“Synopsis Charlie Wilson's War

Urged on by his staunchly anti-communist friend and romantic interest, Joanne Herring, Wilson leads the effort to provide United States funds indirectly to the Afghan Mujahideen. In the process, the film also reveals Wilson as a Congressman with a gregarious social life of women and partying, which results in a federal investigation into his alleged cocaine use that never resulted in any charges.

Herring persuades Wilson to visit the Pakistani leadership who complains about the inadequate support to oppose the Soviets and insists he visits a major Afghan refugee camp. Deeply moved by their misery and determination to fight, Wilson is frustrated by the regional CIA personnel's insistence on a low key approach against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. Wilson leads an effort to substantially increase funding to the mujahedeen in his role as a member of two major Congressional defense committees. As part of this effort, Wilson befriends the maverick CIA operative Gust Avrakotos and his understaffed Afghanistan group to find a better strategy, especially including a means to counter the Soviets' formidable gunship helicopter air support. As a result, Wilson's deft political bargaining for the necessary funding and Avrakotos' group's careful planning using those resources, such as supplying the guerrillas with FIM-92 Stinger missile launchers, turns the Soviet occupation into a deadly quagmire with their heavy fighting vehicles being destroyed at a crippling rate. This effort by Wilson ultimately evolves into a major portion of the U.S. foreign policy known as the Reagan Doctrine, under which the U.S. expanded assistance beyond just the mujahideen and began also supporting other anti-communist resistance movements around the world. The policy was controversial, although some now credit the policy with contributing to the ultimate collapse of the Soviet Union and global communism, bringing about the end of the Cold War.."^[2]

Despite the victory, Avrakotos warns that unless there is a serious effort to help Afghanistan rebuild back into a stable society, there could be dire and unpredictable repercussions for both that nation and the U.S. Unfortunately, Wilson finds exceptionally little enthusiasm in the government for even the modest measures he proposes to heed this warning. The film ends with Wilson receiving a major commendation for the support of the U.S. clandestine services, but his pride is sadly tempered by his fears of what unintended consequences his secret efforts could yield in the future and the implications of U.S. disengagement from Afghanistan. The implied warning involves both the rise of the extremist Taliban regime and the September 11th terrorist attacks, though this is never specifically mentioned.”

Well we saw the movie last night. I remember as a child seeing him talk at Kirbyville Elementary when I was about 9 years old. I totally agree with the synopsis give in Wikipedia. Had America given just a modicum of interest after they covertly funded 500 million to the Mujahedeen to defeat the Soviet Union, which they did, we would not be having to look over our shoulders at the airports and worry about a building exploding in a major US city. There was roughly ½ the population under the age of 14 after the war and they were looking for something to follow and the Radical Extremist got their attention. During the war, we trained Osama Bin Laden and with this training, he was able to grab a major portion of power. Compared to the 500 million, 1 million or more to help rebuild the infrastructure of Afghanistan would have secured our interests in the Middle East and our security at home. The USA would have looked as a hero and not imperialists to the Extremists only serving our own interests. We could have been saviors, not just happy that the USSR was defeated and that we were the big boys on the block. Their government would have been PRO-US, not ANTI-US as it was when the Taliban and Al-Qaeda came to power filing in the vacuum that was created by America’s non-involvement. To put it bluntly, The USA screwed the pooch and botched their opportunity all to hell! Our non-involvement in this country eventually lead the bombing of the USS Cole in which Clinton did nothing and to 9/11. At one point, Bin Laden was offered to the USA and Clinton said we do not want him. Another feather in his (Clinton) inept hat.

Radical Islam can be traced back throughout the centuries, but a great turning point against the USA was fronted by a man named Sayyid Qutb. From 1948 to 1950, he went to the United States on a scholarship to study the educational system, receiving a master's degree from the Colorado State College of Education (now the University of Northern Colorado) in Greeley, Colorado. ( I helped build a Dining Hall there in 2004) “Qutb was extremely critical of many things in the United States: its materialism, individual freedom, economic system, racism, brutal boxing matches, poor haircuts,triviality, restrictions on divorce, enthusiasm for sports, "animal-like" mixing of the sexes (which went on even in churches),^[11] and lack of support for the Palestinian struggle^[12] In an article published in Egypt after his travels, he noted with disapproval the sexuality of Americans:

the American girl is well acquainted with her body's seductive capacity. She knows it lies in the face, and in expressive eyes, and thirsty lips. She knows seductiveness lies in the round breasts, the full buttocks, and in the shapely thighs, sleek legs — and she shows all this and does not hide it.

And their taste in music:

Jazz is his preferred music, and it is created by Negroes to satisfy their love of noise and to whet their sexual desires...^[14]

Qutb concluded that major aspects of American life were primitive and "shocking". His experiences in the U.S. is believed to have formed in part the impetus for his rejection of Western values and his move towards radicalism upon returning to Egypt. Resigning from the civil service, he joined the Muslim Brotherhood in the early 1950s”

He helped to “stir the pot” so to speak and started the views on America as Imperialists only worrying about ourselves. Well, this is enough about this subject from me. Have a good night!

RMStringer

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

"Your life is the sum of a remainder of an unbalanced

equation inherent to the programming of the matrix.

You are the eventuality of an anomaly, which despite

my sincerest efforts I have been unable to eliminate

from what is otherwise a harmony of mathematical precision.

While it remains a burden assiduously avoided, it is not

unexpected, and thus not beyond a measure of control.

Which has led you, inexorably, here." - The Architect, The Matrix Reloaded