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Post by nailbender on Aug 20, 2009 0:13:39 GMT -6
FWIW, if you are interested in Afgan/Pak, you should see this movie. ------------------- Wiki snip... From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 biographical drama film based on the true story of Democratic Texas Congressman Charlie Wilson, who conspired with "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch Operation Cyclone, which initiated and organized the Afghan Mujahideen in their resistance to the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan. The film is adapted from George Crile's 2003 book Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Wilson%27s_War
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Post by unlawflcombatnt on Aug 20, 2009 1:58:27 GMT -6
I've seen the movie.
The message I take away is that the US is going down the same futile path that the Soviet Union went down. The Soviets had the advantage of being right next door to Afghanistan, and only had to travel over land to get there. And yet they had to withdraw in defeat. They destroyed their military in the process.
Why would we fair any better--especially considering our country is half a world away?
And if we did "win," what would we be winning anyway?
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Post by graybeard on Aug 20, 2009 6:53:29 GMT -6
History Channel had a real documentary at the same time, with original footage. You need to view both.
GB
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Post by unlawflcombatnt on Aug 20, 2009 9:14:23 GMT -6
History Channel had a real documentary at the same time, with original footage. You need to view both. GB I misspoke. It actually was the History Channel documentary on it that I saw. It's the movie I did not see.
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Post by nailbender on Aug 20, 2009 10:51:31 GMT -6
Thanks for the History Channel heads up. I'll look for it.
As far as the movie goes, Charlie Wilson's lines at the end of the movie are very relevant.
1. The average Afghan doesn't know the US was responsible for weaponizing of the resistance.
2. Why are we leaving Afghan, now that we've forced the Soviets to leave, when they need us the most. The US could come up with a $1 Billion covert budget to make war, yet when it was over, could not come up with $1 million dollars for new schools. This left a "power void" that the Taliban was eager to fill.
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