Posted on 02/10/2010 12:25:21 PM PST by Abathar
A hospital spokeswoman says former U.S. Rep. Charlie Wilson of Texas has died.
(Excerpt) Read more at theindychannel.com ...
Charlie Wilson’s death should reminds us that DEMOCRATS brought us 30 years WAR , and most of America has only known it for the last 8 years.
Carter’s poor judgement allowed the Soviets to topple the Shah, and they took advantage of his weakness to INVADE AFGHANISTAN, after the Soviet-backed sect failed to take power in Iran....
CARTER created Bin-Laden, through Zbigniew Brzezinski, and ten thousand Americans have died because of his incompetence...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/feb/10/texas-congressman-charlie-wilson-dies
excerpt.........
The CIA officers Wilson worked with joked that his reputation as a party animal gave him the perfect cover for his work in arming the insurgents, using conservative Muslim countries in supporting roles. The operation eventually grew to about $750m a year – at the time the largest covert operation in the spy agency’s history.
To the public, Wilson appeared a political backbencher, rarely speaking on the floor of the House and staying out of the major policy battles of the day. But behind closed conference room doors on Capitol Hill, Wilson worked in secret to secure his colleagues’ support for the mujahideen by supporting military contracts in their constituencies, according to Crile.
While Wilson’s efforts helped win one of the deadliest proxy battles of the Cold War, the victory left a power vacuum later filled by the Taliban, many of whom were heavily armed with weapons procured by Wilson and provided by the CIA.
A graduate of the US Naval Academy, Wilson served as a lieutenant before entering the timber business. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 1973 and retired in 1996.
Wilson died at Memorial Medical Center-Lufkin after he started having difficulty breathing while attending a meeting in the eastern Texas town where he lived, said Yana Ogletree, a hospital spokeswoman. Wilson was pronounced dead on arrival, and the preliminary cause of death was cardiopulmonary arrest, she said.
In 2007, Wilson had a heart transplant at a Houston hospital. Doctors had told Wilson, who suffered from cardiomyopathy, a disease that causes an enlarged and weakened heart, that he would likely die without a transplant.
end excerpt........
“Good Time” Charlie or “Timber” Charlie
Like all of us he was flawed, but he was a decent man who loved the country.
I don't say that about many democrats.
Well said. It was a better time when you could disagree with Democrats, but not question their loyalty to this country.
Damn, he looks for all the world, like Johnny Cash in that photograph.
I gather that you worked with Ed Ceaser and the American Export Group. There is a great article on the subject of breeding mules for the Mujaheddin in, of all places, the New Yorker this week.
Very cool!
To this day it appears to me that most Afghans, not to mention Muslims from other countries, believe the U.S. had nothing to do with their victory over the Soviets, because we assisted covertly and then disappeared as soon as it was over. The Muslim world believes the Afghans did it all themselves, with some help from other Muslims.
Without Charlie Wilson, I don't see how the Soviets would ever have been driven out of Afghanistan. It's just too bad the Afghans don't know it.
Yes, it is a shame the Afghans (and muslims in general) don’t realize how we could help them under the color of peace.
Yes, it is a shame the Afghans (and muslims in general) don’t realize how we could help them under the color of peace.
Thanks Abathar. Bon voyage, Charlie.
And when they interviewed Wilson and asked him how close the movie came to reality, he said they did pretty good but he was disappointed that they left out the importance of Reagan to the program. He said without Reagan's blessing and backing, nothing would have happened.
My favorite Charlie Wilson quote: When questioned about his habit of having only hot young women on his staff, he remarked "you can teach'em to type, you can't teach'em to grow t*ts..."
And as Reagan put it, “There’s no limit to what you can accomplish when you don’t care who gets the credit.” So I don’t think he would have minded the slight.
That's an interesting comment from Wilson. I hadn't seen or heard it before.
I lost what little respect I had left for Tom Hanks when I watched that movie. Of course, given the fact that Sorkin wrote the screenplay and Mike Nichols (Mr. Diane Sawyer) directed, I wasn't expecting much going into it. As a piece of entertainment, was it enjoyable? Sure. But, it was so factually inaccurate and politically heavy-handed (and revisionist), it destroys the authenticity the picture could have and should have had.
I'm a little disappointed that so many here are expressing enthusiasm for the picture. If you get your history from the movies - like so many in our modern society do - you would think that it really was Charlie Wilson's war, when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. Had Jimmy Carter won reelection, the Soviets would surely have stayed and perhaps even conquered Afghanistan. It may have kept their empire afloat for another two or three decades.
I did not know that the American Export Group was where the mules were sold. My job was to make sure the mules did not have EIA and get at least tetanus vaccinations. Columbia, Tennessee, and the area is noted for producing a significant number of mules. Several times I vetted, castrated, tested, and sent over a hundred mules to a location in Nashville. I had an idea where they were going but no one came forward and admitted it. It was work and paid well...Only later did I find out that they went to Afghanistan.
I'm sorry he died but the guy was a jerk!
RIP.
RIP Charley...we gave it a good fight.
Raise one to ya later.
He was the congressional support from the Democrat side for us to do a “Vietnam” in Afghanistan on the Soviets. He helped execute the Reagan doctrine.
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