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However you make it happen, this is a book you must read. First of all it's the true story of one of the great events and periods of the 20th century. It is a page turner, it is history, it is gripping, and it's true. The Russians invade Afghanistan and believe that they will roll to victory very quickly. There is nothing but the will of the Afghan people to stand in their way. The Russians are modern, mechanized, strategic thinkers, determined and without morality as to how to deal with their enemies. As for rules of engagement - what rules? There are none.
The Afghans have been through this before, actually many times before, for over a thousand years, and nobody had ever been able to conquer them and hold the territory. The Afghans fight with obsolete weapons, on horseback and on foot. Slowly but surely unless stopped, the Russians will smother out the Afghan's will to fight. There must be an intrusion, something to upset the balance of balance between the tribes and the Russians.
That intrusion will come in the form of Congressman Charlie Wilson of Texas. He is Hollywood handsome, tough, smart, Annapolis trained, party lover, womanizer, patriot, and anti-communist. He is a Christian from Bible-Belt Texas who loves the Israelis. The key to his story is that he is a member of the House Appropriations Committee (HAC), the most powerful committee in the Congress because it dispenses more than $500 billion per year in spending. If you are on the right subcommittee of the HAC, you can cut the right deals and get things done, and that's what Wilson was born to do.
Enter Gust Avrakotos, CIA's man in control of Afghanistan. He is a renegade, abusive of authority, and anything but a company man. He calls the blue bloods who run the Agency "cake eaters". He is the man who can get things done, and he does not care who gets in the way, because you are either part of the problem or part of the solution. Together Charlie Wilson and Gust Avrakotos are going to make history. Their intention is nothing short of enabling the Afghan tribal warriors to win the war against the Russians, and in the next 523 mesmerizing pages they show you how they did it. Here are some highlights:
* It would start out small. Wilson would get Gust $5 million from the Congress. The Saudis would match the funds and it would be $10 million. It would grow to $25, $50, and $100 million. Before Wilson was done, the US was spending hundreds of millions of dollars funding the Afghan tribes. The Russians would have to spend 10 to 50 times as much to match the American spending because the CIA through Gust was getting a much bigger bang for the buck than the Russians.
* The Russians dominated the air with planes and helicopters, but soon America was supplying shoulder fired missiles that could take down those planes and helicopters. The Russians went from dominating the air, to being sitting ducks. A $70,000 portable weapon was bringing down a $20 million helicopter. The Russians were afraid to fly.
* The bureaucrats at CIA were fighting Wilson and Avrakotos all the way, until word came from CIA Director Casey to get on board or get left behind. President Reagan got behind the program as well.
* You will meet Houston heiress Joanne Herring who would introduce Wilson to all the right people, including the President of Pakistan whose people would act as the go between with the weapons coming from America and going to the Afghans.
* Even the Israelis would get involved as the largest repository of Russian weapons in the world, leftovers from two Arab-Israeli wars. The CIA had a policy of not introducing American made weapons into a theater of war because of the potential backlash.
* When it comes to Wilson, there are always the girls. Wilson surrounded himself with the most beautiful women, which included his entire all girl staff in the Congress. He is probably the only Congressman who could and did get away with it.
* Wilson was totally unique and was one of the few Congressmen that could be counted on in the clutch. When a man was down on his knees, Wilson was there to pick him up. He defended Congressman John Murtha during the ABSCAM scandal where various members of Congress were entrapped taking brides. He defended Congressman Carl Stokes who was arrested for drunken driving. His willingness to protect people endeared him to countless members of Congress who would later protect Wilson.
* Between Wilson and Gus Avrakotos they had virtually created their own defense contractor, that's how much war material they were buying. They actually for a while controlled the demand for AK 47's throughout the world, including the cost of ammunition.
* It was in negotiations where Wilson shined. He was able to raise untold hundreds of millions of dollars for the war, and bring enemies together like Israel and Pakistan's President Zia who on more than one occasion told Wilson, if I see one Star of David on the military supplies coming into this country I am going to go nuts.
CONCLUSION:
Although this book is TRUE, it reads like fiction through and through. You just can't put down Charlie Wilson's War once you have begun it. In light of our predicament in Afghanistan and Iraq today, it is even more compelling that you read this book now. The Afghans who are fighting us today are the remnants of the army we trained a generation ago to fight the Russians. Much of the weapons they currently use against us come from the caches that we supplied them during the Russian invasion.
After we helped them win the war against the Russians, we walked away, and left them on their own. They did not forget this, and in many ways we are paying a price for it now. Read Charlie Wilson's War and I promise you that you will not only love the book, but better understand our current state of affairs. Thank you for reading this review.
Richard C. Stoyeck
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From the land of hero's.
Great book about an immigrant patriot that changed the world. A no nonsense unapologetic son of Greek immigrants who's only mission was to defeat communism and the Russians. Raised in the small town of aliquippa, a steel town in western Pennsylvania where pride and courage gets hardened in you like the steel they make. God bless the men that like Nathan hale regret that they have only one life to give for their country. Where failure is.never an option.
Top reviews from other countries
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wallyReviewed in Italy on November 3, 2014
1000 volte meglio del film come al solito
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