A Few Good Men," "The West Wing," and "Studio 60."

[pscot]

11. The movie could be quite good

Sorkin had some really interesting material to work with. Wilson comes across as kind of a swashbuckler, with a taste for booze, blonds and geo-politics. It's definitely a larger-than-life story.