Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man… (2002)

What amazes me is that one Congressman manipulates the system, spends that much money and gets those things done. And we are still spilling our blood and treasure there thirty years later. We go in and follow the Russians' folly. Oh, the price of empire!!! What a tale - better than any fiction. ( )

A riveting account of one of the most intriguing and peculiar chapters in Cold War history.
For anyone who liked the movie, the book is a MUST for its additional details and anecdotes; such as the kerfuffle over the indecent liberties the Afghan Mujahideen took with the Tennessee mules we gave them. ( )

Yes the book is overly long but the bigger problem is that I couldn’t help but being put off by this cheerful celebration of American short-sightedness. ( )

This was quite an eye-opening book. Parts of it read very fast and like a spy novel, other parts seemed to drag. Overall, it is certainly worth reading. It is amazing to read how only a few men (and yes, they were mostly men) were able to change the course of American foreign policy and foreign aid.

The author certainly has many great facts and a great story to tell. However, parts of the book seemed repetitive. Several times he refers to a crucial vote in Congress and how Wilson called in all his favors to get the measure passed. It's hard to imagine that Wilson had that many favors to continue to ask of his colleagues. There were also a couple parts where the chronology jumped around a bit and several minor editing errors. Overall though, it was a good book. I will be using parts of it for my class on modern Middle-East history. ( )

This is book tells a story that is rarely expressed elsewhere. The characters are so flamboyant it is hard to believe they are real people, and this is nonfiction.

Late in the book Crile discusses the dilemma anyone writing about Charlie Wilson deals with. Wilson could easily be portrayed as a hero or a buffoon. This dichotomy dominates the narrative. Wilson the brilliant legislator, master of the smoke filled room, the true idealist is hampered by his drunken, womanizing, junket taking alter ego.

Though this book is a tribute to Wilson’s effort to arm the Mujadeen against the Soviets and their ultimate victory in that war, but the true revelation is how he did it. One man, Wilson pushed literally billions of dollars American money to arm Muslim extremists in a great jihad. That one congressman could so alter foreign policy, and the course of history is both amazing and frightening. The press and the rest of congress focused on the Contras and Charlie Wilson began a far bigger program virtually unnoticed. Even without the dangerous aftermath of the Taliban, of a young Osama Bin laden seeing a superpower fall, the fact billions of dollars can be spent by a handful of men with little oversight is chilling.

It is clear much of the information comes from interviews with Wilson and other protagonists like CIA man Gust Avrakotos and socialite Joanne Herron. Though Crile pays lip service to the dreadful aftermath of 911, and Islamic extremism he identifies too closely with his subjects. He mentions Texas Billionaire Herron steadfastly defended murderers and brutal dictators because of favorable impressions she gained from brief meetings. But he is generally gentle in his portrayal of this naïve manipulator. It is staggeringly sad such people have such influence on government policy entirely because of their wealth. It is not hard to imagine how the private discussions at few select social clubs decide the fate of nations. It seems all you need is a billion dollars, or to impress somebody who has a billion dollars to enter the conversation.

It is great story, an exciting story, but hardly a heroic one. ( )