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Charlie Wilson's war : the extraordinary story of the largest covert operation i
Crile, George.
Adult Nonfiction DS371.2 .C75 2003
From Publishers' Weekly:
It's no wonder veteran 60 Minutes producer Crile opted for the printed word instead of television to tell this crucial and timely behind-the-scenes account of how the CIA backed the Afghan Mujahideen against the Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. Even a lengthy TV program couldn't do justice to a character such as Charlie Wilson, an outsized, swaggering East Texas Congressman-a "virtual public outlaw" initially convinced by a charismatic, right-wing Houston socialite nicknamed "Buckets" of the chance to deter Communism in Afghanistan. Wilson managed, through back-room machinations Crile traces with neat agility, to facilitate funding that would eventually amount to over $1 billion annually to support the U.S.'s covert operations in Afghanistan, a campaign that eventually contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union. (Meanwhile, CIA director William Casey was unable to persuade Congress to dispense a comparatively meager $19 million to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.) Wilson's unlikely partner, Gust Avrakatos, a lifelong but out-of-favor CIA operative who used his 1976 green Cadillac Coup de Ville as "a kind of amulet" against the evil eye he had ample reasons to believe was being directed his way from a variety of sources, headed up his band of "Dirty Dozen" agents with a mastery of clandestine realpolitiks usually lurking in Clancy novels. More than a character study, however, Crile's book, with its investigative verve and gripping narrative, is a comprehensive political assessment and sobering account of the power structures that run parallel to, but apparently unknown by, official government authorities. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
A topflight 60 Minutes reporter investigates efforts by Texas congressman Wilson, who sat on the House Defense Appropriations Committee, to secure $10 million in funding so that the CIA could ready Afghanistan's mujahedin for war. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Crile, George.
Adult Nonfiction DS371.2 .C75 2003
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From Publishers' Weekly:
It's no wonder veteran 60 Minutes producer Crile opted for the printed word instead of television to tell this crucial and timely behind-the-scenes account of how the CIA backed the Afghan Mujahideen against the Soviet Union's 1979 invasion of Afghanistan. Even a lengthy TV program couldn't do justice to a character such as Charlie Wilson, an outsized, swaggering East Texas Congressman-a "virtual public outlaw" initially convinced by a charismatic, right-wing Houston socialite nicknamed "Buckets" of the chance to deter Communism in Afghanistan. Wilson managed, through back-room machinations Crile traces with neat agility, to facilitate funding that would eventually amount to over $1 billion annually to support the U.S.'s covert operations in Afghanistan, a campaign that eventually contributed to the collapse of the Soviet Union. (Meanwhile, CIA director William Casey was unable to persuade Congress to dispense a comparatively meager $19 million to fund the Nicaraguan Contras.) Wilson's unlikely partner, Gust Avrakatos, a lifelong but out-of-favor CIA operative who used his 1976 green Cadillac Coup de Ville as "a kind of amulet" against the evil eye he had ample reasons to believe was being directed his way from a variety of sources, headed up his band of "Dirty Dozen" agents with a mastery of clandestine realpolitiks usually lurking in Clancy novels. More than a character study, however, Crile's book, with its investigative verve and gripping narrative, is a comprehensive political assessment and sobering account of the power structures that run parallel to, but apparently unknown by, official government authorities. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
A topflight 60 Minutes reporter investigates efforts by Texas congressman Wilson, who sat on the House Defense Appropriations Committee, to secure $10 million in funding so that the CIA could ready Afghanistan's mujahedin for war. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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