Charlie Wilson died earlier this week. The former Texas Congressman was a larger than life figure, well known more for his partying and womanizing than for his contributions to the general welfare of Texas or the United States.
Charlie Wilson will be remembered internationally for one particular thing, and it behooves those in power to well remember the lesson. Wilson used his power in Washington as the head of an important Congressional military appropriations subcommittee to get money for forces in Afghanistan to push the Soviet army out of the country.
Many say it was the Soviet defeat in Afghanistan that caused the eventual demise of the Soviet Union. Driven by a combination of patriotic zeal and exotic adventure, he was able get funding to the tune of $750 million at the end to supply the mujahedeen with weapons, including Stingers, to liberate Afghanistan from Soviet occupation.
The life of “Good Time Charlie” was written about in a wonderful book by George Crile and immortalized in the Hollywood movie Charlie Wilson’s War starring Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts. The film shows all the wheeling and dealing of Charlie and his thrill of victory when the Soviet tanks finally left. Charlie and his allies won the war.
But, there is a wonderful scene at the end of the movie that undercuts all the glamour and celebrations. Just as the ending of the film The Candidate has Robert Redford asking what to do now that he has won, someone comes up to Charlie Wilson at the end to say that they have a problem. A problem!
The problem turns out to be that the mujahedeen are uncontrollable, Stingers and all, and that the weapons given to the rebel forces to use against the Soviets are now being used against the Americans and their allies. Thirty years later, “the problem” is still there.
The Charlie Wilson Principle is quite simple: Never get into a war you do not know how to get out of. The corollary is: Never give weapons to those you can’t control. Good Time Charlie got his victory; we are all living with the collateral damage.
