Charlie Wilson's War (2007)

Earlier tonight, Texas Governor Rick Perry argued at the CBS GOP debate that financial aid to every country should be zeroed out and re-evaluated. My guess is that Perry would prefer to permanently leave most of the aid zeroed out. While I agree with his stance, as I shall explain later, I wonder how the Soviet war in Afghanistan (1979-1989) would have ended if Congress had maintained such a stance in the 80s.

To clarify, the Soviet War in Afghanistan was a nine-year conflict wherein the Soviet Union, in an attempt to uphold the Communist government of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, waged military warfare on the Afghan Mujahideen. They were ruthless in their pursuit, as they would send heavily shielded helicopters to literally wipe out fields upon fields of innocent, poorly armed Afghani men, women and children.

Enter Charlie Wilson, a Democratic Congressman from Texas who was persuaded by the beautiful albeit somewhat fanatical right-wing socialite Joanne Herring to find a way to significantly increase the United States’ military aid to the Mujahideen via a complicated arms transaction involving Pakistan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and even Israel! Assigned to assist him was the cantankerous CIA officer Gust Avrakotos, as well as the ingenious weapons expert Michael G Vicker.

With the help of Chairmain of the subcommittee on Foreign Operations of the House Appropriations Committee, Doc Long, Charlie managed to secure 40 million in aid. Over the course of the war, the funding quickly blossomed to a whopping 1 billion. The result? In 1998, Afghanistan became the “first country in history to defeat the mighty Soviet Union,” due in no small part to our endeavors.

The aftermath? Not as pretty. Charlie prodded Congress to provide funding for Afghani schools and infrastructure, but nobody gave a shit about schools in Afghanistan. Nobody give a shit period. They wiped their hands clean and walked away, thus allowing a power vacuum to open, and thus providing Osama Bin Laden with everything he needed to rise to power and become the horrendous villain we knew him as prior to his demise.

So why do I agree with Perry? We as a nation are extremely broke, and as someone who knows quite well what it feels like to be broke, I assure you that a broke man’s primary concern cannot be the welfare of others, for every dollar spent on someone else is one less dollar spent on his own well-being. Thus, I am sincerely sorry to all the nations out there who desperately need our help, but we must first get our own affairs in order, lest we too one day fall into darkness.

In conclusion, I wonder whether we really did the right thing. What would have happened if we had let the Soviets prevail? Would things be better or worse now? Would Osama Bin Laden have ever risen to power? I do not know. But I for one am glad for people like Charlie Wilson, because a nation without a heart is a nation within which I never wish to reside.

// Movie Quotes //

Charlie: "Half the population is under the age of 14. Now, think how fu**ing dangerous that is. They're gonna come home and find their families are dead, their villages have been napalmed."

Bob: "And we helped kill the guys who did it."

Charlie: "Yeah, but they don't know that, Bob, 'cause they don't get home delivery of The New York Times. And even if they did, it was covert, remember? This is what we always do. We always go in with our ideals and we change the world and then we leave. We always leave. But that ball, though, it keeps on bouncing."

// Real Quotes //

“These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world... and then we f**ked up the end game." – Charlie Wilson (RIP)