charlie wilson's war analysis

The scene took place at Caesar's Palace in 1980, and according to the real Wilson involved lashings of cocaine. To them the miracle victory over the Soviets was all the work of Allah not the billions of dollars that America and Saudi Arabia poured into the battle, not the 10-year commitment of the CIA that turned an army of primitive tribesmen into technoholy warriors. By 1982, Peshawar, the capital of Pakistan's historic North-West Frontier, had also become the not-very-secret centre of the Afghan resistance. You won the Afghan war.". With Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams. From simple essay plans, through to full dissertations, you can guarantee we have a service perfectly matched to your needs. What did catch his attention that day was the absence of men no teenagers, not even 40- or 50-year-olds. "I didn't know what to think, but figured if I got downtown I could learn more." A close analysis of the draft scripts for Charlie Wilson’s War, compared to the finished film, suggest that it was heavily rewritten to suit the Agency’s agenda. The film shows the importance of what happened and how it changed future events. The film is released on 11 January 2008, Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies. In the pivotal first years of the jihad, she became both matchmaker and muse to Pakistan's Muslim fundamentalist military dictator, Zia ul-Haq, as well as to Charlie Wilson. This threw Wilson into a rage. Many people who know how we helped Afghanistan say that by our contributing to their war effort in the past we just gave them weapons to use against us now. All work is written to order. It was hard for the congressman not to be impressed as he listened to Joanne describe how she had left immediately for Islamabad and then crossed into the war zone with Fawcett. As we moved from Kuwait down to Basra, where hundreds of thousands had died in the closing battles of the Iran-Iraq War, I began talking to Avrakotos, and in short order I realised that the Afghan campaign had been anything but a typical CIA programme. In Riyadh, a royal receiving party met us at the airport. But the danger exists for us as well. Based on a true story, Charlie Wilson’s War holds several historical events which should be noted. Charlie Wilson's War is a chilling tale of how a few determined people can undermine all existing law, use their positions of power and influence to get unseen funds allocated, and pursue a major war without the approval of the American people. The Pakistanis had told them that the congressman had come as a friend offering assistance, and as he entered they shouted, "Allahu Akbar" God is Great. The difference was that they were now armed with hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of weapons and explosives of every conceivable type. As he walked in, Wilson was dazed by the sight of long white beards and turbans, and the men's fierce, unblinking eyes. With a new flood of money and weapons to help in their fight, the Afghanistan people were armed and inspired to fight the invading Soviet Union forces. It was just nine months after the Red Army's humiliating retreat from Afghanistan, and the dominoes were now falling in central and Eastern Europe. But they are very badly equipped. The Pakistan military had long been the surrogates for the CIA, and every Afghan and Arab mujahedin fighter came to believe that America had betrayed the Pakistanis. By 1990 the Afghan freedom fighters had suddenly and frighteningly gone back to form, re-emerging as nothing more than feuding warlords obsessed with settling generations-old scores. She's the one who got him interested." Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Charlie Wilson’s War. It became clear that the gratitude went both ways when Wilson was shown to his quarters several hours later a preposterously luxurious suite with a living room that seemed to be the size of a football field. But the terrible truth is that the group of sleeping lions that the United States roused may well have inspired an entire generation of militant young Muslims to believe that the moment is theirs. Ironically during the Soviet war some of the ANA soldiers would have fought along side those they now seek to hunt down. In the year 1979 the Soviet Union took over the Afghan capital city of Kabul and started a war that devastated the people and land of Afghanistan. However, allowing both Afghanistan and Pakistan to fall into the hands of the Soviet Union would have meant that we would surrender the supply of oil Pakistan held. But with the departure of the Soviets, the war was anything but morally unambiguous. But Joanne Herring was a woman of extraordinary resources who knew how to mesmerise a man on many levels not the least of which was her ability to sweep this congressman from the Bible Belt into her dazzling world of black-tie dinners, movie stars, countesses, Saudi princes and big-time Republican oil magnates. In the early 1980s, Charlie Wilson is a womanizing US congressional representative from Texas who seemed to be in the minor leagues, except for the fact … The world doesn't know what's going on here.". Despite some of the flaws in the film I still recommend this film to anyone who wants to watch a great story. In the course of a decade, billions of rounds of ammunition and hundreds of thousands of weapons were smuggled across the border on the backs of camels, mules, and donkeys. As well-known for leading a flamboyant, playboy lifestyle as being the mastermind responsible for funneling $5 billion dollars (about $12 billion today) to Afghan rebels (when they were on our side) in their fight against the Soviet Union, Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson was a larger than life character who serves as a stark reminder of how different the … VAT Registration No: 842417633. "They removed the threat we all went to sleep with every night, of World War III breaking out. The movie focused on the funds, and how they were gathered, that gave the Afghan fighters the weapons and training that they needed. Congressman Charlie Wilson, with the help of Gust Avrakotos and Joanne Herring, fought with stubborn politicians, nation leaders, and endured career damaging stories in order to give the people of Afghanistan a fighting chance. Crile’s book is lauded for offering a necessary perspective on the absurd personal life of … Do you have a 2:1 degree or higher? It was an impulsive action, a personal gesture to bolster a painfully inadequate US programme. The consequence for America of having waged a secret war and never acknowledging or advertising its role was that it set in motion the spirit of jihad and the belief in surrogate soldiers that, having brought down one superpower, they could just as easily take on another. So far as anyone can tell, no congressman prior to Charlie Wilson had ever moved unsolicited to increase a CIA budget. Invariably, when reporters wrote features about Joanne Herring, they invoked Scarlett O'Hara. The main character in The Hurt Locker is defined by his iconoclastic behavior, so it is suspect to frame the … The screenplay is based on George Crile’s 2003 book of the same name, but at with all book-to-film adaptations a lot of material was left out. "How much are we giving the Afghans?" Copyright © 2003 - 2021 - UKEssays is a trading name of All Answers Ltd, a company registered in England and Wales. "Nothing ever affected me like seeing those 20,000 men raising their guns and shouting to fight to the last drop of their blood.". By the end of 1993, in Afghanistan itself there were no roads, no schools, just a destroyed country and the United States was washing its hands of any responsibility. June–December 1916. At one point, Joanne told Wilson, this giant moved her about in a barrel to hide her. In particular they talked of helicopter gunships that hovered over their villages, hounding them even as they fled. She emphasised how few weapons they had and described how the Afghans treated their guns like library books as soon as one warrior crossed the border, he would turn in his gun, handing it over to another man going off to face death. But the most extraordinary role in her remarkable life is about to be portrayed by Julia Roberts in a new Hollywood blockbuster, Charlie Wilson's War, to be released in America on December 21. It was from her friend Charles Fawcett, a note scribbled with crayons on the back of a child's notebook: "Come immediately. But with the Russians gone, sanctions were imposed and all military and economic assistance was cut off. Analysis. To export a reference to this article please select a referencing stye below: If you are the original writer of this essay and no longer wish to have your work published on UKEssays.com then please: Our academic writing and marking services can help you! I had a bodyguard who was seven feet tall with a handlebar mustache and an Enfield rifle." Good cast but really an uninteresting film. Like New: An item that looks like it has just been taken out of its shrink wrap. This covert operation, named Operation Cyclone, was the largest covert operation to ever happen in the history of the CIA. By then Wilson had retired from Congress and was working as a lobbyist, with Pakistan as one of his main accounts. The justification for the huge CIA operation had been to halt Soviet aggression, not to take sides in a tribal war certainly not to transform the killing capacity of these warriors. But back home, no one seemed to be aware that something important had taken place and that the United States had been the moving force behind it. Charlie: Calm down. I pledged that their soldiers would not be left to die in agony and that we would give them millions in humanitarian assistance.". As the romance bloomed, Herring found herself reborn as a ferocious champion of Zia and the Afghans, and she became convinced that Wilson was the one who could save the day. Throughout the war, Wilson had always told his colleagues that Afghanistan was the one morally unambiguous cause that the United States had supported since the Second World War and never once had any member of Congress stood up to protest or question the vast expenditures. "I told them that they were the most courageous people in the world and I said, 'We're going to help you. Toward the end of "Charlie Wilson's War," a CIA officer played by the pitch-perfect Philip Seymour Hoffman cautions the Wilson character (played … More than a million Afghans had died, and no one had ever thanked them for their sacrifice. It would be another two years before he would return to put this precedent to the test. But every one of them described their fury at the Russian gunships. He told Wilson he could keep his bandages and rice. "It didn't register with me for a week or two that this thing was all based in my mountains.". — Anonymous. It was only 30 miles from the Afghan border and minutes from the sprawling refugee camps. From the beginning of the Cold War, Congress had granted that exclusive right to the president. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. A man Charlie once described as "goodness personified", Jalaluddin Haqqani, had long been a gateway for Saudi volunteers, and for years the CIA had no problem with such associations. Want an ad-free experience?Subscribe to Independent Premium. The war in Afghanistan 19 years ago resulted in opposing political views in the United States each having valid reason for helping or not helping the situation in Afghanistan. “Charlie Wilson’s War” may be more of a hoot than any picture dealing with the bloody, protracted fight between the Soviet Army and the Afghan mujahedeen has any right to be. Though I could have done without the nudity in the movie, it helps to show the reason Congressman Wilson was called “Good Time Charlie”. To Wilson it was like a scene from the Old Testament. Although there may be some truth to our own weapons being used against us, the fact remains that in the past we did not know this and we could not ignore the suffering people of Afghanistan. The morning of 11 September 2001 broke bright and shining in the capital of the United States. Wilson was a news junkie, and he reached down and began reading a story datelined from Kabul. Name Institution Instructor Course Date Charlie Wilson's War Charlie Wilson's War is an American biographical comedy drama book which recounts the true history of Charlie StudentShare Our website is a unique platform where students can share their papers in … As early as the Gulf War, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, long the main recipient of CIA weaponry, had articulated his belief that the US wanted world domination and control of Muslim oil. In the month of his visit 20,000 more had poured in young boys and girls dressed in bright tribal clothing; the women with their faces covered. Study for free with our range of university lectures! Film Studies. I highly recommend it to anyone wanting to learn a little more about American history. None of your families will suffer from lack of shelter and food.' And when the United States kept its troops (including large numbers of women) in Saudi Arabia, not just bin Laden but most Islamists believed that America wanted to seize the Islamic oil fields and was seeking world domination. The Film Analysis Of Charlie Wilson's War 1204 Words | 5 Pages In Charlie Wilson’s War directed by Mike Nichols and Tom Hanks, Charles Wilson, a wealthy Congressman living in luxury, is sent to refugee camps to discover the harsh realities of war and hopefully help aid his country. ", As she told this story to Wilson, she played on themes she knew would move his Texan spirit. Charlie Wilson's War may refer to: . The book opens near the end of the story, as Charlie Wilson receives an award from the CIA, a rare event for a civilian. "He told me his only regret was that he couldn't have his feet grown back so he could go kill Russians.". They were glorious and they changed the world. The doctors sat with Wilson at the bed of a young boy and explained that his hand had been blown off by a Russian butterfly mine designed to look like a toy. The article described hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing Afghanistan as Soviet helicopter gunships levelled villages, slaughtered livestock, and killed anyone who harboured guerrillas resisting the occupation. As Charlie Wilson saw it, his Afghans had played a decisive role in helping to trigger and hasten the collapse of the Communist eastern bloc. The Soviet Union had control of the oil it would have led to serious economic problems for the United States. When almost everyone had written off the Afghans as a lost cause, she saw potential for greatness in the most unlikely characters. "We want you to know, Mr Congressman," the prince's aide said, "that these are larger quarters than we provided for George Bush. The Soviet Union had its sights set on controlling the oil trade in the unstable Afghanistan. By controlling Afghanistan the Soviet Union would have a direct road to Pakistan and where they could control the flow of oil. Not one of them complained about their lost limbs. Company Registration No: 4964706. Most films that are based off a true story stick to the very basics and add to the movie to make it interesting or dramatic. Charlie Wilson’s War dvd. Registered office: Venture House, Cross Street, Arnold, Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, NG5 7PJ. Scores of young men were laid out on hospital beds. Charlie Wilson's War - based on the George Crile book of the same name - tells of how Wilson visited Pakistan and saw for himself the plight of Afghan refugees who fled the war. Charlie Wilson's War: How one man changed history A major new movie starring Tom Hanks tells the extraordinary story of a covert CIA operation that altered the course of history. Elected to be on the House Appropriations Subcommittee of Defense, Congressman Wilson was able to request, and receive, a doubled budget for the Afghanistan war. Ironically, neither the United States government nor the forces of Islam will want this history to be known. The mysterious force in the US government that was destined to hound the Red Army with a seemingly limitless flood of ever more lethal weapons was about to be activated. It stars Tom Hanks as Rep. Charles Wilson, a swinging, hard-drinking, coke-using liberal Democrat from Texas who more or less single-handedly defeated the Russians in Afghanistan. Info: 1249 words (5 pages) Essay The sight of the World Trade Center in flames stunned him, but like most Americans, he assumed it had to have been a horrendous accident. For most Americans, the events of September 11 were quickly tied to Afghanistan when it was learned that the hijackers had all spent time there. The action then flashes back to Wilson's early days in the Congress. This movie however, tells the true story with very little the added fiction. And the people who deserved the credit are the ones who made the sacrifice. What is even worse for the Afghan soldiers is that they are still fighting and dying holding the outdated Kalashnikovs Charlie Wilson's money bought them all those years ago. The countries that used to be in the Warsaw Pact are now in Nato. Charlie Wilson was a congressional representative in 1980 who was more interested in partying and women although later he is interested in Afghanistan’s current state during his visit to their refugee camps in Pakistan. He didn't know what to make of it all at first. Congressman Wilson, with the help of others, raised the government’s budget for the Soviet-Afghan war from a few million to 750 million. "It began with a Texas woman, one of Wilson's contributors. R.I.P. Zvi: We just got done fighting a war against Egypt, and everyone who has ever tried to kill me or my family has been trained in Saudi Arabia! The meeting with Gust Avrakotos was not how the actual event happened; however, Congressman Wilson did eventually meet with Mr. Avrakotos when he went to the CIA to learn more about weapons for Afghanistan. Wilson moved from bed to bed, undone by the carnage but increasingly aware of why most of them were there. Charlie Wilson’s War is a fun and historically accurate movie that shows the difference one man can make. There were two surprises on that trip, revelations that opened my eyes to a bigger story: the first was the princely reception given to Wilson wherever he went in the Arab world. Much was made of this by the Bush administration, which assailed the Taliban for harbouring Osama bin Laden and for allowing Afghanistan to become a breeding ground for international terrorists. The Soviets moved into Afghanistan under the … Within a year, the Clinton administration would move to place Pakistan on the list of state sponsors of terrorism. When the photographs of the 19 hijackers appeared in newspapers across the country, he took some comfort in pointing out that they were all Arabs, not Afghans. Charlie Wilson’s War thus offers a second, more surreal look at the political operations and mechanisms of power that actually influence the evolution of nations. The efforts of U.S. Representative Charlie Wilson (D-TX) to help the Afghan Mujahideen fight Soviet forces through.....the CIA's Operation Cyclone, the official name of the covert war itself; Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History, a 2003 book by George Crile III documenting the above events "These things happened. Wilson's intervention had not cost the congressman much more than a telephone call to a key staffer and a few additional minutes when the subcommittee met to appropriate the nation's secret intelligence budget. It's not what Wilson had in mind when he took up the cause of the Afghans. Tom Hanks stars as the womaniser and cold war hawk in a film that doesn't know if Charlie Wilson is its hero or its villain. Most of the women Wilson was seeing in those days and there were many were half Herring's age. They came from the mountains and valleys of a country where their ancestors had lived for centuries, a legendary warrior nation not easy to intimidate and uproot. "All this had to be very secretive," she whispered conspiratorially. Charlie Wilson's War Summary & Study Guide includes comprehensive information and analysis to help you understand the book. ‘Good Time Charlie’ Wilson. The question is not so difficult to understand if you put yourself in the shoes of the Afghan veterans in the aftermath of the Soviet departure. A sickening realisation gripped him: it had to be the work of terrorists, and, if so, he had little doubt that the killers were Muslims. Osama bin Laden was one of those volunteers who could frequently be found in the same area where Charlie had been Haqqani's honoured guest. The novel Charlie Wilson’s War. An old man rose to respond. When our commercial flight back to Baghdad was cancelled, Avrakotos managed to get us on to a lavish Boeing 707 owned by a Saudi religious leader by telling him about Wilson's role in the Afghan war. "It was so cold that all the men gave me their blankets. Any chance of an American appreciation for the Afghan miracle was fast disappearing, as one incredible event after another began to unravel the Soviet bloc. No one, however, was paying attention, not even in the American government, when Wilson picked up a phone and called the Appropriations Committee staffer who dealt with "black appropriations", the CIA funds. George Crile tells the nearly unbelievable tale of Charlie Wilson and his passionate support of … The fog of Charlie Wilson's War. Mr. Charles Wilson, Father of the Taliban"The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Although the movie does focus on the serious nature of what is happening, it also adds comedy providing a break from all of the technical names and political scenarios. But almost everyone seemed confused about who the terrorists were, and all but clueless to explain why they hated the United States so much. It was at his next stop, the Red Cross hospital on the edge of Peshawar, that he lost his heart to the Afghans. The American public rallied behind the president when he launched his "war on terror". Any opinions, findings, conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of UKEssays.com. Wilson's name was all but unknown to most Americans, but as he looked out over the monuments and the historic houses of government, he had every reason to believe that he had played a part in the startling disappearance of America's greatest enemy. I was so cold, it was horrible, but it was the most exciting thing in my life. The movie Charlie Wilson’s War takes place from 1979 to 1989 and tells the story of how the biggest covert operation in America happened. Gust: That's not entirely true, Zvi. Charlie Wilson’s War is a film set in the post cold war years. Charlie Wilson (Tom Hanks) starts out in the 1980s as a congressman who is more interested in partying than legislating, frequently throwing parties. In the movie the Afghan leader talking to Congressman Wilson said that the only reason the Soviet Union was attacking was because of their location relative to Pakistan. Directed by Mike Nichols. Mr. Charles Wilson, Father of the Talibanby Major Jeremy KotkinDownload the full article: R.I.P. Looking for a flexible role? A young Afghan who had stepped on a land mine explained he was proud of his sacrifice. At least 100 million Eastern Europeans are breathing free today, to say nothing of the Russian people. Throughout the Muslim world, the victory of the Afghans over the army of a modern superpower was seen as a transformational event. G reat condition. After ten years of fighting the Soviet Union, Afghanistan became the first country to ever defeat the Soviet Union. Allowing the Soviet Union to take control might have prevented the conflict we have with the countries in the Middle East now. To this day no one has ever thanked them. Giving The United States a valid reason to support Afghanistan with a covert operation and giving more than 5 million as funding, would hide the fact that we were are in no way friendly towards Russia. And then we fucked up the endgame.". Charlie Wilson’s War is a film of importance, showing scenes of historical events that have come to dictate the way both Afghanistan’s and America’s people live. Joanne Harring (played by Julia Roberts) was a glamorous and exotic figure from the oil-rich world of Texas in the 1970s and 1980s. Against all odds, there was a growing rebellion underway against the Red Army. It's the truth, and all those people who are enjoying those freedoms have no idea of the part played by a million Afghan ghosts. It would have been a sobering insight for the Communist rulers if they could have followed what happened in the few minutes after Wilson finished reading the Associated Press dispatch. A drama based on a Texas congressman Charlie Wilson's covert dealings in Afghanistan, where his efforts to assist rebels in their war with the Soviets have some unforeseen and long-reaching effects. (The dirty little secret of the Afghan war was that Zia had extracted a concession early on from President Reagan: Pakistan would work with the CIA against the Soviets in Afghanistan, and in return the United States would provide massive aid but would agree to look the other way on the question of the bomb.) "Charlie Wilson's War" is said to be based on fact, and I have no reason to doubt that. All brought horror stories of what had caused them to flee their country. As was his custom before leaving for work, Charlie Wilson walked out on to his terrace to take in the spectacular view. No plagiarism, guaranteed! The movie Charlie Wilson’s War takes place from 1979 to 1989 and tells the story of how the biggest covert operation in America happened. Free resources to assist you with your university studies! But it was like sleeping under a dead hippo. I had produced a CBS 60 Minutes profile of him several months earlier and had no intention of digging further into his role in the Afghan war. She described how these primitive tribesmen would bow to Mecca in prayer five times a day. A Teletype at one end spewed out stories from AP, UPI and Reuters. In the early summer of 1980, the Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson walked off the floor of the House of Representatives into the Speaker's Lobby. At best, all it did was provide the mujahedin with a few thousand more Enfield rifles and perhaps some machine guns, so that they could go out and die for their faith in greater numbers.

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