Posted on 12/22/2007 10:16:52 PM PST by kellynla
Conservative officials who served in the Reagan administration are upset by the left-wing slant of the new movie about the covert action program that helped Afghan guerrillas defeat the Soviet army during the 1980s.
"Charlie Wilson's War," out Friday, is based on a book about former Rep. Charles Wilson, Texas Democrat, known widely on Capitol Hill during his tenure as "Good Time Charlie" and who helped fund the semi-secret war that ultimately helped fell the Soviet Union.
The Reagan-era officials said the movie promotes the left-wing myth that the CIA-led operation funded Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda and ultimately produced the attacks of September 11, 2001.
Bin Laden, the officials said, never got CIA funding or weapons, and was not directly involved in Islamist extremist activities until years after the Afghan operation ended after the withdrawal of Soviet troops in 1989.
That anti-American aspect of the film, namely that the Afghan operation ultimately caused the September 11 attacks, reportedly was altered after protests from Mr. Wilson and his former fiancee, Joanne Herring.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtontimes.com ...
PSH is emerging as the Dustin Hoffman of his (my) generation. He doesn't have leading-man looks, but he has the acting chops to make any role a tour de force. He's a perfect everyman.
He has come A LONG way from screaming like an idiot in "Twister", although even as far back as "Scent of a Woman", he was far superior to anyone else in that film barring Pacino (who, IMHO, overplayed it).
I’m not giving my hard-earned money to some Leftist propaganda, thank you!
I’d rather spend the p.m. reading one of Ann Coulter’s books or God forbid, gasp! the Bible! :-]
Like I said earlier, the Leftists haven’t had a war hero since WWII, so they have to manufacture them as they go. LOL
Thanks for pointing out the “Yellow-Dog Democrats” from the South. Party was not as important as the view on communists; you wanted to kill them or you thought the balance of power restrained American “excess”.
Charlie set up the most improbable alliances to get a supply route into Afghanistan. Transit times were very long. Naturally, it was hard to turn off the spigot and arms continued to pour into the country after the Soviet withdrawal. Charlie worked hard to replace the cargo with humanitarian aid and was somewhat successful. I’m not sure whether the Iran-Iraq war or the Clintons ended humanitarian efforts. But I do know the Clintons broke off relations with Pakistan soon after being elected. They disapproved of dealing with dictators or furthering the success of an American intervention.
One other important point made in the movie was that the Afghans didn’t really realize that Americans were behind their conquest because no American weapons were delivered and the affair was covert. We got no credit for liberating them. In the book, the mujahedeen were so deluded they thought they had defeated one Satan all on their own and would certainly be able to defeat the “Great Satan”.
That would be a No on both counts. Though it’s good to know that Lumet is still at it. The NYPD and NY District Attorney must hate him with a passion! He’s been flogging the NY Justice System corruption material for 50 years!
I have to laugh, - Amy Adams ("Enchanted") actually has more screen time than Julia Roberts.
Emily Blunt was wasted in what was nothing more than a cameo role. I think she probably had a bigger part but most of her performance wound up on the cutting room floor.
Let’s just say that he’s likely not on Henry Morganthau’s Holiday Card list. ;-)
Both of those guys (Tom Hanks and Phillip Seymour Hoffman) were great and had fantastic chemistry. The scene of the first meeting was one of the best I've seen in any movie...imagine Preston Sturges directing a modern spy movie.
I too believe one of the major after effects, or unintended consequences was after giving them the means to defeat the Soviets they believed they did it on their own. You wonder where they think the Stinger came from...Allah?
Just as an after thought, at least the shelf life on the Stingers was short so we didn’t have to face them in 2002. I guess they don’t do well sitting in a cave for long periods of time.
I don't know where you 'checked,' but we 'chose' neither of them.
I agree! I saw the movie today and thought it was great! I would certainly reccommend it. There was nothing there that was anti American. And yes, Charlie Wilson was. by Texas standards, a Liberal but today he would be considered a strong Conservative by National standards.
A Zell Miller type albeit a party’in SOB!
I haven’t seen the film so it’s a little unfair for me to say this. None the less, it seems to me the movie gives a person other than Reagan the credit for defeating the U.S.S.R. in Afghanistan. It is further implied that this is the true reason why the U.S.S.R. fell, or at the very least got the ball rolling towards the inevitable.
Why is it that folks seem so enamoured with ‘the story’ that they fail to miss the propagandist motives of the movie industry, to the obvious motive of downplaying Reagan’s defeat of the U.S.S.R. and the winning of the Cold War?
Am I off point here?
If not, then going to see this movie and support those who made it, is simply aiding the enemies of our cause. I don’t see this story as morally neutral, or even remotely entertaining, of course unless you love seeing lies told at the expense of conservatism’s leading iconic figure.
I too feel Reagan deserves most of the credit for the downfall of the Soviet Union. Unlike most leaders Reagan communicated a vision without getting bogged down in details where others lose their way. I would say the same thing about President Bush. I may find fault with the tactical methods, but big picture I like Bush.
As to Charlie Wilson, he found a cause that was being just about completely ignored by Carter, Democrats and Republicans. Charlie wanted to kill Communists as a payback for Vietnam. Circumstances put him together with people to move this forward and by the time it was ramped up everyone was on board. It’s the story of a one man foreign policy stirring a government.
Forget the part about Charlie Wilson was the reason the Soviet Empire fell, it was coming apart at the seams and just needed a little help.
Don’t see the movie, but read the book and then let me know if you feel the same way.
Thanks for the comments. I appreciate it.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.