 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 Books In Print, Audio Books. |
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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
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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 Customer Reviews
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♥♥♥♥♥ |
Charlie "Strangelove" Wilson's War
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In his fascinating account of Congressman Charlie Wilson, George Crile evokes the images of a Stan Kubrick character: Slim Pickens as Major T. J. "King" Kong riding the bomb (and not only because of the Stetson he is wearing). You think that's far fetched? OK, Charlie is a most loveable character with his energy, dedication, propensity to fun and pleasure, and his weaknesses. Not like the unpleasant Dr. Strangelove. Yet the parallel is striking: a man on a mission to fight the evil empire, whatever the consequences.
The book is a most fascinating read with many insights in to how politics seem to work on the "Hill". It is giving more than one chilling cause for the rest of the world to seriously worry about how the "only remaining superpower" makes decisions that result in loss of lives and limbs and that interfere with sovereign nations.
Yet, the book has some serious flaws. It is a very one-sided account of people and events. The characters of the four main protagonists, Wilson, Avrakotos, Herring, Vickers are very well developed. But the book lacks depth (and misses an opportunity, I find) when it comes to describing their "counterparts" (arms traders, Pakistani leaders, Arab and Israeli officials). They are very stereotypical and often described in a manner that would behoove a second rate Hollywood star magazine.
Also disappointing is the portrayal of the Mujahideen. They are described as the "beaux sauvages" just as Wilson seems to have perceived them. Other than a simplistic "such are radical Muslims" it provides no explanation how these freedom fighters could become such fierce enemies of the US and the West in the last chapter of the book that attempts to analyze the unintended consequences of Wilson's war.
The story completely lacks any perspective of the other side. The Soviet soldiers are just there to be killed, by treading like morons into traps of the freedom fighters or appearing before the guns provided through the CIA and Wilson's appropriations. Implausible that Soviet intelligence would not have had some knowledge of CIA activities, implausible that they would not have had developed strategies and alternatives, other than scorching villages in a My Lai manner, implausible that they would not have pursued "behind-the-scene" diplomatic activities. This lack of a multi-dimensional perspective actually reduces the credibility of the main characters and their accomplishments.
The most puzzling question I have after finishing the book is not even raised: How is it possible that Wilson who the Afghan tribes' men praised as the savior of their cause, could not play a role in "cashing in the chits" and ask them to help finding Osama bin Laden etc., how is it possible that these former friends cannot be co-opted in the fight against a terrorism that Afghans had never pursued outside their country?
Lastly, in his chapter on "Source Notes", George Crile reveals - honestly - that some accounts are based on personal memories of the people he is writing about, there seems not to have been much fact checking on some parts of the story. Obviously, it is not a historical account, just a journalistic one. It should be read as that.
The movie is an intelligent screen adaptation of the book, but I wonder how Kubrick would have done it.
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