Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History | 
 enlarge | Author: George Crile
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press
Category: Book
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Avg. Customer Rating:  204 reviews
Sales Rank: 35742
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 416
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3
ISBN: 0871138549
Dewey Decimal Number: 958.1045
EAN: 9780871138545
ASIN: 0871138549
Publication Date: April 2003
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Product Description
From an award-winning 60 Minutes reporter comes the extraordinary story of the largest and most successful CIA operation in history-the arming of the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, pressure mounted for the Americans to support the Afghan resistance. Charlie Wilson, a maverick congressman from East Texas who sat on the powerful House Defense Appropriations Committee, persuaded his colleagues to allocate $10 million to fund the CIA's effort to arm the Mujahideen. Charlie Wilson's War tells the story of what became the largest covert operation in history; funding eventually grew to over $1 billion a year. The book includes an incredible cast of characters: Charlie, the charismatic, hard-partying congressman who raised eyebrows when traveling to Pakistan with unusual companions -- one his personal belly dancer, another an ex-beauty queen -- but was passionate about supporting the Afghans and brilliant at getting deals done. Gust Avrakotos, a working-class Greek among Ivy Leaguers at the CIA who set up the team that ran the largest operation in the history of the CIA. President Zia of Pakistan, who became great friends with Charlie and used his leverage to get huge aid dollars as well as keep the West looking away as he built the first Muslim bomb. Moving from the back rooms of the Capitol, to secret chambers at Langley, to arms-dealers conventions, to the Khyber Pass, Charlie Wilson's War is brilliantly reported -- one of the most detailed and compulsively readable accounts of the inside workings of the CIA ever written, with a cast of characters and a plot out of Le Carre or Clancy. This book is a remarkable account of the last battle of the Cold War, a battle that helped weaken the Soviet Union and led to its collapse and, of course, paved the way to the rise of the Taliban, with consequences that we are dealing with today.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 199 more reviews...
 The Best Non-Fiction I've Ever Read September 25, 2008
This is without a doubt the best non-fiction book I have ever read. The plot, the characters and the writing were all brilliant. A truly exhilirating thrill ride. I couldn't put the book down - in fact, I missed my bus stop reading the book.
When I finished, I felt that I had lost my close friends, and that my life had just gotten a little less exciting.
If you want a thrilling, titilating, over-the top book that never lets up in terms of entertainment, than this is the book for you.
If there were six, seven or even eight stars, I would award those to this book too.
In a word - Awesome!
Rollicking good story, but... September 19, 2008
"Charlie Wilson's War" is a Cold War thriller with the extra attraction that it really happened. It tells the behind-the-scenes story of Texan congressman Charlie Wilson, a hard-drinking, hard-loving, Commie-hating bad boy who nearly singlehandedly (as far as the book tells us) dragged the CIA and the US government into supporting the Afghan mujahidin against invading Soviet forces. Charlie gets top billing, but shares much of the limelight with two other men. Gust Avrakatos is a CIA man whose rough upbringing and wild ways, while effective, rub many of his Ivy League colleagues the wrong way. There's also Mike Vickers, the young Green Beret whose battlefield savvy and weapons mastery help him to design a winning strategy for the previously forlorn Afghan rebels. These three use bullying, money and rule breaking to cut a swath through the bureaucratic inertia that allowed the Soviets the upper hand. There are also fascinating details about the contributions of Pakistan's General Zia and Israeli arms designers to the complex negotiations to fund and supply the rebels. The story of the development of the Stinger anti-aircraft weapon was also told in loving detail. And let's not forget Charlie's Angels (the Texas beauties staffing his office) or his jumpsuit-wearing paramours, including one belly dancing Texas girl.
There's plenty to cheer about in the adventures of these rather bloodthirsty heroes. They saw in the Afghans a means to "kill Russians" and weaken the Soviet Empire. Their "think outside the box" mentality is hard to resist, especially when it succeeds, as it often does. Author Crile seems to be on the side of the angels of history as he dismisses the ill-informed and slapdash efforts of the White House and Ollie North to supply the Nicaraguan Contras with weapons bought with cash obtained from trading weapons to the Iranians. But there's a bit that is disquieting about the book as well as it alludes to other efforts to kill Commies that didn't turn out so well. For every rogue effort like Wilson's that worked, there seemed to be many that either didn't or that put America on the side of quite ugly "freedom fighters". The book may persuade you that America needs it covert forces, free enough to be innovative, but restrained enough to work for the national interest.
But for an engaging story, with larger-than-life characters and real-life global stakes, it's hard to beat "Charlie Wilson's War."
The enemies of our enemies are not our friends... August 29, 2008
Charlie Wilson's War may be one-sided, but it's still a very interesting read, especially in these post-9/11 days. Years before the words Taliban and al Qaeda were in everyday use, or for that matter, even familiar to most Americans, the CIA was waging a secret war in Afghanistan.
Having grown up in the tail end of the Cold War, the threat of the USSR never really gripped me the way it did the generations prior to me. We laughed at the comical "Duck and Cover" commercials when we watched them in history class, but my parents spoke of the real terror they felt at the time. In reading Charlie Wilson's War, I had a glimpse into the mindset of that time period, when we were willing to be friends with anyone who was willing to oppose the Communist Threat. Hindsight being what it is, we of course recognize that Charlie Wilson helped arm the same group that would later assist in horrendous attacks on the United States and kill American men and women in armed conflict with weapons purchased by their tax payer dollars. The implications in the book are astounding and make you wonder about the actions that government takes on our behalf. Second and third order effects were clearly not considered.
I don't chastise Charlie Wilson for not recognizing the future of the Taliban - no one else did, and we woke up when a clear day in NYC was blotted out. This book provides at least a part of the background necessary to begin to ask ourselves why and how we live in the world as it is today.
Forget the politics of it, and focus on how seemingly small decisions have huge impact, and you'll probably begin to look at the decisions made by Congress and the Government with a slightly more critical eye to what they mean for the future.
The movie is highly entertaining, and the book reads very quickly, so even if you don't read more into it, it's an entertaining endeavor.
Absolutely Recommended Reading August 26, 2008
0 out of 3 found this review helpful
I ordered this book upon the strong recommendation of two of my best - and brightest - friends. They said that it is a "must" read. Due to illness, I have not actually read it, but I can tell everyone that if my two friends think so highly of it, it must be a 6-Star read! I can't wait to dig into it and, because of those who recommended it to me, I assure you that the book should be on your list.
Bob K.
Litchfield, CT
This Book Kept My Interests August 2, 2008
Unreliable story of the CIA involvement in the Afghan War. Lots of insight of the secret in and out of our clandestine service. Interesting read but at the same time lots of grandstanding by the author toward the subject of the book which sometime seem a bit hard to believe. Recommended reading for anyone who is a history buff and would like to expand his/her detailed knowledge of the downfall of Communism and the last military action of the cold war. Don't bother to compare the movie; like most of the time, is the book according to Hollywood re writers. The movie is definitely not worth the money unless you receive it as a gift.
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