Charles Wilson on the Soviet-Afghanistan War - Part 1 (1988)

February 9, 1988 http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000ZDQI9E?ie=UTF8&tag=doc06-20&link... Watch the full program: http://thefilmarchived.blogspot.com/2010/10/charles-wilson-on-soviet-afghanis...

Charles Nesbitt Wilson (June 1, 1933 -- February 10, 2010) was a United States naval officer and former 12-term Democratic United States Representative from the 2nd congressional district in Texas.

He was best known for leading Congress into supporting Operation Cyclone, the largest-ever Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) covert operation, which under the Reagan administration supplied military equipment, including anti-aircraft weapons such as Stinger antiaircraft missiles, and paramilitary officers from their Special Activities Division to the Afghan Mujahideen and the Taliban during the Soviet war in Afghanistan. His behind-the-scenes campaign was the subject of the non-fiction book Charlie Wilson's War by George Crile and a subsequent film adaptation starring Tom Hanks as Wilson.

In 1980, Wilson read an Associated Press dispatch on the congressional wires describing the refugees fleeing Soviet-occupied Afghanistan. The communist Democratic Republic of Afghanistan had taken over power during the Afghan Civil War and asked the Soviet Union to help suppress resistance from the mujahideen. According to biographer George Crile III, Wilson called the staff of the House Appropriations Committee dealing with "black appropriations" and requested a two-fold appropriation increase for Afghanistan. Because Wilson had just been named to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense (which is responsible for funding CIA operations), his request went through.

That was not the last time he increased the CIA budget for its Afghan operation. In 1983, he won an additional $40 million, $17 million of which was allocated for anti-aircraft weapons to shoot down Mil Mi-24 Hind helicopters. The next year, CIA officer Gust Avrakotos directly approached Wilson -- breaking the CIA's policy against lobbying Congress for money -- asking Wilson for $50 million more. Wilson agreed and convinced Congress, saying, "The U.S. had nothing whatsoever to do with these people's decision to fight ... but we'll be damned by history if we let them fight with stones." Later, Wilson succeeded in giving the Afghans $300 million of unused Pentagon money before the end of the fiscal year. Thus, Wilson directly influenced the level of U.S. support for the Afghan Mujahideen. Wilson has said that the covert operation succeeded because "there was no partisanship or damaging leaks." Michael Pillsbury, a senior Pentagon official, used Wilson's funding to provide Stinger missiles to the Afghan resistance in a controversial decision.

Joanne Herring played a significant role in helping the Afghan resistance fighters get support and military equipment from the U.S. government. She persuaded Wilson to visit the Pakistani leadership, and after meeting with them he was taken to a major Pakistan-based Afghan refugee camp so he could see for himself the atrocities committed by the Soviets against the Afghan people. About that visit, Wilson later said that it "was the experience that will always be seared in my memory, was going through those hospitals and seeing, especially those children with their hands blown off from the mines that the Soviets were dropping from their helicopters. That was perhaps the deciding thing... and it made a huge difference for the next 10 or 12 years of my life because I left those hospitals determined, as long as I had a breath in my body and was a member in Congress, that I was going to do what I could to make the Soviets pay for what they were doing!" In 2008, Wilson said he had "got involved in Afghanistan because I went there and I saw what the Soviets were doing. And I saw the refugee camps."

For his efforts, Wilson was presented with the Honored Colleague Award by the CIA. He became the first civilian to receive the award. However, Wilson's role remains controversial because most of the aid was supplied to Islamist hardliner Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, now a senior Taliban leader and a supporter of al-Qaeda.

The decision of the Soviet Union to withdraw from Afghanistan and declare the invasion a mistake led to Wilson commending the Soviet leadership on the floor of the House of Representatives. He also supported United States involvement in the Bosnian War, touring the former Yugoslavia over five days in January 1993; on his return he urged the Clinton administration to lift the arms embargo on Bosnia, remarking "This is good versus evil and, if we do not want to Americanize this, then what do we want to Americanize? We have to stand for something."

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[Allante715]

Would Afghanistan be any worse off with a Soviet puppet state? One could argue that without US intervention, Al-Qeada would have never existed, 9/11 would have never happened, and we wouldn`t be in two wars right now. Of course hindsight is 20/20 but these politicians were always SO focused on the Soviets that they did not properly gauge what kind of people they were helping and what unforeseen consequences can occur. They did the same with Pol Pot in Cambodia. He was evil but he was anti-commie

[JASHVEER22]

@davehutchinson67 go and spread the word on the so called good actions of Charlie Wilson the monkeys that he armed targeted US only in 2001 but do you know that scores of people died in Central and South East Asia since 1989. USA policy backfired they are guilty for the lack of foresight in arming these fundamentalist.

Also remember that these fundamentalist had prior to 1979 anti--west rhetoric but US just wanted to gave USSR a bloody nose and they armed these suckers to wreck havoc.

[BunnyOnDrugZ]

@Allante715 wilson was payed by the government to get weapons for the afghans but wilson wanted independence and freedom for afghanistan.after the afghans defeated the sowiets they didnt gave charlie money anymore although wilson wanted stabilize afghanistan.the us HAD enough money but they left the afghans alone in their destructed state full of mines the us government was just focused on the soviets and the ressources in afgh.afghans arent evil theyre just pissed

[prrolg]

Fascinating report. The moderator is extremely professional as well which I appreciate to the max.

[JASHVEER22]

for all losers who view this guy as a hero well faggots your enemy who is inflicting casualties on US forces in Astan in Haqqani yes bitches the same man whom your dear President met in 1987 google for a photo.

REAP AS YOU SOW BITCHES!!!!!!

[JASHVEER22]

@grnbaypack4 loser what about the your president ronald reagan meeting these mullahs in white house thats also according to you is a lie.

fucker get your facts straight and accept that so long these bastards were bitting Russia it was with US blessing and they were called soldiers of God now when they started kicking the west then they become terrrorist.

heymaktyar and his cronies were all recipients of US aid even Stinger missiles!!! loser

[daanvl]

@Moslemtroglodytes Read some Socrates, Plato, Marcus Aurelius, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Jiddu Krishnamurti then take a good look at your self

[grnbaypack4]

@JASHVEER22 ha your telling me i need to pick up a book? um i have a personal library of like 300 books, of which ive read most. charlie wilson didnt personally give anyone weapons. the ISI and the intelligence agency of saudi arabia are the ones who gave most of the weapons to the most militant radical extremists. blame the cia too. just get your facts straight before you start yapping. btw i watch jeopardy on tv and not much else besides nfl network so "go choke on a cow dick loser".

[JASHVEER22]

@grnbaypack4 WHAT sort of educated man gives islamic loonies who were throwing acid on women face for not wearing veil?? grab a book and stop yapping cnn propaganda.

[Moslemtroglodytes]

@grnbaypack4 "afghanistan is full of militant extremists who hate USA." How many of them are in US records as graduates of the CIA-run camps for jihadists supposed to kill Russians with weapons and expertise provided by the US,and eulogized by bastards like president R. Reagan, senator Charlie Wilson or Zbigniew Brzezinski?Once you sell your soul and body to jihadists,you shouldn't later expect preferential treatment.Jihadists have no mercy even for their own former prostitutes.