Monday Moment - A Film That Made Me Think

I saw a movie over the weekend that I’d like to recommend - Charlie Wilson’s War. It’s a story populated with larger than life characters and a fascinating piece of our country’s history that was completely unknown to me before.

For those of you who haven’t seen the film – and I’m guessing most of you are far more up-to-the-minute than I regarding popular culture – I’ll do a quick recap.

Charlie Wilson was an actual US Congressman from Texas – a playboy who seemed mostly interested in whiskey, women, and fun. He represented a district where constituents were mostly interested in religion and guns and therefore didn’t need or want him to do much for them. So he felt free to make himself agreeable to other members of Congress – and collected a lot of favors owed.

One constituent, the fifth wealthiest woman in Texas and a former Cotton Bowl Queen – both of which got Charlie’s attention – did, however, espouse a cause for which she wanted Charlie’s help. Joanne H wanted the United States to help Afghanistan defeat the Soviet invasion of 1980. Ultra-right wing, Christian fundamentalist, rich enough to not have a care in the world, Joanne had deep passion for the plight of Afghanis dealing with Soviet atrocities in their country. And if she and Charlie could kick some Communist butt in the meantime, so much the better.

Long story short – that’s what happened. Charlie Wilson called in his favors and raised appropriations to Afghanistan from $5 to $250 million, brokered an arms deal between very unlikely players in the middle east – all of which led to the defeat and withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan and the eventual demise of the USSR as we knew it.

What Charlie Wilson was not able to do was to generate support to help rebuild Afghanistan after the Soviets withdrew. According to the film and dvd interviews, he tried to muster Congressional support to build schools – especially considering that the war had left a huge population of Afghanistan under the age of 14. The film ends with his quote, paraphrased “We did grand and glorious things and the world changed – and we messed up the end game.”

It’s the end game I keep thinking about – how I and most Americans can be so oblivious about an area of the world that has turned out to have such a huge impact on us, how willing our government was to purchase guns, how unwilling it was to prevent the vacuum that allowed the Taliban to take power, how insular governmental and charity giving seems to have been about this issue.
Some months ago I wrote about Greg Mortensen’s attempts to build schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan – all with charitable donations (Three Cups of Tea). Where, I wonder, has Mrs. Rich Texan been in that effort? When the government wouldn’t allocate $1million to build schools, did Charlie imagine asking Mrs. Rich Texan to support that effort?
I don’t know the answers to those questions, but I know where some of my charitable giving will go in future months and years. I wish I’d known – and comprehended - the need years ago. Now that my awareness if not my full understanding has been raised, I can’t in conscience not seek out ways to help provide a positive future for Afghani children. I wish my motivation were more altruistic, but in truth I see it only as enlightened self-interest.
May you find a cause that fires your belly in the week ahead.
Sally