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No Longer Charlie Wilson's War, Former Congressman Says He Feels Obama's Pain on Afghanistan Decision
Fmr. Rep. Charlie Wilson (D-TX)
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It's not quite the "bombshell" that Buzzflash calls it, but former Rep. Charlie Wilson opined on Afghanistan in an interview with the Scranton Times.
Wilson (D-TX), whose role in the covert operation in Afghanistan later inspired the film "Charlie Wilson's War," said he thinks President Obama is in a "very tough situation" when making his decision on whether to send more troops.
"It's probably best to make a calculated withdrawal. ...If I were the president, I'm not sure what I'd do. I'd probably shut it down, rather than lose a lot of soldiers and treasure," Wilson, now 76, told the newspaper in advance of an event Thursday at the Scranton Cultural Center.
He said the U.S. is being viewed as an occupier and he worries the war could be "another Vietnam."
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rbeats
October 7, 2009 3:08 PM
The book came out several years before the movie and was much better than the movie. Just think you should reference the book rather than the movie.
And ohh look some one else using the alternate spelling, for this conflict, Vietnam.
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Joe Bob
October 7, 2009 3:17 PM
Makes sense to me.
The rationale for being in Afghanistan has become pretty muddy. Ostensibly, we’re there to prevent the Taliban from returning to power or allowing the country to become an all-out failed state so it doesn’t return to being a haven for Al Qaeda. That is the reason, right?
So, how does that work when Al Qaeda seems to be operating quite comfortably out of Pakistan? If our military efforts are just displacing the problem to Pakistan, and we can’t openly combat it in Pakistan, and Pakistan is ambivalent about taking on Al Qaeda or the Taliban themselves…how do we ever succeed in our stated goals?
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Derek Stodghill
October 7, 2009 3:54 PM in reply to Joe Bob
You also forgot to mention that the latest credible threat of terrorism was by Zazi, a man trained in Pakistan. We're supposed to be fighting them over there so they can't train terrorists to fight us over here. Instead they train next door and still launch attacks.
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Joe Markowitz
October 7, 2009 4:50 PM
It's not surprising that Charlie Wilson doesn't understand what our mission is in Afghanistan. He supported aiding the mujahadeen in Afghanistan only as a means of attacking the Soviet Union. In the process he failed to take into account that we were aiding the forces that later created the Taliban and sheltered Al Qaeda. So once again he seems to be discounting the threat of a radical fundamentalist regime in Afghanistan, or the curtailment of human rights of the people of Afghanistan that such a regime has caused. For him to take any other position would cause him to question whether we were doing the right thing in Afghanistan back when the Soviets were in power there.
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rynato
October 8, 2009 12:17 AM in reply to Joe Markowitz
Do you truly believe we did the wrong thing in supporting the mujahideen against the Soviets? Remember the Cold War? USSR? Did you really believe Charlie Wilson should have had a crystal ball and foreseen 9/11?
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HawkeyeD
October 8, 2009 12:19 PM in reply to Joe Markowitz
Joe,
One of the big points of the book is that we shouldn't have just abandoned the place like we did and left a vacuum for the Taliban to fluorish. That's not inconsistent.
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gopolganger
October 7, 2009 6:11 PM
War sucks. Do something else.
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ivy22
October 8, 2009 7:52 AM in reply to gopolganger
I am with you. I have listened to all the reasons for the Afghan war and why we have been there for EIGHT years, and I can still see no reason why we should waste the lives of our soldiers and uncounted billions of dollars on this place. It is like trying to make a reasonable, functioning democracy out of Somalia, only it is further away and with impossible terrain, and even more entrenched tribal rivalries. Anyone got any good ideas on how to succeed? Anyone? Anyone?
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MT from CC
October 8, 2009 2:16 AM
I think that America has not handled the cold war and the post-cold war periods well. The line between 40's- and 50's-style anti-communism, on the one hand, and teabagging (conservative style), on the other, is pretty hard to discern. We overreact, condescend, we will support an immoral tyrasnt who adopts Chicago-school right wing economics over a democratic leftist who favors nationalization of mining, agrarian reform, etc., we kill and expect to be loved, and we always shoot first and ask questions later . . . at least until Obama. Bush was a about the worst ever when it came to acting without thinking, and putting ideology ahead of pragmatism and common sense. At least with Obama, one gets the sense that he will ask tough questions, challenge assumptions and make an informed, and intelligent, decision, even if we disagree with it. He is well to my right, but I will take a pragmatic centrist with his heart and intellect over a hyperpartisan from the right or left. I think we all need to take a step back and give things a little time to play out. As it relates to Afghanistan, we are damned if we do, damned if we don't. George Bush broke it, and now we all own it. We shoud take it out on Bush and the GOP, and do what makes the most sense for the long term interest of world peace, and saving lives . . . . which may be withdrawal, or may be redefining the mission more narrowly, getting it done with brutal force, and then departing at a more stable moment. Hard to say.
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