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Title: Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile, Christopher Lane ISBN: 0-7861-8941-X Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks Pub. Date: 01 October, 2003 Format: Audio CD Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $69.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.17 (66 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: The Story of Two Men That Build The War Against Russia
Comment: This is an amazing inside look at not only how a politician becomes passionately involved in Afghanistan and the war against the Russians but also about the inner workings of the CIA, which is told, in surprising detail and the author explains how big money can be moved around in congress without much scrutiny. It's a fascinating story of how Charlie Wilson, the good time Congressman from a Baptist district, is able to not only party with numerous women, almost kill himself with alcohol but somehow adopt his freedom fighters of Afghanistan and become an international broker of middle east alliances so successfully that he actually creates deals that astonish the badly wounded CIA recovering from the Carter era and later Iran Contra.
Wilson has the friendship of John Birch society millionaires that fuels Wilson through her connections with Texas politicians and her inexplicable connections to Pakistan's Zia who she whole-heartedly supports in the name of anti-communism. But aside from Wilson is the story of the Greek American in your face CIA chief that refuses to play political games within the agency and some how survives through inner agency friendships to command the CIA Afghanistan operation that secretly supplies the warriors millions of dollars through US funding that is directly matched by the Saudi's. It is hard to imagine how the CIA was able to provide such an astonishing array of modern weaponry like stinger missiles, thousands of Tennessee mules and all kinds of technical support to these horse-riding warriors that seem almost the same as those who fought the British centuries ago.
There are some fascinating interpersonal stories such as the head of the appropriations committee, "them that has the gold, makes the rules", Wilson's non-stop escapades and his Greek CIA associate Avrakotos telling one of the highest ranking officers in the CIA exactly what he thought of him in four letter words, and Wilson's close relations with all the governments of the Middle east including their enemy Israel. There are also many humorous moments such as Wilson bringing his own American belly dancer to the east to entertain his eastern associates.
This story really tells how this US war in Afghanistan broke the Russians and may have directly caused the collapse of the Russian ability to sustain the cold war together with Reagan's build up of arms. What is difficult to fathom is the lack of participation in this operation by Reagan and his officers or perhaps they kept more behind the scenes then the author knows. In addition, this is looked upon as revenge for Russia' support of the North Vietnamese and that this was an opportunity to get even.
A very sad turn to this book is the treatment of captured Russian soldiers particularly if you take the vein that soldiers are not the decision makers for war. The level of cruelty is noted in matter of fact detail in the book and it is so gruesome it reminded me of the book about Indian warfare written years ago by Thomas B Marquis, "Keep the Last Bullet for Yourself: The True Story of Custer's Last Stand". Obvious psychological warfare particularly as the atrocities are advertised by the warriors and many a Russian mother is advised never to open the coffin to look at her son. A quick death was most likely for the lucky. This is something to think about today since our troops our fighting some of the same people whose culture is very complex, stoic, deeply religious and very desirous of revenge. The epilogue covers the seeds of the warriors turn against the US and includes an earlier warning that some of the warriors were so extreme that the author mentions that the remaining Afghanistan government (deserted by the Russians) that is overthrown appeared far more tolerant than the liberators. .
Rating: 4
Summary: storytelling at its very best
Comment: This book is pure adventure, whether the scene is Congress or Afghanistan. I simply could not put it down. George Crile tells the gripping story of how one congressman, Texan Charlie Wilson, took up the cause of Afghan freedom fighters and escalated American support for them many, many times over. Because of his efforts, billions of dollars were given to the mujahideen, including high-tech weaponry. Crile takes us behind closed doors in Congress, where Charlie Wilson wheels, deals, and strong-arms to get funding for Afghanistan; he takes us into the secret world of the CIA, where danger surrounds overseas stations and bureaucratic politics plagues operations.
At the heart is a cast of colorful characters, including Wilson and CIA man Gust Avrokotos. Wilson--a socially liberal, staunchly anti-Communist Democrat from a conservative and religious district of Texas--womanizes, drinks, (maybe) does drugs, is involved in scandal after scandal (including a hit-and-run car accident), and yet is re-elected over and over and singlehandedly secures funding for the freedom fighters. Avrokotos is the foul-mouthed (he has a sexual analogy for just about every situation), tough-talking son of Greek immigrants from a steel town near Pittsburgh, who joins the Agency in the 1960s and eventually heads up the Near East division, where he adeptly manages the Afghanistan operation.
I loved the book, plain and simple, but I did have a problem or two with it. Crile seems to accept as fact nearly everything Wilson and Avrokotos said in their interviews. Their accounts form the backbone of the book, and Crile seldom questions their veracity. More than that, he usually adopts their opinions as his own: if Avrokotos dislikes this or that CIA colleague, then so does Crile. Furthermore, while he maintains that supporting the Afghans against the Soviets was a noble cause (I think so, too), Crile glosses over or dismisses the fact that what Wilson was doing was questionable ethically and was quite possibly illegal. Wilson bullied congressional colleagues, usurped powers traditionally reserved for the executive branch (while at the same time exalting the separation of powers, especially those reserved for Congress), and avoided any sort of oversight. And yet Crile is harsh--unduly so, I think--on Iran-Contra and paints Oliver North and other participants as fanatics, right-wing zealots, and buffoons. Certainly, Iran-Contra is more clearly problematic (and probably downright illegal), but to praise efforts in Afghanistan and to find no merit at all with loosely similar attempts to aid anti-Communists in Central America is a glaring contradiction.
While this might detract a bit from the book's use as a historical source, it is still a great and rivetting read, full of excitement, danger, intrigue, and suspense. I highly recommend it.
Rating: 5
Summary: Hooray for the perfect gift!!
Comment: We purchased this book as a Christmas gift for my Father-in-law, who is incredibly difficult to buy for. This is the first gift ever I think he has actually enjoyed. So much so, that he has already passed it on to two other people and still talks about it six months later. We have given several books before, so this must be worth the read!
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Title: John Paul Jones : Sailor, Hero, Father of the American Navy by Evan Thomas ISBN: 0743205839 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 14 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $26.95 |
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Title: Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 by Steve Coll ISBN: 1594200076 Publisher: The Penguin Press Pub. Date: 23 February, 2004 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
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Title: Benjamin Franklin : An American Life by Walter Isaacson ISBN: 0684807610 Publisher: Simon & Schuster Pub. Date: 01 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $30.00 |
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Title: The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the Cia's Final Showdown With the KGB by Milt Bearden, James Risen ISBN: 0679463097 Publisher: Random House Pub. Date: 06 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
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Title: Sleeping With the Devil: How Washington Sold Our Soul for Saudi Crude by Robert Baer ISBN: 1400050219 Publisher: Crown Publishers Pub. Date: 15 July, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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