Charlie Wilson's War: The Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History

I had initially put off reading this book due to its length, especially after I heard from friends who had seen the film that the film was quite short. However having started to read the book I was engaged almost immediately.

The book, whilst long, is interesting almost the whole time (there are some bits about two-thirds of the way through the book where I feel it flags somewhat). The story is relatively well known so there's no need for me to summarise it here. The book gives a very valuable and worrying insight into how a lone congressman, albeit quite a character, can deal with foreign governments, militaries and intelligence agencies without the knowledge, or in the face of the opposition of, the appropriate US authorities. The author is a very good writer and keeps the book moving; and despite the fact that it often deals with congressional politics of the eighties this is not boring (if it was I would be the first to lose interest) as he tells the story in a logical and focused way.

I think the book could be made even better by having the end section expanded at the expense of the middle section to deal with the consequences of the funding of all the mujahadeen groups. Mr Crile is not critical at all of the actions of Congressman Wilson; certainly Wilson helped contribute to the withdrawal of the USSR from Afghanistan but the long term cost for the West of the policy of Mr Wilson and Mr Avrakotos is not looked at in any detail. Although one has to admire Wilson's ability to make things happen, the book leaves the reader wondering if, especially in view of current problems in this part of the world, things mightn't have been better dealt with by those in the State Department with the appropriate experience and background: for example why did the CIA continue to provide hundreds of millions of dollars to the various mujahadeen groups once the USSR withdrew from Afghanistan?

Overall, well worth reading. I have marked it 3 instead of 4 stars simply because I think it could have been made more concise.

Fascinating & entertaining but a bit long winded (0/0 people found this helpful)

For those who have seen the recent movie version of Charlie Wilson's War, starring Tom Hank and Julia Roberts, and are expecting the book to be a similarly fast paced, witty, Aaron Sorkin style affair, I'm afraid that you're likely to be somewhat disappointed. Weighing in at over 500 pages, this is a highly detailed retelling of how a louche, liberal, Democratic congressman from Texas managed, with help from a myriad of eclectic and sometime questionable sources, to supply the Afghan mujihadeen with arms, training and other support in their insurgency against the Russians during the 1980's.

That's not to say that it is a dry recounting of the historical facts. Crile tells the tale with pace, wit and a real eye for the often colourful characters involved. It is obvious that he has spent a considerable amount of time getting to know many of the individuals who were involved (this is a story with a cast of hundreds beyond Wilson himself). Even if his close ties to some of his subjects sometimes gives the commentary a slightly biased edge, there is no doubting that the author has done his research and knows the details of the story intimately. He also pulls few punches when analysing the personal flaws of the various characters he is portraying or the relative merits of their actions.

Overall this is a fascinating insight into a little known but critical American Cold War operation, which is still having repercussions today. Yes, at times the story flags, the constantly changing cast of characters (Wilson is the only one to stay in the frame from start to finish) can become a little confusing, Crile sometimes goes into too much detail on minor parts of the overall story and the minutiae of American Congressional politics in the mid-eighties is not going to float every reader's boat. Despite these flaws however, this is still a story worth telling in detail, that pulls in everyone from President Zia of Pakistan to Oliver North and involves the Iran-Contra scandal, Texas high society, the Israelis, the Chinese, Belly Dancers, former Miss World Contestants and the Whitehouse. How many other books can claim the same?

How one man helped to create the USSR's Vietnam (0/0 people found this helpful)

A very interesting book about how a senator successfully conducted American foreign policy without the knowledge of the White House. He escalated an obscure war from a tiny operation into the world's largest secret war.

It is never a dry dull read even though the majority of the book is set in, around and about the American political elite in Washington.

The only two negatives I have about the book is that every time a new person is introduced we usually get six or so pages about their background. It can be annoying as it's rarely of any interest to the reader.

The other, more substantial problem, is the Soviet/Red Army side of the story is left pretty much untold apart from three or four pages at the end, which are among some of the most intriguing pages in the whole book.

Well worth a read.

A fun read but limited insight... (4/4 people found this helpful)

I have read a few books about the covert war in 1980's Afghanistan. Recently I wanted to read a book that gave a greater critical overview of the operation to supply and support the mujahuddin. This, sadly, is not that book. This book seems more of an authorised biography of Congressman Charlie Wilson and CIA agent Gust Avrakotos. Huge sections of the book deal with their early careers and personal lives. There is quite a bit of unnecessary hero worshipping by the author towards Charlie and Gust. The author also paints an unflattering picture of all the other US agencies and politicians involved in the operation. It also seems that no criticism is made of the decisions the two men made, often in a frighteningly adhoc manner. Decisions such as their financial backing and arming of dubious people such as Zia ul Haq, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Jalaluddin Haqani and the Pakistani ISI. Backing which has had very serious consequences for peace in the region.

This book is a light hearted tale of two rather engaging and rebellious characters, rather than a critical 'warts and all' history of the biggest covert operation of the cold war. It is easy to read and fun but don't expect too much.

Another foreign policy mess (2/2 people found this helpful)

This is a fascinating well researched and very readable book that combined with more recent books about Irag like Fiasco confirms all the worst fears about US foreign policy. The two constant themes in the book are the fragmentation of foreign policy formulation - it is absolutely frightening that so many different people ( from alcoholic congressmen to airhead socialites) can effectively have such an impact on foreign policy. Equalling worrying is the almost universal ignorance of most of these people of the world outside america. The Afghan problem is seen purely in terms of cold war good and evil. The mujahideen (a ragbag collection of Islamic extremist tribes with a propensity for cruelty and tribal warfare)are portrayed by many of their US supporters as noble cold war warriors fighting against communism. Although this book deals with Afghanistan in the 80s it perhaps gives a vivid illustration of many of the ill informed opinions and factors at work in the decision to invade Irag and the subsequent mess. One one point I would take issue with the author. He implies that the soviet defeat and subsequent withdrawal from Afghanistan was the major factor in the fall of the Soviet Union- this is more than a slight exaggeration.

Charlie Wilson's War: The Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History

George Crile

Reader Reviews:

Uncritical but fascinating account of US 1980s involvement in Afghanistan (0/0 people found this helpful)

Fascinating & entertaining but a bit long winded (0/0 people found this helpful)

How one man helped to create the USSR's Vietnam (0/0 people found this helpful)

A fun read but limited insight... (4/4 people found this helpful)

Another foreign policy mess (2/2 people found this helpful)

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